These are two of the water fowl that are causing my stream to become silted up and too rich in nitrogen. They live, with the rest of their flock, on a pond upstream from my creek. They present a difficult problem for me. I want my creek to be suitable for inanga and eels that swim up from the estuary below. The duck 'stuff' is ruining the habitat, but the owners of those ducks have the right, I suppose, to use their section of the stream for the purpose of a duck pond. I've thought long and hard about what to do. I've dug a 'sump' where the stream enters my property, and bucket the nutrient-rich silt out as fast as I can, but it's a chore. Just last night, I was despairing of the situation; I'd found an eel in my section that looked very unwell and they're generally robust creatures, but I was thinking also of another issue; how to boost the growth of my several dozen young fruit trees I've planted in the orchard-garden behind the firestation into soil that is mostly sand and deficient in nutrient, when, eureka, I had it! Transferring the ducky silt from the sump to the trees will still be something of a chore, but there's a pay-off and that's what makes onerous jobs do-able, isn't it. I can hardly wait. Oddly enough.
4 comments:
I'm not sure there's the direct cause-effect relationship between the ducks' home and the eel's illness. Unless there are many ducks and not much flow.
Have you considered getting the water tested? Often the regional council has a laboratory and sometimes they do private work.
Alternatively, if the ducks are wild and they come to your place, for a visit, you could introduce them to a mutual friend, Stew.
Finally, if this is one of your obscure reference to some goings on that I've not heard about up the line, please ignore this comment.
Nice problem is the solution Robert. How often do you have to empty the sump?
RG, have you had it tested for ecoli?
AC - the eel had been monstered, by a cat, I'm guessing, but he'd have been forced to the surface by the silt, and been exposed, I'm guessing. The creek is full of it.
Wildcrafty - often - maybe once a week. If I don't. it overflows. not good.
Colin - it'll be full of it. I'll take care.
Post a Comment