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cb_garden

natural pond question

cb-garden
10 years ago

Hi what a great. Forum site. I just bought a house and it has a pond. Its a natural pOnd not man made. It has blue gills sun fish and some bass. Its really murky. And has a lot of green fuzzy weed looking stuff floating in it. It also attracks a lot of water moccisins and copper heads. I have 4 small children who would love to be able to play in it. Is there anything i can put in it to help clean that won't hurt the fish and help keep the snakes away?

Comments (2)

  • chas045
    10 years ago

    This is not my area of experience. You didn't mention the size of your pond. 'a lot of water moccisins and copper heads' seems like a real concern. I have a couple of thoughts. First, I recall that I have seen sonic plug in products for the garage etc that are supposed to repel mice. I haven't seen them recently. Perhaps they don't actually work. If they do, perhaps they would also repel snakes. I also have a grusome idea from experience. I had a pile of bird netting over and beside some strawberries. A black snake got tangled up in it and died. I would bet it would make an effective barrier and remove the population in an unfortunately traumatic manner.

  • CaraRose
    10 years ago

    You want to remove brush/rock piles from around the pond-- snake hiding places. Keep the grass around the pond mowed as well.

    These may deter the snakes, but I'm not sure if there's a good way to stop them. Remember they are going to look for places that suit their needs-- ample shelter for hiding/shade as needed, ample food supply, and a suitable environment. Limit those and your pond may seem less appealing.

    My grandma lived on a lake in Arkansas that had water moccasins and copperheads. They pretty much left people alone and we swam/fished pretty regularly in that lake, though this was a large lake and area, not a small pond. Population density might be more of an issue in your case.