Water Gardening: An interesting day!, 1 by DRH2

DRH2 wrote:
It all started yesterday afternoon (Sunday) when we arrived home I did my usual check of the pond only to discover that one of the three big Koi was swimming around with it's mouth sticking out. When I looked closely it I thought I saw a tail fin sliding in and out of it's mouth sort of like a snake's tongue! I waited a couple of hours and checked again to see if maybe he'd swallowed it and --- nope. So this afternoon (Monday) I went into the pond with the air temperature around 37, water temp sitting around 43 and spitting snow I went out and caught the bugger -- typical balmy Vermont Novemeber weather. Sure enough he'd swallowed a 3" comet and gotten it stuck in his throat! Removed it and hopefully he'll recover with no infections or other complications. Oh, and the little guy was still breathing!! Unfortunately I'd had to destroy his fins and tail in the process of getting him out so I had to euthanize the comet. So if you're wondering what happens to those little comets over the winter and why your Koi look rather healthy come spring - think cannibals and carnivores!