First The Bayou...Now The Bay

  Commonsense seems to be a thing of the past.  Or, perhaps, people just do not care anymore.  Either way, the actions of the "non-thinkers" are not for the best of the environment.  Take, for instance, the water plants that have now fully clogged the Bayou.  Coontail is an aquatic plant that is highly invasive.  It has excessive growth habits that will fill an area and soon clog the waterways.  The Bayou is clogged.  The Bay will be if something is not done soon. 

  A few months back, someone decided it was a fine thing to dump their unwanted pond plants into the Bay.  Well, the little amount they dumped has now turned into acres of the invasive plants.  Truly...acres.  The sad thing is, there is very little that can be done to remedy the situation.  The amount is too massive to be removed by normal methods.  This could be the end of an era for the Bayou...and Bay.  Fish will perish, marine mammals and birds may become ensnared and boating may even come to a halt as the weeds tangle around the propellers.  Life is changing....and not in a good way.  And those responsible go about their merry way.  Saddening.  Saddening for the rest of us.  I am beginning to lose all faith in humanity.

Beating the Heat!

 The little Frog Pond is off-limits to Ms. Ez.  As much as the old dog would love to plunge right into the middle of it, I never know what critters might lurk just beneath the lily pads.  Toss one clumsy dog into the midst of a snake pit and there would be any sorts of terrible happenings.  She has accepted this well just like her being banned from swimming in the Bayou.  If she dared to take a dip there, she might just hobble out without a paw.  The alligators and snapping turtles do not take lightly to intruders in their domain.  She happily snoozes away the hot summer in her kiddie wading pool.  Others, however, are not banned from the Frog Pond.  Wild critters of all sorts wade, swim, lounge and generally make a mess of the pond but that is fine as it is set aside for them to do so.  

  This morning, I was out at daybreak picking the Boysenberries.  This is a necessity as the things ripen seemingly quicker than I can snatch them from the vines.  The little Frog Pond sits within just a few yards from the rows of berries giving me a bit of entertainment while I pick. The frogs croak and hop about from lily pad to lily pad and the occasional snake will slither about silently trying to catch the wily frogs.  This morning, though, something strange was in the pond.  Not necessarily strange to the water but rather strange in its actions of being in the water.  A Box Turtle was trying its best to exit the pond but was having difficulty climbing the steep sides.  Time after time, the turtle would attempt the climb but, time after time, it would fail. Although, Box Turtles are kin to the pond turtles, they much rather lumber around the yard than swim constantly.  What to do? What to do?  Why!  Rescue the turtle, of course!  From experience, I knew it was not an easy task to hand catch a turtle in a pond full of lily pads and water hyacinths.  They are fast!  A water hose is the best method of turtle extraction!  I slowly filled the pond just enough to let the turtle exit the pond on its own.  

  After our wayward turtle retreated from the water, I had to laugh out loud at it.  Wrapped around its nose was a long strand of Coontail.  That water plant was enough evidence that anyone should know where this turtle had been cooling itself.  The "Frog Pond Spa" is just the place for a relaxing dip AND a facial treatment!

A Healthy Pond is a Happy Pond!

The Frog Pond is alive and well.  This morning after cutting the grass, I ventured back to the pond to view the Water Hyacinths that are blooming profusely.  Yes, these are the same Water Hyacinths that are invasive if allowed to expand beyond the confines of this little pond.  I am careful not to let any escape!  I watch for seeds and never...never allow any to be moved to the Bayou.  There the plant could possibly multiply in mass quantities and clog the waterways.  That would mean an end to the Bayou as I know it.  Actually, the plants that I have growing in the Frog Pond were lifted from the marsh.  Mark saw one lone plant that some not so eco-careful person dumped into the Bay.  He scooped up the plant..like any good steward of the waters should..and brought it home.  While he had intentions of just bringing me an interesting plant, he did a fine service to the welfare of the Bay and Bayou.  In a matter of three years, that one plant has multiplied into probably seven hundred!  My Frog Pond is far too small to house seven hundred of anything other than tadpoles so each spring, I pull all but five plants from the water.  The dislocated plants are composted as fertilizer for the vegetable garden.  There they can do no harm!

As I admired the beautiful blooms of the Water Hyacinths, I noticed that the Water Lilies are also doing quite well. The lily pads are dark green and quite lush.  A lone yellow bloom sat beneath the tall-stemmed leaves.  A number of tiny American Green Tree Frogs were perched here and there on the stalks and leaves of both the lilies and hyacinths.  This is the whole purpose of the Frog Pond..to give these tiny amphibians a place to lay their eggs and then for the little ones to mature enough to keep the cycle going.  The frogs eat so many bugs!

Other bug-eaters were out in full force, too.  Dragonflies were hovering above the pond.  They, too, will lay their eggs in the cool water under the lily pads.  There is enough underwater cover to give them shelter from any predators.  Although, the nymphs, themselves, are probably the most voracious predators in the pond!  These small critters will eat their way through a billion or so mosquito nymphs during their stay in the pond.  Once they mature enough to crawl out and become full-fledged dragonflies, they will continue to dine upon flying insects.

Speaking of underwater coverage, Michael pulled another pond plant from the Bay last summer. He observed a strange non-Bay plant floating about near the pier and scooped it out for me.  This plant was none other than a Coontail.  It is a great plant to have in the pond as it provides a feeding spot for most critters.  Good snag, Michael!  What started as a single sprig of maybe ten inches has grown to fill the bottom of the pond!  This plant oxygenates the pond as well as providing protection for tiny critters.

I am quite happy that the pond is doing so well with both flora and fauna.  A healthy pond is a sign of a healthy environment.  The Frog Pond with its plants, turtles, frogs, toads, dragonflies and water beetles is quite the ecosystem in itself!  It is great to know that it has developed into such a happy place!

Coontails and Leopard Frogs!

I am not one that is beyond scavenging for plants to go in the gardens.  Nor am I one that is beyond scooping some plant out of the creek, Bayou or Bay to place in the Frog Pond.  This tendency has netted (pun intended) me quite a few aquatic plants that are now thriving to the point that either I am going to have to dig a bigger pond or give away some of the fauna.  There is just not a lot of open space left!  This habit is rubbing off on other family members as well!  Mark had scooped up a single Water Hyacinth that he found floating in the Bay earlier this summer.  The plant has multiplied into over thirty plants and is blooming profusely!  No wonder this is considered a "nuisance" plant.  With this rate of reproducing, the Bayou would have been well on its way to becoming overrun with hyacinths!  In just a matter of a few years of perfect growing conditions (which for the hyacinth means it has water) there would have been thousands upon thousands of the little pontoon like plants bobbing along with the waves.  In a sense, Mark's sweet gesture to me was a great life-saving gesture to the Bayou. At least in the Frog Pond, I can somewhat control the quantity of plants and not let them completely clog off areas.  Had the hyacinth been allowed to remain in the Bayou, we would have had a mess!  It is sad that some folks do not think before allowing nonnative species to inhabit our waterways.

Coontail..the perfect plant addition to the Frog Pond!

 Now, Michael had his turn at snagging a plant for the pond.  He was on the pier the other day and spied a wispy plant floating near one of the posts.  Knowing that I am always on the lookout for interesting plants for the pond, he took our fish scoop net to land a sprig for me. "Here, Mom...I got you this", he said once he was back up at the porch.  Ok?  In his hand, the plant looked like nothing more than a bit of slimy algae..just what I needed!  More algae!  Woohoo!  But after he had given it a good cleaning with the water hose, I could see that this indeed would make a pretty addition to the Frog Pond.  "I don't know if it will grow in fresh water......" he said and then  Sploosh!  In went the plant without second thoughts!  I peered into the pond where he tossed the bit of greenery.  Once the plant was under water, it unfurled into the prettiest shape!  I needed to look up about this plant..it made such a nice addition to the Frog Pond collection!  Coontail!  I was intrigued even by the name!  Coontail!  It seems that this is a great plant to have in the pond.  Small aquatic animals love the plant as it becomes a feeding ground for them.  Aquatic invertebrates congregate among the leaves and there the larger pond denizens seek them out as food.   The older plants that die, sink to the bottom and thus, become food for other plants and provide overwintering shelter for frogs!  It, also, seems that the Coontail plants are good oxygenators for the pond.  Since my pond has no aerator, I figure that this would be a big boost to the residing tadpoles and dragonfly nymphs!  In just the few days that the plant has been in the pond, I have noticed that it seems to be flourishing!   It has put out a few more branches and is quite fluffy!  Nice....I have trained my husband and son well!   They can both just keep scooping up these freebie plants!

Leopard Frog tadpole with its back legs starting to extend! 

The Frog Pond is doing well with its additions of new plants.  We have had several hatchings of American Green Tree Frogs, Leopard Frogs and American Toads.  I slipped outside a bit today and was able to check the progress of the tadpoles.  Currently, there are some tiny tree frogs hopping about on the water lilies and a few of their tadpoles still in the pond.  Another mass of toad eggs are floating attached to the hyacinths and the nearly two-inch-long Leopard Frog tadpoles are morphing into frogs.  Their back legs can clearly be seen even from a distance of several yards.  It is nice to know that the Frog Pond is healthy and with additions like the hyacinth and Coontail, perhaps it will remain that way!