Given a choice between spinach and cheeseburgers I'm choosing cheeseburgers.

Hi Renee, I finished my feeder and it has been up a week! If I could figure out how to post a photo, I'd show you my handiwork! (My brother converted my computer to Linux and now I can't get photobucket to work right---anyone have any ideas????) Most importantly, the blackbirds are GONE. It's very similar to yours but I used threaded posts in the four corners (my handyman's suggestion) and then clamped the wire square mesh to the posts. I made a door on one side and mounted the base on a post. I'm very pleased and happy to say the blues have been in & out of it! My only concern is that the cut edges of the wire square mesh are already rusting...but I guess I'll keep looking for replacement mesh by the roll, or something? Maybe I can dab some rust-preventing stuff on there? Thanks again so much for your ideas! Happy bluebirds, Ann

Hi everyone, I have to admit, when I have taken them indoors in the aquarium, I do replace the water with fresh pond water about twice a week. bring in a bucket of pond water and let it come up to room temprature, and then take out about half the water in the aquarium with a cup and put in the same of fresh pond water. There is also elodea. I don't clean it, and notice they really do like the algae!! I don't think the same frogs are spawning, but different frogs may be coming to the pond at different times---we need a frog expert!! This year we had three distinct laying times in between the cold snaps over about 8 weeks, rather than have them all at the same time. So in the pond there would be about 30 frogs, rather than the 80 I counted last year. But we had more spawn than ever (I guess much of it survived due to milder weather in Devon and on really cold nights some bubblewrap). So we probably had about a 100, but not at one time. It also must have been quite stressful having warm days and then frost, so the poor guys may have been stressed--hence the poor fertilization some people have experienced? The hothoused taddies came back into the pond when they had back legs, and I have noticed some have already turned into froglets. At present it looks as if there are no taddies left, but sometimes at night there are a huge number milling about. So they must get really good at hiding. Goes to show we don't really know what goes on under the pond water! The stickelback males are beginning to show their colours now--talk about a stressful life having to build the house, protect it, woo the wife, look after the eggs, and then look after the kids and stop the neighbours from eating them. Stickelback females know they are onto a good thing! Chip

When tadpoles get bigger that change from eating algae and need meat or othe live food. I've never seen this happen, but I assume that is why they are doing it. They won't have caused the gash in the first place, but better to keep the fish separate until it has healed. Some people pu in tiny bits of uncooked mince for them to eat at this stage.