The Snakes Saga

Yes, that is "snakes" plural.  It has been a fantastic snake summer so far as the grandkids are concerned, because they have been able to see some really gross and fascinating snake action.  First event, and the grossest, was finding a poor dead snake that had gotten sucked part way into the water pump and then drowned.  I'm sad to report that I think it is my buddy from last summer, because of the size.  He was really stuck in the filter, so Ken had to puuulllll him out much to the great gross-outness of the grandkids who happened to all be here.  Best pond event ever as far as they were concerned.
But...the fun didn't stop there.  A couple of days later I was getting ready to clean out the filter basket and discovered a snake and a fish in there.  Kids came a-running in time to see the snake catch the fish and slither out of the basket into the bushes.
There's more!  Turns out we have 2 snakes that are vigorously trying to hunt the fish in the pond.  They are really bad hunters, much to the amusement of the grandkids, who have been able to watch the snakes lie in wait and lunge ineptly at the fish swimming by.  The grandkids understand that the baby fish have to go one way or the other, as I have too many fish in the pond to sustain them. 
Finally, Cayden and Callie were dangling their feet in the pond when they disturbed one of the snakes who shot across their feet as he fled to the other side of the pond.  Glad to see the kids' reaction was "cool!" and excited instead of freaking out.

Snakes on the Filter

Here is one of the snakes crawling around inside the filter box.  Note the new green filter pad....great product that I had to order by the sheet, but worth it as it will last longer than the white filter that came with the pond kit.

pond plantings

The horsetail in the foreground is really looking great this summer.  I'm sure with time it will become invasive, but for now it is growing slowly and looks very natural this summer.  The first year it didn't leave its basket and looked artificially "planted".
 The colorful flowers behind are in a low hanging basket I placed at the back of the pond to add color.

Damselfly

We enjoy the bright blue damselflies like this one seen perched on the frog sculpture in the pond.  Large black and white dragonflies also love the pond.

Healthy Fish

After some late spring skin problems, the fish have recovered and are beautiful and healthy.  I used a couple of products that were friendly to the bacteria in the  filtration system and the dogs who like to drink pond water.  Most of last year's babies are still alive, and unfortunately I noticed a tiny brand-new baby yesterday.  Hope that doesn't mean we will have even MORE fish!