Wayfarin
Arachnoknight
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2022
- Messages
- 237
Hello folks!
One of the things that I had dreamed about for a while now was building a backyard wildlife pond to attract the maximum amount of wildlife to our yard. It would probably be a simple pond, made with a flexible liner, with a shallow section for frogs to come and go at will, and with only a solar-powered pump or bubbler to keep the water moving.
There's just one problem with the idea, though. Mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes and frogs are attracted to the same kind of water sources. Still, calm water sources. And apparently, BTI is not completely safe to use with tadpoles. Any other insecticides are out of the question.
I'm determined not to stock the pond with fish, including mosquito fish. Fish are too sensitive to water stagnation, and frogs, which are probably going to be the main attractions of this pond, are more attracted to fishless ponds.
Then I thought about the whole thing for a little while, and I came up with newts. Eastern newts. They eat mosquito larvae, naturally inhabit stagnant ponds, and are an indigenous species where I live.
There's just one problem, though. How does a person stock a pond with newts?
In New Hampshire, where I live, any herptiles that originated outside of the state cannot be introduced into the wild legally. So that means that even though eastern newts are completely native here, if I were to order them online, they would probably be considered illegal imports if they came from another state. And yet, goldfish and koi can be added to ponds legally. It just doesn't make sense.
At this point, I also wouldn't want to replace the newts with another mosquito-eating pond creature. I want to have newts in my backyard!
I suppose that it's possible that efts could naturally show up on their own, like the frogs, but there's no guarantee.
My only option now would be to collect wild eastern newts from the state to add to the pond. The idea of taking newts out of the wild does seem a little weird to me, but apparently it's not illegal, as long as no more than five are collected. And they aren't being kept as pets, they're just being moved to a new habitat.
So, does anyone have any suggestions on stocking a pond with newts? Is it ethical to relocate them? Are there any notable ponds in the state from which the newts could be collected? I know of a pond in Connecticut that was teeming with newts, but that was still outside of the state. Is there any way to stock a wildlife or frog pond with newts?
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
God bless!
One of the things that I had dreamed about for a while now was building a backyard wildlife pond to attract the maximum amount of wildlife to our yard. It would probably be a simple pond, made with a flexible liner, with a shallow section for frogs to come and go at will, and with only a solar-powered pump or bubbler to keep the water moving.
There's just one problem with the idea, though. Mosquitoes.
Mosquitoes and frogs are attracted to the same kind of water sources. Still, calm water sources. And apparently, BTI is not completely safe to use with tadpoles. Any other insecticides are out of the question.
I'm determined not to stock the pond with fish, including mosquito fish. Fish are too sensitive to water stagnation, and frogs, which are probably going to be the main attractions of this pond, are more attracted to fishless ponds.
Then I thought about the whole thing for a little while, and I came up with newts. Eastern newts. They eat mosquito larvae, naturally inhabit stagnant ponds, and are an indigenous species where I live.
There's just one problem, though. How does a person stock a pond with newts?
In New Hampshire, where I live, any herptiles that originated outside of the state cannot be introduced into the wild legally. So that means that even though eastern newts are completely native here, if I were to order them online, they would probably be considered illegal imports if they came from another state. And yet, goldfish and koi can be added to ponds legally. It just doesn't make sense.
At this point, I also wouldn't want to replace the newts with another mosquito-eating pond creature. I want to have newts in my backyard!
I suppose that it's possible that efts could naturally show up on their own, like the frogs, but there's no guarantee.
My only option now would be to collect wild eastern newts from the state to add to the pond. The idea of taking newts out of the wild does seem a little weird to me, but apparently it's not illegal, as long as no more than five are collected. And they aren't being kept as pets, they're just being moved to a new habitat.
So, does anyone have any suggestions on stocking a pond with newts? Is it ethical to relocate them? Are there any notable ponds in the state from which the newts could be collected? I know of a pond in Connecticut that was teeming with newts, but that was still outside of the state. Is there any way to stock a wildlife or frog pond with newts?
Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!
God bless!