Koi Matters

Several weeks ago our Koi pond was raided by, well we never knew what. Whatever it was ripped up the lily pads, ate the water snails but didn't touch any of the fish. Odd but when all was said an done not a bad loss.

A few nights ago we weren't so lucky. Whatever it was, or maybe it was something different caught and ate one of the koi and also ripped the water lily to shreds.

Saturday morning when I went to check on them, yet another was missing. I found this one several feet away from the pond looking very dead. But there was still a whisper of life in him, so I tossed him back in the pond and he sunk to the bottom, but I could see some movement and so for the next hour, I worked on reviving this koi fish, moving him back and forth to get oxygen moving through his gills, pulling him out of the water and then plunging him back in, "swimming" him around. I was up to my arms in cold cold water and finally left him on his own, hoping for the best but certainly thinking the fish would be floating on the surface next time I saw him. Miraculously he survived.




"Thanks for not giving up on me"




He made it but you can see by the redness around his mouth and gills that he had a tough going.

I didn't see any marks on him so I don't know if he had jumped out or if it was an unsuccessful hunt for some opossum or raccoon.



Here he is back with his pals.

However the following day the big white one was missing.


I had to get serious. I bought chicken wire to cover the pond and a live animal trap to catch the invader. It didn't take long to catch something. Unfortunately it was a stray cat. Getting the pissed of cat out of the trap was a chore, but we did. We re-baited the trap and shortly after it was sprung, again by one of the many neighborhood cats. By this time it was late and I did not want to mess around with another angry cat in the cold and dark.

I woke up this morning to the sound of rain. I felt really bad for the kitty we trapped. The cage is covered with ivy but still I'm sure the cat is soaking wet and going to be really, really mad. I do not look forward to its release.

Gotta go let the cat out of the bag, or trap.