A fish blip

He appeared quite suddenly, last night when I decided to empty the pond. All 1800 gallons of it. With a 1/2 hp sump pump. A plodding task. But it had to be done. My brother's arriving with my sister in law and niece next Wednesday, and as they're deathly afraid of West Nile virus (there's a bit of it going around 3000 miles away in Ontario) I thought it best to give the pond a scrub and refill. Haven't seen a fish since last September. I figured they'd all been chewed to bits by raccoons and herons.

So, there I am, 11pm, admiring the almost empty pond ... and a rather large fish appears! Swimming like mad against the suck of the sump pump!

A few moments of madness ensued. Fred leaned over the edge of the pond to bucket a bit of water four feet below. Then there was a bit of tricky netting to do, between the hidey holes. I was yelling "Don't kill him!". I'm surprised no one called the police.

He's been 24 hours in the bucket. Not looking too clever, although he did make quite a splash at the camera flash.

Don't know what I'm going to do with him. I'm thinking of tossing him into the Beacon Hill pond late tomorrow night. I'll have to wear a black hoodie and a nylon stocking over my head. It's all CCTV'd.

He's not going back into my pond. No. I'm refilling and throwing a pool puck in. I'm tired of growing sludge. It'll be perfect fake lily pads from now on.