The weather last week was terrible. It was hot. It rained on and off. There were long stretches of torrential downpours. When it wasn’t raining it was hot and the air was dense with 100% humidity. We humans were miserable. The rabbit stretched out on the concrete next to a frozen bottle of water. The hens stayed inside and complained. The goats refused to graze and asked for more hay. But, the Beast was in her element.
Fish must stay submerged in water, and so her world is constrained to under the surface of the pond.
The Beast and her minions (the goldfish) are voracious eaters. Algae is a favorite food. What with the humidity and heat, a sheet of algae bloomed last week on the rock. It is usually out of reach. But, with the rain coming down in warm sheets, there was little difference between the air and the pond. The Beast has good eyesight. She took a look.
Her world expanded.
As did her belly.
*New readers here might want to know that The Beast is a 10 year old koi. I bought her for $3.99 when she was barely 3-inches long. At the time she was white with a big black splotch on her head. She grew, the spot didn’t. She lives year-round in the pond, which is fitted with a pump, flowing water, and a cave so that she survives quite comfortably through the winter.
Amazing picture! Helps us understand first hand how millions of years ago sea animals came up out of the water and grew legs, walked and developed into land animals. This story would make a great book for school children.
Beautiful picture, I could almost imagine in that type weather, the Beast taking a stroll to look for food. Have you ever been establish what type of koi fish the Beast is ? I think she is of the Kawarimono variety.
She’s an inexpensive mutt. If she resembles a fancy koi variety, it’s sheer luck on her part.
Lol, that is basically what Kawarimono means, or unclassifiable.
what a difference a day makes. yesterday, there was hardly a critter showing on your various cams, and today, they’re outside and looking relatively frisky (especially that gold hen, who seems to put the skids to the bunny–he moves out of her way). it’s cooler here in the city of satan–64F when I first checked. hooray! must be cooler there, too. enjoy!! wonderful photos of the koi, btw. i didn’t know there were different varieties. there are lots here in koi ponds at the national arboretum. i should get over there and expand my pitiful knowledge.
thanks for this wonderful blog, Terry.
Here is a nice little website on some of the different varities of Koi fish, the one I think the Beast is from is, bascially a catch all of unclassicable koi fish. http://www.blueridgekoi.com/koi-goldfish-resources/koi-variety-guide/
Phobe the rabbit is also a girl.
She’s a whopper! Do you have to feed her extra fish food or does she find all she needs in the pond? And how do you know??!!
Cool pictures! A fish you have had for 10 years! Wow!
Good Lord. The Beast really is well named. Tell me, how do you sex Koi?
Here is a website on a few ways to sex koi fish.
http://www.koi-fish.com/koi-care/sexing-koi.html
Since the Beast is so big, I think she is a girl, and I think a few of her offspring have made it as koi/goldfish hybrids, but her hybrid offspring are sterile, and the Beast will never be a grandmother. So people like the hybrids so they don’t have to worry about overpopulation of the pond. I am sure Terry will soon have to be giving away some babies soon after spawning season ends.
I believe that the Beast is female because of how the other fish relate to her. They swim alongside.
She is a remarkable beast.
I love to watch koi. They are not only beautiful but can be very friendly. Nice he/she has gold fish for company :)
The Beast and her minions. I love that. Great pictures. I just recently acquired a pond liner and have ordered the pump for it. Now to decide where to dig the hole in the yard. Any tips on location?
I don’t know what’s good for the koi – I sited my pond so that I could see it from the porch and from the dining room. Put it where you can enjoy it the most.
Kris,
I lot will depend on your weather and then the depth of your pond.
I live in St Louis so our weather ranges from 0 degrees zero to low 100’s.
I hand dug my pond. It’s depth in the middle is a litter over three feet and I have a plant shelf all the way around as well.
When I first built it was mainly in the shade then two years ago a tornado came through and now it is completely in the sun as all the trees are gone. The fish have done well in both situations.
In the winter when the fish go dormant I leave the air pump on and the center pump running. The pond does freeze over but water still circulates and air is constantly pumped in.
Good luck.
Kris, if you do want outdoor koi fish or goldfish for your pond. Their are alot of koi/goldfish rescues out there. So you can try them first before buying some, their are alot of fish out there that need homes. And a rescue group can work with you.
I had no clue there were rescue groups for fish. Learn something new everyday.
Terry, that is so amazing you got those photos of The Beast! Thank you, as always, for sharing!
Terry, there seems to be a chicken in the nesting box in the little barn – maybe one of the new chicks??
That is so cool! I never thought that would be possible for a fish to get up like that.
Hey Terry, Looks like twiggy is in the nest box right now–2:28pm. Here’s hoping for an egg!
It’s old Betsy, and she’s not laying a thing. Oh well.
Wow just looked at your new live cam pic. Rain and 58 degrees, wow, right now where i live in Idaho it as a sweltering 104 degrees, and has been right at 100 or over for about the last couple of weeks. :)
I feel for you. Wish I could send you some of our rain.
Amazing! Every cloud has a silver lining, and for the beast, this is it!
Were you tempted to use the title “The Beast Feasts”?!? Ha ha!
Oh, darn, I wish I’d thought of that!
Twiggy is picking on Buffy