Eel in my pond!?

[DrCase]

Not sure where you are located but, It could be a siren. It looks like a eel but is actually closer related to a salamander. They do have VERY tiny legs and feet but are pretty much useless. There are tow types I know of, the greater siren which can get up to 4' long and is dark gray to black, Then there is a lesser Siren which usually is less than 18' and is dark in color but has stripes down it's back. The younger the lesser siren the more vivid the stripes. I have kept these as pets and they really are very cool and unique creatures. Might be a small threat to small fish, they usually eat snails, worms, leeches, and small insect life. They also prefer heavy cover or thick mud to hide in but water gardens are also good places for them to seek refuge during hot summer months when Ditches are drying up of water. They can and do crawl over land usually at night to seek new area of water to live in if a ditch or water souce is getting to hot, drying up, or doesn't have enough food source for them to survive.

Is that the same thing as a mud puppy ? Larkin

This thread is starting to sound rather Horrorish to me, something like from the Black Lagoon!
I have leeches in my bathtub..............................................pond, bathtub pond. They are real tiny ones tho, at least I think they are leeches. Could be black fly larvae tho.

There is only 1 way to find out jw
You need to put your leg in the tub

 

[j.w]

I went in a lake over in eastern Washington once and waded in to get some plants for my pond and came out w/ little leeches all over my feet and legs
I actually went back in for more................plants that is not leaches. They did not hurt me but then they did not get to stay on me that long either!

 

[fishin4cars]

Is that the same thing as a mud puppy ? Larkin

No, Mud puppy's are actually juvenile Tiger salamanders. Sirens look like eels and stay looking like them there whole life.
http://www.caudata.org/cc/species/Siren/S_intermedia.shtml

 

[Big Lou]

Glad they didn't get too attached.

 

[Mucky_Waters]

Mucky,
Lest I think they kill fish maybe not. I still hate them. Watch the movie classic "African Queen" and you will see for yourself. My first encounter with leeches was during a night time patrol through a creek.

Was it something like this.

 

[Big Lou]

The leech part.