The pond is frozen over again, and I pulled the plug on the pump this morning since the flow was getting pretty scanty in the stream. I didn’t slog through the snow to pull the pump, because I really don’t expect the sump to freeze under its blanket of snow, I was just afraid it would go dry if the surface ice thickens any more.
Meanwhile, the wintering over news continues bad. When I pulled out the two dead frogs, a third one came along. At least two of the three seemed to have been crushed, presumably by ice. This wasn’t a big surprise, since the water they were in was closer to ten inches than a foot deep. I guess that in a natural pond the poor critters would’ve been cushioned by nice squishy mud. For sure, any species that doesn’t prepare itself for three feet of ice never established itself around here. I need to find out what others do to get their amphibian tenants through the winter.
Two dead fish also showed up as the ice melted, one on Sunday, one on Tuesday. The Tuesday one also seemed to have been crushed. This I blame on the lamer landscaper. We clearly told him we wanted it four feet deep. The hole probably was, but I don’t think the water is even three feet deep. And of course he blew us off when we complained at the time.
A heater it is next year.