Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations geese and snakes

I just recently purchased a house with a 2 acre pond. There are three geese that live on the pond. I'm wondering if they are helpful or harmful to the pond. I've heard that they will help control the snake population. I've already seen that they are nasty birds that excrete a tremendous amount of waste (you know what I mean). However, if they will control the snakes, they stay no matter how messy!

Three geese on two acres? Two turtle doves, and big bass in a pear tree? Three geese won't be a problem for a pond that periodically overflows. Wanna keep the goose poop out of the water? Feed your feathered snake-eating friends away from water's edge. You will accomplish several good things...geese will void themselves outside the water, and you will have new best friends for life...the geese will follow you anywhere, as long as you carry the feed bucket. Watch out, they bite.

Bob, on the same topic (I think)I just stocked a 3/4acre pond with 100black crappie and 100 channel cat 8lbs of fathead minnows...Now saying that, my wife just purchased 4 muskogee ducks for the pond.My question is this..Do the ducks eat fish or just the algea and feed we give em? WE were told the keep the pond clean of weeds...

The ducks won't hurt your fish. They prefer salad to meat.

Your ducks won't eat fish. Crappie in 3/4 acre? Let us know how it goes.

There is pond down the road from us that has had great crappie in it for as long as I can remember and the pond I have is the same size and maybe deeper. I love cathing them when they are biting so I dont really think I'l have a problem with them stunting.What is the big stink about Crappie around here? I'm definatly no expert at fish, but I cant think of a pond around us that doesnt have them in it.DO they take over and ruin the pond for other fish? I refuse to put Bass in it and I figure the catfish will help the pop. stay down.Am I completly wrong here?

It's not a matter of "if", but "when" crappie overpopulate a small pond. Here's why. Crappie are the first fish to spawn each spring. They are top line predators, limited only by mouth size. Since they spawn first each year, their babies eat subsequent spawns. Crappie are inconsistent spawners, so predicting their populations is tough. Imagine no spawn one year, then none the next, then 5,000 baby crappie in your pond the next, then 10,000 the next, then no babies the next.
Crappie can't efficiently eat each other, like bass can. So, while bass can control numbers of each other, and other fish, crappie, even with that big hinged mouth, can't offer any type of population control, at all.
So, you are at their mercy.
Don't misunderstand...you will likely have nice crappie fishing for a period of time, until they spawn. Don't count of channel catfish to control excess crappie. They won't. While large catfish will eat crappie, don't expect population control.

Ok, so worst case senario I have stunted fish in a few years? The pond is about 20 ft deep but the surface is every bit 3/4 acre's...Now, it's not that deep all the way around but I know where it is!! I guess unless we have a bad drought I wont be able to sein it..How long,proving the fish are fed, do you think I need to wait to fish em? I put them in a week ago and they were of the 2-3inch size? On the same note, we have a pond that we stocked some seined crappie in about 5 years ago..We fished about 2 years ago and caught the snot out of them ( real good eatin size)..After that day, not a single one has been caught since! I honestly thought it was fished out but the way everyone talks about them re-producing so quick, I dont see why we havent caught any since..Have caught some decent bass out of it, but they are few and far between too!!