They Live!
At home, aside from the koi pond, I have a 55 gallon tank with four fish.
My favorite of them all is a Jack Dempsey cichlid.
This fish is at least 3 years old.
'
I call it Ahnold (as in the Terminator) because I'm pretty sure it's a male, and he's supposed to be aggressive.
\
Keeping the tank sparsely populated, keeps things calm.
He does not bother a "clown loach ","rainbow shark"or Cory catfish that share the tank.
Ahnold is bigger than my hand.
He hides under a flowerpot all day long, and only comes out when he's hungry.
When he's hungry, he acts like a begging puppy!
Ahnold likes all kinds of worms, which I can buy dried or live at the pet store.
He will not eat the flake food that the other fish eat.
His favorite food is live earth worms, which I can find under a rock in my back yard.
A few times a week, or whenever I am gardening, I bring him some earth worms from outside.
I am not squeamish, although I hate all bees and wasps, and certain spiders.
When I go outside and dig in the garden, the dogs and the cat are excited and try to help.
On this other day, Sammy and Blacky were telling me that mice had been in this pot.
Last night, I turned over a brick and found a bunch of earth worms, as usual.
To my surprise, one wasn't an earth worm at all.
It was a SALAMANDER!
As a kid, I was unafraid to look under rocks and see what was underneath.
I used to go to the Santa Ana river near my home, and collect tadpoles, which turned into Western Toads or bull frogs.
(This was before the river was widened and paved over, in the late 80's.)
One of my earliest childhood memories was turning over a patio brick in my yard, and finding earthworms with LEGS.
Dad explained they were actually amphibians, called Salamanders.
I tried to keep those in an aquarium, but they died, of course.
I'm not sure the species.
We didn't have the internet 30 years ago, but a quick search suggests they are these:
Garden Slender Salamander
http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/b.m.major.html
I have never seen these again, not since I was a kid, but it stuck in my memory.
Did they get into our suburban yard when the big river flooded, historically?
Amphibians are becoming more and more rare.
I quickly put the salamander back near the brick where I found it.
It may seem peculiar to get excited about such a wormy thing, but I don't care!
It made my day! They live!
My favorite of them all is a Jack Dempsey cichlid.
This fish is at least 3 years old.
'
I call it Ahnold (as in the Terminator) because I'm pretty sure it's a male, and he's supposed to be aggressive.
Keeping the tank sparsely populated, keeps things calm.
He does not bother a "clown loach ","rainbow shark"or Cory catfish that share the tank.
Ahnold is bigger than my hand.
He hides under a flowerpot all day long, and only comes out when he's hungry.
When he's hungry, he acts like a begging puppy!
Ahnold likes all kinds of worms, which I can buy dried or live at the pet store.
He will not eat the flake food that the other fish eat.
His favorite food is live earth worms, which I can find under a rock in my back yard.
A few times a week, or whenever I am gardening, I bring him some earth worms from outside.
I am not squeamish, although I hate all bees and wasps, and certain spiders.
When I go outside and dig in the garden, the dogs and the cat are excited and try to help.
On this other day, Sammy and Blacky were telling me that mice had been in this pot.
Last night, I turned over a brick and found a bunch of earth worms, as usual.
To my surprise, one wasn't an earth worm at all.
It was a SALAMANDER!
As a kid, I was unafraid to look under rocks and see what was underneath.
I used to go to the Santa Ana river near my home, and collect tadpoles, which turned into Western Toads or bull frogs.
(This was before the river was widened and paved over, in the late 80's.)
One of my earliest childhood memories was turning over a patio brick in my yard, and finding earthworms with LEGS.
Dad explained they were actually amphibians, called Salamanders.
I tried to keep those in an aquarium, but they died, of course.
I'm not sure the species.
We didn't have the internet 30 years ago, but a quick search suggests they are these:
Garden Slender Salamander
http://www.californiaherps.com/salamanders/pages/b.m.major.html
I have never seen these again, not since I was a kid, but it stuck in my memory.
Did they get into our suburban yard when the big river flooded, historically?
Amphibians are becoming more and more rare.
I quickly put the salamander back near the brick where I found it.
It may seem peculiar to get excited about such a wormy thing, but I don't care!
It made my day! They live!
I agree, so cool! Great pictures, Julie! ♥
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