Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss on the loose

I've temporarily escaped. We managed to get a break in my schedule and are up at our pond property. I've managed to hack into a free Wi-Fi signal at a local restaurant (well not actually hack in as they let any idiot use it, which of course explains why I'm using it).

Anyhoo, the property looks great, no sign of theft, vandalism or damage of any kind.

The game cameras are working well. They did capture photos of two trespassers (both men and oddly enough both bare footed). We don't recognize either of them. We are considering forwarding the photos to the local Sheriff.

The good and fun news is that the game cameras have captured some great photos of wild life. I'll edit and post the photos when we get back but I'm telling you we have some good pictures. Deer-o-plenty (no surprise there), some Mountain Hare, a red fox (no not THE Redd Foxx), a coyote (where's the Coyote Helper when you need it), a couple of feral cats (the neighbor said he feeds them) and best of all, drum roll please, we have some great photos of a Bob Cat!

We have plenty more chores to do around the place (I thought living in the country meant living a life of leisure, boy was I wrong).

So far we haven't gone fishing once (are my priorities messed up or what?).

We're having fun and working hard.

If I can check in again while I'm gone I will.

Let's hope those trespassers didn't steal any of your irreplaceable GSF.
I've heard that they're the fish of choice of barefoot people.

Congrats on the escape. I wonder if your barefoot visitors escaped as well.....???

Or did they escape from South of El Cajon and are working their way North?

That's great that you caught some trespassers on film. Did they have fishing gear?

Jeff -- being a "come here" in relation to where your pond is -- I'd be real careful about this whole episode. If they find out you are from SoCal, you could be mis-labeled as a kook. With some of those barefoot NoCals, it ain't gonna be pretty if they find out you reported them.

Also, these local hirsute barefoot dudes might take revenge. I believe this photo was taken fairly close to where your pond is located.




The even better news -- in your area, I believe you can find Coyote Helper for under $3 at most any Lucky Supermarkets or Raley’s --



And, it tastes equally good with coyote, sasquatch, or even mountain hare.

Have a great, safe, and relaxed vacation! I wouldn't worry a bit about any of those multiple eyes you see in the woods after dark if you you sweep a light across the forest.

That sounds like a big improvement from last year. Pics would be great.

Pics are NECESSARY. You know that JHAP. looking forward to them.

B'ski, that's "Gold".....

Can't wait to see the photos! Glad to hear things were OK when you got there...

We got back last night. I have to edit the photos, the cameras literally (just for Bruce) took thousands of them.



Nope neither had fishing gear with them. After I posted the above post we saw one of the guys at the "crack heads" house down the road.

I'll edit photos and post them.


Oh and I guess that I should have said not "THE" Bobcat but a bobcat.

This is the reason for purchasing the game cameras.

Trespassers, caught in the act....






This is just a pleasant bonus for having the game cameras...

Mountain Hare...


Black Tailed Buck...



Grey Fox...



Bobcat...




There were many, many photos of deer (so many I actually got bored looking at them) a few of ducks, and several of feral cats.

OK, Mr Stealth...
Tell us about the types of cams, how they were hidden, and what you learned about round 1 of Beat the Reaper.

Dang that is a good, clear photo of the trespasser! If the pics are time and date stamped, I'd forward them to the sheriff. Without a date, it's unlikely you could prosecute, but a visit by law enforcement could happen.

Cool animal pics Jhap!

We bought seven Bushnell 5.0 Megapixel Trophy Cams. The primary reason that we chose this particular camera is battery life. These cameras are rated as having one of the longest battery lives of any game camera. For us that is a huge issue (since at times we go months without visiting the property). Also price was an issue for us as well and the Bushnell is fairly reasonable comparatively speaking.

Overall I'd say I'm very happy with the cameras. Many of the daytime photos are overexposed, I'm going to have to experiment with camera settings.



Very carefully.

There is a real trade off in hiding game cameras. The camera must be placed in such a way that there are not very many branches in it's field of view, otherwise every branch movement will trigger the camera. This is the case for one of our cameras (which took thousands of photos of nothing but also got one of the trespasser photos). Yet if it is completely out in the open then the camera becomes a target for thieves.

What I did was to trim the lower branches on several trees. Place the game camera up in the tree below the branch line and aimed slightly downward. In this way I hoped to minimize false triggering. I placed the cameras up the trees 10-12 feet so they are above the height that can be reached without a ladder. We used Python cable locks and steel security cases to attach them to the trees.



We now have photos of the trespassers and have identified where one of the two lives (or at least hangs out). Nothing was missing at out place so we didn't contact the Sheriff. We are debating as to what to do with the photos - JWHAP wants to print the trespassing photos and attach them to our front gate with a statement such as: You have been caught on camera trespassing. Stay off our property. There is part of me that want's to do that and part of me that thinks that this is will stir up more trouble.

Thoughts?

All of the photos are date and time stamped. I just cropped it out on the photos above.

Wow... And I thought my trespassers looked like rednecks!!!

Great pics JHAP!

Does Died have an opinion of, or some pull with, the sheriff? If you confront the trespassers and let them know you have photographic proof, they will look for and find the cameras.

If the one guy is in fact the nephew of tour neighbor, he has been put on notice and obviously doesn't care or respect where the property lines are.

You may want to call the county prosecutor to see what they are willing to seek with charges.

One other thing to consider is getting restraining orders against the culprits. Then if you get pictures of them trespassing, the penalty could be far worse than those for trespassing.

I don't know, but I'll find out.


That was my concern about putting their photo on the front gate. The guy walking toward the camera obviously did not know the camera was there.

Both trespassers walked past numerous "No Trespassing" signs and in fact off to the right (out of picture) of the guy walking toward the camera is a post that contains two signs one that says "No Trespassing, No Hunting, No Fishing, No Motor Vehicles" and a second sign that says "Property Under Video Survellience."

After a close up review of the photos I don't think the one guy is the neighbors nephew. He looks older to me than the nephew so for now he is still a mystery.


The guying walking toward the camera is walking on a gravel road.... barefooted!!!

The guy walking away from the camera has something in his hand. When I zoom in on it it looks like a bag of beef jerky. No I'm not kidding.

I didn't think there were any red-necks west of the Rockies.


Thanks, I'm pretty happy considering it's the first round of game camera photos. I need to fine tune the location and camera settings but it's not a bad start.

would this not require the ability to read?

Damn, I hadn't though of that.

Perhaps I should take a photo of my Winchester and put in on the sign as well.

From the looks of them there fellers, I'd say they wuz headin' to your place to get their annual bath in yer pond!

It looks like it might be the same guy in both pics, hat ,beard, barefoot, and same body type, but can't tell ,---- thoughts?

Maybe he was just out there messin' with Sasquatch!

It's Kalifornia what do you expect?

Any possibility these guys have a pot farm or a few plants on your property? If so they could be dangerous. The one looks like he's done some prison time to me.

Personally I'd nail them with a restraining order. I wouldn't tolerate strangers snooping around my property. You could end up with another break in.

BTW I'm disappointed one of them wasn't Cody Lundin of Dual Survivor. He goes barefoot too.

No wonder we had a huge algae bloom this year.



It's definately two different people...
...of course their sister might be their mother.


We patrolled the entire property. Nothing unusual was growing.

Would you really tell us if there was!!

I can't be sure, but the guy in the second picture looks like he might not have any teeth.

Oddly enough, both guys seem to have some upper body definition.

I'm sure I could bench more then either of them, or both of them put together, but maybe not if they were on crack.

Does anyone else find it oddly uncomfortable that Sunil made that observation?



Just playin', Sunil!

JHAP, get in touch with the sheriff ASAP. I was told by the sheriff here that once a few fines are levied, then the trespassing will be minimized.

For a restraining order to be taken out, you need the name, etc., of the person.

What you could be seeing is a scouting trip for a theft trip at a later date.

In Indiana, straight trespassing is handled by the sheriff, fishing, hunting, trapping violations are handled by the Conservation Officer.

The sheriff here said that if caught, they ask the person to leave, after checking that they have no outstanding wants or warrants. The only way that a landowner could prosecute would be if they didn't leave, or if the landowner took out a restraining order on them. Violating the fish & game laws was a different story.

Having 0 tolerance on trespassers will solve your problem, but probably not immediately.

What do you think they do in their free time in prison? Lift weights!

Hmmm good points Scott, perhaps I need to reconsider what to do with the photos.

Okay, other observations around the property during our visit:

The Pond:

Vegetation:
From a vegetation stand point the pond is in miserable shape. For those that recall I battled an won the war on Elodea in our pond. Unfortunately the decimation of Elodea freed up space and nutrients for other pond weeds to take hold. We have an explosion of American Pond Weed and what I think is Coontail. I didn't get samples of the Coontail lookalike so I am not certain at this point. Between these two plants the pond is back to a high percentage of vegetation coverage - I would estimate at 30 to 40%.

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In this shot you can see the submerged culprit. Next trip I'll pull some out and take the required photos for identification.


**********
This shot, taken from the east shoreline looking west, is an indication of how much the American Pond Weed has taken hold. Much like the Elodea did it is reaching almost all the way across the shallow end of the pond. And the "other weed" is also rampant in this area.

The size perspective is somewhat skewed by the camera lens as the far shore in this photo is over 500 feet away and most of the trees along that far shore are well over 50 feet tall.




Given that it is late in the year I am afraid of treating the weeds and causing on oxygen crash. My strategy at this point is to let winter kill it off (which may cause an oxygen crash on it's own) and then treat the weeds next spring.

Any treatment suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Water level:
The water level on the pond is surprisingly high for this time of year. Although we are down about 4 to 5 feet that is much less that we have been down during the same month in other years (like last year). As most of you know, out here in the wild west it is not unusual to have a season fluctuation of 5 - 7 vertical feet in pond depth. Last year my pond was lower that I had ever seen it, at it's lowest I would estimate that it was down almost 8 feet.
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This shot is taken from the south shore looking north...


Fish and other pond life:
Although we didn't fish we did spent a few hours of one day observing pond life. We saw schools of Gams cruising the shallows so their population looked good. We observed large numbers and a variety of sizes of BG, they all looked to be healthy and of a good Wr. We saw quite a few good sized juvenile LMB ranging in size from about 6" to 12" and they certainly looked well fed. Unfortunately we did not observe any of my beloved GSF. Hopefully the are in there somewhere.

Frogs were a plenty, all along the shore line of the shallows.

Being an absentee owner that lives so far away makes hands on pond management a difficult venture, especially when you pile on top of that the limited time we spent there last year. Sadly, our pond management negligence is showing.

My plan:
Let the weeds die back on their own for the winter. Hopefully the weeds are not at the point it which they will cause a oxygen crash when they naturally die back in the winter.

I plan on identifying the secondary weed, the one that I think is Coontail, and attack them during the beginning of their growing season in the spring.

Thoughts?
Suggestions?
Random diatribes?
Juvenalian Satire?
Or the elusive triple entendre?

Your weed attack sounds similar to my primrose plan for next year I'd also like to hear what people say about this method..

Oh and as and also and PS:

Three other observations and or matters of minimal interest:

First it appears as though our wild blackberries didn't produce many berries this year. I'm not sure why.

Secondly, standing next to our "tool shed" I heard and incredible noise off to my left. At first I though it was a gun shot. I peered around the tool shed just in time to see a large tree fall on a forested area of our property. This was the first time I had actually observed this first hand. What an amazing site, it careened off another tree severing many branches of that tree and crashed to the ground. The sound was incredible and it was followed by a huge cloud of leaves and dust. I was glad I was 40 to 50 feet away. This is empirical proof that if a tree falls in the forest and someone is around to hear it it does in fact make a noise.

Next I plan on exploring whether or not a Ursus Americanus actually defecates in high tree density areas.

And finally, our neighbor mentioned that he spotted a Mountain Lion crossing the upper meadow of our property (from his deck that has a view over this meadow). Hopefully sooner or later we will capture this elusive beast on a game camera. It did make this city boy quite jumpy while on the property though.

Are you sure it wasn't a bag of wild blackberries?

Gflo, you're killin' me

JHAP:

Something will utilize the nutrients that's in the ponds. You will have to decide which is the lesser of "X" number of evils. You could kill all the weeds and have a FA nightmare on your hands. You could treat specific areas of the pond so it's useable to you, but still allowing the weeds to do their thing. I'd leave the weeds alone this year and formulate a plan of attack for next year.

Mebee your barefoot neighbors are keeping the berries in check?

Being an absentee landowner is hard, and you never seem to get caught up on the "to do" list, especially living as far away as you do.

Count your blessings on the water level.

Looks like you need a local property manager and caretaker.

Next time you're there, take a good look at the tree that fell and determine why. Then take a close look at any trees that are close enough to your buildings and make sure they won't do the same thing. It's a good thing you weren't walking in that area when the tree came down. Now break out the chainsaw and get the firewood cut up!

Gathering blackberries barefooted? Those would be some tough Hombre's!

Jhap, you'd better sharpen up your martial arts skills, or lure Sunil to NorCal with large qtys of an obscure mirobrew for a little light duty action.

No microbrews, please.

I'll vouch for the noise!!! I was sitting in a tree stand alongside a deep creek when I heard a big "crack" like a nearby deer rifle, that was fired my way, then I saw a big splash in the creek. It seemed like a minute passed while I watched a huge 120'+ tall river Sycamore with around an 8' diameter trunk start falling. It was falling at a right angle to me, and I was within range of the fall but trapped in the tree. Trapped till it landed and lifted me out of the seat with the impact!

An awesome sight to see!

Jeffie, Maybe you need better trespassing signs. Here are some ideas

Heybud, perhaps the sign with the photo of the gun will work. Given that the trespassers keep walking past the No Trespassing signs I'm beginning think that these two are a product of our wonderful California education system (in 2009 California was ranked 49th out of the 51 states). <--


DOH!!!



I don't want to kill all of the weeds, I just want to reduce their numbers down to about 20% coverage. Unlike most folks, I like the weeds along the shoreline since they make shore fishing difficult which IMHO is helping to discourage poachers. We primarily fish from our Alum boat so the shoreline weeds don't bother me.

I think that my action plan will be "do nothing during the fall/winter" (I love plans in which I have to do nothing) and then attack the weeds selectively during the spring.



Yep I'm going to have to look at the tree. It seems odd for a tree to fall during summer (well technically fall but you wouldn't know it from the weather).


Jeez you sound just like DIED. I made the mistake of telling DIED that I bought some oak firewood. He punched me in the gut and told me "DON'T BUY FIREWOOD, get out of the recliner and cut up some of the oak on your property plus I have plenty on mine for you to cut up for firewood.

DIED is such a disciplinarian.

sorry i missed you jeff, i was, ummm........detained......... this years eagle lake report
(about half way down pg)

cant wait to see the pics off yer cameras..

regarding the fire wood, there is still lots down from that low elevation snow earlier this year. i am sad on several fronts to admit i have no more excuses cutting the big stuff up, as i have my brothers stihl to use this winter.

Oh I get it, off goofing around at Eagle Lake while I'm slaving on my land.

You weren't slaving if the firewood isn't cut up yet!