New Kids on the Block

The "old" kids on the block

A couple of years back, raccoons decimated the ranks of beautiful fish that lived in our backyard pond.  We noticed one, then another, and then another missing.  It was kind of hard to tell they were gone at first, because a thick layer of lily pads hides them from view in the summer.

That same summer, after falling asleep in the back yard watching a meteor shower, I awoke to find a mother raccoon and four babies scampering about in the moonlight.  Last time I slept in the back yard for a while.

We watched nightly raccoon parades across the back porch from our perch in the family room.

Something had to be done.  Koi make for very expensive raccoon feed.  I began to be afraid of happening upon one each time I went outside after dark.

Better Half to the rescue - he fixed 'em good.  He brought home a huge cage.  He baited that contraption with all manner of good things, most notably peanut butter.  It worked.  Night after night he caught a raccoon.  He carefully removed each one of them to the farm. 10 raccoons in all joined the resettlement program that year.

Just last weekend, we finally got around to thinking about replacing the fish.  2 shubunkins and 2 koi joined our fish family.  They came home in these big plastic bags.  Here are two of them getting accustomed to the pond water temperature.  You can see the other fish are curious.
   

Better Half is untying the bag.



Into the pond they go.  The Welcome Wagon has assembled to greet them.

Here is one of the new koi.

Here's Big Spot shubunkin getting neighborly with that cute pink fish.  See the great big dot on his back?

Here's Little Spot shubunkin coming up for food.  See the tiny little spot on top of his head?  Yes, I know he is covered in spots, but the little one in that sea of orange catches my eye.



There is also a small yellow koi that we haven't seen since the night we put her into the pond.  I hope she hasn't been a victim of bullying.  I'm sure she is down in the depths somewhere.

Welcome to the block, kids!