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  1. #1
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    Default Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    So this afternoon, my cat got hold of a spotted bush snake, pretty little snakes and do a great job cleaning up Geckos and their kin.
    So the cat is toying with it, and I distract her by shaking an HDPE pipe to give the snake a chance.
    Now I long ago stopped burning up cash on the swimming pool that came with the house and turned it into a fish pond. Put minnows and swords in to control mozzies, and then some Tilapia. Do not do this unless you get all males, they breed uncontrollably and upset the entire system. I don't even feed them anymore for this reason, even then they multiply.

    So back to the snake, it makes it to a PVC pipe with drains off the roof directly into the pool/fishpond. I actually want it to get into the water, knowing it will go to the weir eventually and the cat will have lost interest and I can set it free.

    It does that, but the result is rather different to what I expected. It was swimming swiftly for cover when, before I could even reach for my cellphone for that special moment, The Tilapia devoured it in a few seconds.

    Killjoy moment for me but there you have it, snakes make good bait.

  2. #2
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    Philippolis
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    Thanks for sharing. I just learned something new.

  3. #3
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    shame, poor snake...

    somewhat similar: over the past 2 years we've slowly built up a population of clicking stream frogs (in addition to geckos, lizards, and cape dwarf chameleons, which are the kroonwild in our garden). one of the ponds the frogs breed in is quite close to the pool, and it's currently an ongoing effort to stop new small frogs falling into the pool (they can't get out and drown, but the chlorine also reacts with their skins and mouths and badly injures them). so we routinely transfer almost-frog paddavissies feom that pond to another one further away.

    at this second pond is one quite large clicking stream frog that we sometimes see. last night, while inspecting the yard's wildlife (best way to count sleeping chameleons, they reflect LED lights quite well when they are relaxed and light) we see this large frog, with the hind legs of one of his little brothers / cousins / kids, sticking out the side of his mouth! so we've been bringing the bugger food, all the while thinking we're helping the little ones...

  4. #4
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    Ai, problems with parras...

  5. #5
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    Feb 2012
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    Pretoria
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    Interesting for sure. Bush snakes are awesome too, I know many killed because people see some green and go "green mamba!".Regarding the tilapia, maybe consider adding a catfish or two or something to start keeping their numbers in check?

  6. #6
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    Quote Originally Posted by Antlion View Post
    Interesting for sure. Bush snakes are awesome too, I know many killed because people see some green and go "green mamba!".Regarding the tilapia, maybe consider adding a catfish or two or something to start keeping their numbers in check?
    ..... which will kick the problem down the road for a while until there are too many catfish...............

  7. #7
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    Quote Originally Posted by Sean KZN View Post
    Put minnows and swords in to control mozzies, and then some Tilapia. Do not do this unless you get all males, they breed uncontrollably and upset the entire system. I don't even feed them anymore for this reason, even then they multiply.
    Tilapia are damn near indestructible. They can handle very bad water quality and dense stocking levels. Makes them a favourite of the aquaculture and aquaponics crowd and they are also very tasty. When raised in good quality water with natural food they taste quite a bit like Kingklip to me.

    I had a 1500 liter aquaponics setup running when one night my in-ground tank cracked due to subsistence and drained almost empty. The next morning I had to dig out and bury 500+ tilapia. I didn't clean the tank out completely and there was at most a couple of liters of water in the lowest corner of the tank. I intended giving up and digging the whole lot in but work and whatnot got in the way. After more than a month of high summer temps and very sporadic rain my daughter reported seeing a 'fishy in the tank' and asked me if she could put it in the big pond. I dismissed her silly ideas but fortunately she's made of stern stuff and wasn't to be fobbed off. Long story short, there was a tilapia that must have been a third of the volume of the fetid water that it was in and it was significantly bigger than the biggest had been at the point that the tank drained. I was stunned and realized that cockroaches have some serious competition.

  8. #8
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    How well does tilapia deal with cold?

  9. #9
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    Default Re: Wild life in my garden, interesting observation

    Tilapia is not bad to eat for a frewhwater fish. You could always go fishing.

  10. #10
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by BBCT View Post
    ..... which will kick the problem down the road for a while until there are too many catfish...............
    I found catfish numbers in a pond a lot easier to control then tilapia..

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