Judith Proctor's Journal

I bought a goldfish yesterday. I distinctly remember. It was a shubunkin, a
mixture of black, white and gold, but with more black overall.

It was part of a cunning plan. The pond isn't mature yet. Although several
dragonflies and damselflies have been observed laying eggs there (damselflies
are fascinting to watch - the male and female fly around joined in tandem with
the male's tail linked to the female's head - talk about being possessive of
your mate...), there won't be any larvae in the water yet. Dragonfly larvae are
quite long lived and aggressive (one to three years) and eat all sorts.

At present, we're over-run with mosquito larvae and these will mature a lot
faster than the dragonflies. Not being desirous of being bitten every time I go
into the garden, we decided to try and reduce the numbers a little before they
all change into mosquitoes. So, we bought a goldfish. Just one. Goldfish
aren't a good idea for a wildlife pond, they eat tadpoles for starters, so I
didn't want to have a breeding population.

I left him in the plastic bag floating in the water for half an hour to let the
temperature stabilise, changed the water gradually to reduce any shock, and
finally release one perky, altert goldfish. He promptly dived into the deep
water and hasn't been seen since. Not a fin. Not a whisker (not that he has
any anyway...).

George (long for Jaws) is thus in disgrace. I can see nearly a foot down into
that pond, but he's still hiding deeper than that. I don't know, give a fish
free live food (which they love) and what does he do? Hide...