When I noticed that the water level was down in one of our ponds, I began to wonder if the fish were drinking it all.   But after some reflection I realized that 6 grass carp, even aided by a couple of thousand minnows, couldn’t ever drink that much water ;) 

Actually, the water level in this pond is affected by neither the tides nor the voracious thirst of it’s resident fish populations, but by the slow, unrelenting process of evaporation.  Now, if this were a deep pond, I wouldn’t be concerned about the seasonal changes in it’s water level.  But due to some problems encountered during the construction of this pond, the pond is temporarily destined to remain in it’s present shallow state (until such time as budget constraints allow for remedial construction work).

Because this is a shallow pond, it is prone to develop masses of aquatic plant and algae life.  The algae that has formed in this pond in the past was the bright green, unsightly gunk that one does not want to view from the kitchen window constantly, so some kind of action was required to prevent the aquatic growth.  Not wanting to utilize chemical treatments (for a variety of reasons), we have opted to stock this pond with a small number (6) of grass carp, also known as the white amur.  This species of fish is commonly used for the purpose of controlling aquatic vegetative matter, and they have been successfully accomplishing that function in this pond.

The white amur is a herbivorous fresh water fish that is native to the orient.  Because this is a non-native species that tends to want to follow the flow of water, many states have certain requirements that must be met in order to legally stock them in a private pond.  Arkansas does not have such a requirement, but a listing of southern state permit requirements can be found at the Southern Regional Aquaculture Center.

Back to my problem,  which is the low water level in the pond.  Something needed to be done to raise the water level, and since mother nature has not been all that cooperative in the rain department, I had to take matters into my own hands (OK – I’ll acknowledge I had a little help from my friends here.

The temporary solution to the low water level was to simply attach enough garden hose to the closest freeze-proof hydrant and run it on down to the pond.  After a few days of running the hose, the pond was again full.

Now, when the rains are insufficient to replenish the water that has evaporated, I can simply turn on the hydrant for a few hours per week to keep the pond level up.  This keeps both me, and the grass carp happy.

On the left-hand side this photograph you can see a half-submerged decoy duck (which I admittedly need to fish out of the pond, clean, and re-float).  On the right you can just barely see one of the grass carp.  The decoy measures 12″ in length, so I am guessing that the length of the carp is over 24″.  The adult grass carp will reach a length of about 4 feet, and weigh in at around 40 pounds.

Besides the grass carp to control the algae, and minnows to help control insect larva, you can see that this pond supports a health population of tadpoles.  That’s a good thing, because summer wouldn’t be the same without the chorus of a thousand frogs to listen to each evening.

On occasion, we allow our horses the opportunity to swim in one of our ponds.  Chipper, our middle-aged gelding, really enjoys the water.  For some reason, he always likes to paw at the pond water, as you can see above.

The pawing starts off with gentle strokes of his front leg, but before long, the activity becomes more frantic, splashing water all over the place.

Soon, all of this commotion draws the attention of Gracie, who feels compelled to check out the activity going on at the pond.

Eventually, the whole gang gets involved.  Chipper, meanwhile, continues non-stop with the odd water pawing behavior.  He wants to be sure that every fish in the pond knows of his presence, I guess.

Content in the knowledge that he has successfully sullied the pond for the next few days, Chipper grabs a few bites of grass before heading back to his grazing pasture (located away from the pond, of course).

“Look honey, more deer at the far game feeder.“

Wait a minute, deer aren’t black!

“Hey y’all, look what I just did over here.”

“Well, as long as we’re already here…”

Well, just when I thought that I had pretty much solved the problem of critters molesting the game feeders by the judicious use of appropriate varmint guards, I find I may have to figure out a way to make them cattle-proof, as well.

You see, we share 1.75 miles of barbed wire fence with one of our neighbors (who has holdings of about 500 acres), as shown on this map, in the form of a bold black line.

There is a .25 mile long section of this fence that I rigorously maintain to pen our horses.  Unfortunately, the remaining 1.5 miles of existing fencing between us is old and in pretty sorry shape.  This neighbor has recently rented out pasture to a local rancher, and over the past several days his cattle have been testing and challenging the old barbed wire fence.  Each day, try as it might, the fence ends up losing the battle, as two dozen bovines make their way into our early spring hayfields, eagerly dining on the succulent fresh fescue and red clover.

Each afternoon, a telephone call brings the rancher over to our place, to round up his errant cattle.  Yesterday the cattle discovered that not only do we have the best grass in the area, but there’s corn for dessert as well!  So, even though the neighboring rancher is apologetic and is working daily on mending the fence, I’m guessing we’ll be seeing the cattle here again soon.  But I really hope I’m wrong.  Besides the damaged feeder, there are other concerns that the encroaching cattle bring about.  Whereas I have been working to maintain healthy banks along our creeks, the cattle trample the banks, causing erosion of the soils and decimation of the filtering vegetation along the creek sides.

If this were twenty or thirty years ago, my neighbor would have come over to round up the cattle mounted atop his trusty steed.  Alas, cowboys don’t ride horses anymore, but are experts at herding cattle as they sit astride ninety horsepower ATVs equipped with aggressive off-road tires.  As you can see below, vehicle traffic and emerging hay fields don’t mix well. 

Hopefully, the repairs that our neighbor made to the fence will hold the cattle.  I plan to walk this portion of the fence line tomorrow to make a current assessment of the situation.  I’d rather not have to share in the expense of having a new, sturdy fence built along this great a distance, but I am not prepared to try and keep an old brittle fence cattle-tight as a do-it-yourself project.  As they say, “I’ve been there and done that, and I ain’t doin’ it again.”