Monday, January 30, 2012

Happy Belated New Year!

Let's just say Happy Chinese New Year, shall we?  After all, frogs are good luck in Chinese culture and having a frog in your garden is supposed to bring you money.  I am hoping for a bumper crop of frogs this year!

So far, this winter has been so weak, lots of of critters think it's spring.  These butterflies have taken over the  garden and birds are filling the sky and scouring the fields for food.

The pond has been quiet.  When I come out at night, I occasionally see a Leopard Frog leaping to a hiding place or hear a little "plop" which I know is a frog diving for cover. Always just one, maytbe two. No concerts, so I think the frogs hanging out are females.

The frog population needs help around here after this terrible drought.  For my part, I knew I had to get the goldfish out of the pond as they have proved themselves to be voracious frog egg and froglet predators.




 
Over the holiday, I found a giant 75 gallon fish tank on Craigslist for $100.  It is HUGE!!  It sat in the front yard for a month, but about two weeks ago, we finally hauled it inside and set it up.  Putting 75 gallons of bottled water in that thing was quite a chore, but our well water is too salty, so I had to make several 30 mile roundtrip treks to the water store  to fill up our jugs and fill the tank.


Marge 
George 
After running the new filter for awhile, I managed to corral the fish into big plastic bags, carried them into the house and set the bags in the tank for the water temperatures to equalize.  Marge wasn't hard to catch, but George was pretty wily.
They are set up next to a window, so they have a nice view.