Re: [GSAS-Member] GBH update... and feeder request

["Connie Carlson" <nwconniec@hotmail.com>]

Oh gosh, actively avoid anything that even remotely encourages the heron is 
my vote!  Giving a predator any reason to include you as a food stop sounds 
to me like you are risking positively reinforcing the very behaviours you 
want to deter.  Classic behavioral stuff; the more times they stop and dont 
get food, the less likely they are to stop; the more times they stop and DO 
get food (the positive reinforcement part), the likelihood that they will 
regularly stop to check and look for new food will increase exponentially.  
It is the very thing I am currently fighting with resident racoons.

If you Betty, or anyone else for that matter, have cull fish that you would 
like to go to a good cause, I recently got some new Belonesox juvenilles 
that are very hungry for any feeder fish I give them.  One and a half inches 
might be too big already, but who knows.  I have a reasonable guppy 
population going, but got set back by the columnaris issue, so I am actively 
looking for any reasonably-sized (as in close to average guppy size) feeder 
fish, and hope to find some at the next meeting for sure.  The *scoop of 
guppies* that showed up at the May meeting mini auction was perfect and 
actually turned out to be a great source of brood stock!  I would much 
rather pay club members &/or contribute to club funds than to PetSmart, with 
the exception of Susans guppies - they are way too nice to be used as 
feeders for anything.  Brood stock maybe...

Incidently that same *scoop of guppies* I got at the May meeting had a 
sneaker in the bag; an odd-looking baby fish that finally grew out enough 
for me to tell that it was in fact a lovely little platy and not a guppy at 
all.  For a long time she avoided swimming with the main guppy group, and 
seemed quite lonely.  She has since gotten bigger than all but one of the 
guppies, & is acting much more relaxed and happy, but still.  I would love a 
few more where she came from in other words; anyone willing to claim that 
bunch and if so, do you have any more of those platys?  She has a yellow 
base, a large black stripe down both sides of the tail, and orange tinges on 
all fins including the caudal fin; actually a very pretty little fish!  If 
you dont have more, let me know if you want her back.

Cheers,
Connie

----Original Message Follows----
From: "Betty Goetz" <haika@drizzle.com>
Reply-To: Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member 
chat<gsas-member@thekrib.com>
To: "Greater Seattle Aquarium Society member chat" <gsas-member@thekrib.com>
Subject: [GSAS-Member] great blue heron - update
Date: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 08:36:41 -0700 (PDT)

It's been just over 2 weeks since the first incursion, and I FINALLY saw 3
of my largest shubunkins yesterday afternoon including the one that's
close to 9 - 10" now. I originally put 4 in the 100g stock tank, so maybe
the 4th is still there? I knew SOMETHING was still in that tank since the
water lilies moved like big fish were swimming down low, and I kept
finding more and more/smaller and smaller fry. Bottom line is that I'm NOT
adult goldfish-less and if all these fry survive, I'll need a LAKE! Maybe
I'll need to put an unprotected stock tank out with the culls for the
heron (sigh). Some of those fry are already ~ 1 1/2" and I can see a
calico pattern developing! Are there club members interested in
shubunkins? I certainly won't be able to keep them ALL! I'm happy to
donate them to the club for whatever $$$ they can raise.

Betty Goetz

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