# Duck weed.



## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

Thought I would try different dog walk in the Forest today and discovered a pond covered in duck weed, actually I should say Nancy discovered it as all I heard was a loud sploosh then on running into the undergrowth found said dog emerging onto the bank looking like a monster from a Sci Fi film. Although there was a lake nearby I could not persuade to enter the water to clean herself off so a drive home with a very smelly dog and then bath time. 

I recall Sandra saying she had a similar experience with a young dog,in Nancy’s defence I suppose they don’t have ponds with duckweed on them in Spain…..hope she remembers next time that you cant run across this stuff.


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

Ha Ha. Georgia found this out at about 10 weeks old! It was our own pond and the duck weed had been supporting her weight when she chased the moorhens. Then came the day when she got over excited and thought she was a moorhen! She swam though  All fenced off now.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

I remember some years ago there was a warning in hot weather at a reservoirs in Cambridgeshire, a poisonous algae was on the water and they advised man and beast not to swim in it, dead fish were everywhere.


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## Matchlock (Jun 26, 2010)

I was in Diss for a couple of nights at the end of last week, the mere in the center of town had warning signs to keep dogs away because of an algae bloom, didn't bother the ducks though.


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## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

JanHank said:


> I remember some years ago there was a warning in hot weather at a reservoirs in Cambridgeshire, *a poisonous algae* was on the water and they advised man and beast not to swim in it, dead fish were everywhere.


it's blue green algae and whilst it's unlikely to kill a human, it won't make you feel well if you swallow enough of it. dogs however can be killed by it.

it's a common problem in still water (small lakes usually), but doesn't crop up in rivers or anywhere where there is moving oxygenated water and always arrives in hot weather. not helped either if there is wash off from surrounding areas where there is livestock as their manure will only fuel the growth of the algae.

as a triathlon official we have to ensure event organisers do water tests for swimming in open water and if there is blue green algae we will cancel the swim element


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## chilly (Apr 20, 2007)

We were at CarFest north last weekend. The lake at the event (Bolesworth Castle) had blue green algae in it so all the water based events were cancelled.

As for duck weed. I spent an hour yesterday fishing it out of our garden pond. If you don't keep on top of it it takes over.


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## greygit (Apr 15, 2007)

We have a little bit of it in our pond but we have had to put a mesh over the pond to stop Nacy jumping in all the time, will have to get to the duckweed at some point though as you say it spreads some what.


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## JanHank (Mar 29, 2015)

We haven't got a pond, got a dog thought and he, like all Shelties, doesn't like swimming, he just stands on the side of the water and shouts "come out or you'll drown":grin2:


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## patp (Apr 30, 2007)

We have a a flow of water through our pond. It was not always thus. A new neighbour along our road had a bore hole drilled so that they could have unlimited un-metered water for their garden. Unfortunately the bore hole leaked after they capped it, and so the water from it travels, along the neighbouring ditches, into our pond and out the other side. Although it keeps the water fresh it means it is also too cold for much wildlife to flourish. It was very amusing, to us, when some building permission was sought next door to have the Wildlife Trust arrive to look for Great Crested Newts. We told them when they first arrived that the water was too cold and that they would be wasting their time but they continued to make nightly visits until we told them to clear off after they arrived at 10.30 pm and parked in our drive!


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