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Keeping fish as outdoor pets
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Author's photo of fish in the water feature of the Morton
Arboretum's fragrance garden.
The living, moving jewels of many a backyard water feature are the lovely golden or varicolored koi—beautiful carp bred for exhibiting in ornamental ponds. Witnessing my cousin Anne’s concern when the local egret showed up before she had replaced the summer netting reminded me that outdoor fish can be just as much a part of the family as indoor fish. In this case, Ann, Charlotte and Emily, after the Bronte sisters.
See, the thing is, you see these lovely (and often quite pricey) fish as ornaments to complete the look of your garden pond, pool or fountain … whereas the neighborhood predators see potential dinner. Who are these predators, you ask?
Daylight finds mostly birds after your fish: herons and egrets are the most ardent fisher-birds. Besides the fish you put in, your water feature probably attracts frogs and toads—all food for these long-legged wading birds. Netting is the best way to deter them—if they see can’t land and wade without getting entangled, they’ll go elsewhere. My cousin uses very dark netting stretched over a couple of poles less than a foot above the water. The birds see the net and go elsewhere—but the people can still see through and appreciate the water with minimal visual interference.
Nighttime predators tend to be sneakier—raccoons, foxes, maybe even coyotes. But fish do not form the primary food choices of any of them, so the same netting you use against birds may provide enough nuisance value to deter mammalian predators as well. My aunt lost a 1-foot diameter turtle to a raccoon—but turtles are much slower and easier to catch than fish.
I’d love to hear stories from readers about their experiences with keeping fish outdoors. How big a pond do you have? I’d guess that, in Chicago, this is mostly a warm-weather undertaking. Do any of you have koi that overwinter in the water? If you bring your fish inside, when do you do so?
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