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Dougal's Pet Corner
The place for your pet stories and pictures, let me have them |
| FISH |
The right pet for you? Fish are
colourful and fascinating to watch. Setting up an aquarium or pond can be expensive and
time-consuming, but most fish are easy to look after.
What do fish need? Companionship - to be with other fish. To be fed once a day with the
right kind of food. Most fish need specially prepared fish food and some live food like
water fleas. Indoor fish need a large aquarium with a ventilated cover. It should be kept
out of direct sunlight and away from extremes of hot and cold. The bottom of the aquarium
should be covered with clean gravel. An aquarium should have a filter to keep the water
clean, an aeration pump to regulate the amount of oxygen in the water, and a heater and
thermostat to regulate the temperature. An aquarium needs to be cleaned regularly and the
water changed. If fish are to be kept outdoors, they need a large pond with some
overhanging plants or trees to provide shade.
A pond needs to be cleaned out once a year and the water changed. Fallen leaves must be
cleared from the surface of the water and plants thinned out. If the pond freezes, ice
should be melted carefully. A variety of water plants in the pond or aquarium to provide
oxygen and cover. Smooth rocks and other objects also provide hiding places. Plenty of
light to encourage water plants to grow. To have help from an expert if they are ill or
injured. To be looked after when you are on holiday. |
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Fish are very delicate and sensitive. They should not be caught and
moved by hand as this is very distressing for them and they are easily injured. Use a
large smooth net to gently lift one fish out of the water. Avoid any sudden changes in
temperature or light level. |
If fish are gulping at the surface of the water, they could be suffering from oxygen
starvation. Improve the oxygen supply by changing the water, cleaning out the aquarium or
pond, using an air pump and adding plants. Sudden changes in water temperature can be very
dangerous. When moving your fish or changing the water, make sure the temperature is kept
even. Always let tap water stand for at least 24 hours to allow chlorine to evaporate.
White strands or tufts like cotton wool on the body of a fish could indicate a serious
fungus disease. This can be treated by adding anti-fungus medication to the water. If a
fish has a trailing brown thread from its body, it may have constipation. A more varied
diet is needed, including vegetable bits and some live food. Fish may suffer from white
spot disease, caused by a parasite. If there are white spots on your fish, you can buy a
cure from most pet shops. The whole aquarium will need to be treated.
Remember - a pet needs your time and interest for the rest of its life. |
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| From the North
Sea to the Moon |
In North Norfolk, the switch from summer into autumn this
year seems to have coincided very closely with the end of August. One moment it was
out-door days and a continual waft of barbecues on the evening air, and the next it was
cold north winds and thoughts of filling up the oil tank. For birders though, stiff
onshore winds mean only one thing at this time of year: sea-watching.
It must be hard for the non-enlightened person observing bird watchers hunched over their
telescopes in the teeth of cold northerly blasts, to understand the motivation for such
behaviour. The answer is the sheer excitement of potentially watching large numbers of
birds migrating past you, with the added possibility of many of them being birds that you
wouldn't normally see close in shore, and that some of them will be scarce or even rare
species.
A northerly blow started in the middle of the last week in August, and demonstrated the
importance of being at the coast as soon as the weather changes. Those who sat out
overlooking the sea on the first day of the onshore wind were entertained by good numbers
of birds. All four regular skuas were seen, the commonest, as usual, being the Arctic.
Great Skuas, Pomarine and a few Long-tailed Skuas, the rarest of the quartet, were also
seen. Manx Shearwaters were also a notable feature of this movement. These
black-above-and-white-below birds, fly on stiff wings and 'shear' or glide close to the
waves. They cover huge distances in their daily 'commutes' as well as on their annual
migrations up and down the Atlantic Ocean. One individual has recently been discovered to
be 52 years old and, to date, is estimated to have travelled over 5 million miles:
equivalent to flying to the moon and back more than 10 times! Cley-Spy |
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