Pond in the foothills

[MitchM]

Glad you liked it, CE.

 

[waynefrcan]

Another gun topic ye-haw!!!!!!!!! I agree with Mitch. Restrictions for Canadians are too tough and the USA is almost wide open. Like night and day in some places.

I don't hunt and never will. I think the wild creatures have a right to live. Now domestic, like cows, chickens, well they are farmed for our food needs.

 

[MitchM]

lol

You own any guns Wayne? - other than collectibles?
I've shot a .44 magnum before at a range (in a previous life).

 

[waynefrcan]

I'm not telling, you know my address lol Actually I made all that up about having guns. Photos were off the internet. etc. etc.

 

[MitchM]

Gotcha.

Who are you again? Do I know you?

 

[waynefrcan]

In my young and ignorant days, yes I did duck hunting and deer, never shot a deer thank god. Sold those creature killers off long ago.

 

[MitchM]

Duck hunting I understand even less. You shoot them then you have to dig out all those pellets before you eat them.
We actually get all our birds from a farm near you, in Leduc. They have booths at different farmers markets.
I cooked a 39 lb turkey from them this weekend. It was delicious.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I love to eat Canada Goose and a nice fat mallard ducks, and the fat from these water fowl is very very good for you. I don't have to dig out the pellets cause my hubby does.

Canada goose is very good to eat, and very healthy compared to the farm raised chickens and turkeys. I make a nice stuffing out of dried crab apples and wild rice with herbs and butter. I actually prefer the dark meat to the breast meat, and they have mostly dark meat, not like the sickly chickens in the supermarket that are bred to have all dry breast meat, then they are so top heavy some of the chickens cannot even walk!

 

[CountryEscape]

I have to laugh, Colleen. Here in the US, people call them "Canadian geese". A friend corrected me saying that by saying, "They are not Canadians, they are FROM Canada, thus Canada geese." I've said it that way ever since, and people look at me weird! One time, a hunter gave my husband 2 ducks and a goose after hunting. My husband at the time and his cousin had been drinking all day, while I prepared the ducks. I was told they are always very dry, so I wrapped them with bacon as they cooked. They were anything but dry, but while I was preparing them, I could not help but think they stunk to high heaven, smelled like a black mud pond. I didn't say anything to anyone, put them on the table, and everyone, including my then 2 small children, tried it. The cousin's girlfriend was vegetarian, she didn't try it, my kids and I tried it, but said we didn't care for it (thank goodness I also made mashed potatoes and gravy!!!), and so the 2 drunk men each ate a duck. I thought the meat tasted like black mud pond water, too. The next day, I asked my husband if he really liked the ducks. His response was something like "hell no, but I couldn't let Jason think so!" Jason, evidently, had the same thought. We threw the goose out to the fox and coyotes, and I'm certain they enjoyed it. I was afraid if it was shot on the same pond, it also would have been awful, didn't want to waste another day preparing a meal just to throw it out. Wish now I had cooked it! Have no idea what the ducks were. They each had one wing in place, I guess so game wardens would know what kind of duck, make sure they were legal to have in your freezer. Usually I like wild game, too.

 

[callingcolleen1]

You have to know which ducks to shoot, some ducks are just terrible to eat as they can taste like "a muddy pond" My hubby calls some of them "squabs" and they are not good eating so no sense to shoot them at all!

Canada Goose and Mallard ducks are the best by far, trouble is sometimes it is hard to tell which is which when they fly overhead, so sometimes we end up with a squab. (Dogs get those most of the time) I have made duck jerky from them in the past and that is not too bad, fooled my sister into thinking it was "beef jerky" and she thought is was good, but I could not stop laughing as she ate it, and then she became suspicious and I had to tell her it was duck, and of course just the thought of eating duck made her gag... weak minded!!!

 

[addy1]

My late hubby was a class three dealer, sold all the full auto, registered with the gov guns before I moved. (had over 200 guns) Maryland, currently, has the strictest gun laws of the country. A little overboard imho.
I have been shooting since I was around 12 yrs old

 

[MitchM]

At -17C/1F, ice is forming on the inside tube of the pond breather where water is running.
The bottom water temp is 42F, so warmer water water is flowing through at it's regular rate.
I put a couple of black plastic flower pots over the tubes to protect them somewhat from the weather.

 

[j.w]

Oh ma ma get me my heating pad you are scaring me w/those ice cold temps again Mitch. Is that tube gonna make it through your temps or will you have to resort to a big heater or are the fish on their own?

 

[MitchM]

I think the pond breathers will be fine for this winter. They're circulating the water pretty well, so I don't think there are any dangerous gases building up down below. Of course I don't know that for sure.
I'm a little concerned about the water temperature. I'm wondering if with it staying so warm down there it's allowing for a little more bacteria activity.
When I find some time I'll have to look into that some more.
I don't remember these temperatures lasting for more than a week or two at a time, so I think the fish will have plenty of oxygen for their needs.
I still have my big heater that could open up a hole in less than 24 hours if needed.
I'm pretty happy with using only 80 watts instead of 1500.

 

[j.w]

Well we will all get to find out for sure if they do the job right along w/ you Mitch. Hope they do cuz yes that is a much cheaper way to go. My pond is still boiling away w/ that giant aerator going, waterfall and filter still plugging away also and the one foot geyser of a water spout shooting up also.
Might turn off the aerator tho as it is really churning up parts of the water. Does that really matter? Some say the cold hurts the fish and other say not so much. They are just goldfish too and pretty hardy.