Posted by
Dave Kooker on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 4:24:16 PM
Every weekend my son and I always walk the Willowbranch creek and/or the creek, which flows, through Boone Park in Avondale (Jacksonville Florida) at least once. My son brings his net so he can catch & release frogs, turtles, and minnows. My son possesses an avid interest of animals and drawing animals. I believe he could be a very successful Audubon artist so I do anything I can to immerse himself in nature’s experiences.
On Saturday afternoon (11 Oct. 2008), Bryce and I noticed that there were 5 gold-coloured Khoi swimming in the Willowbranch creek just north of the Park Street Bridge. We were unsuccessful catching them on Saturday. On Sunday morning, we returned to the Willowbranch creek. We were able to catch one of the Khoi and transport it to a neighbor’s fishpond in their backyard. Personally I am even surprised that the pollution level from all the sewage and petroleum products flowing through the Willowbranch creek did not immediately kill the Khoi.
The water quality of the creek which flows through Boone Park is much cleaner so the frog, turtle, and fish population is much more vibrant. The portion of the creek, which flows around the open field on Herschel Street, contains non-native guppies, mollies, goldfish along with the native species of brim and mullet.
First emotion is great, there is something living in the city creeks but I do not like the balance of nature altered by non-native evasive species of animals. Nature spent a long time to find the perfect balance for our North Florida waterways. The ecology which attracts us to our neighborhood could really be altered with carelessness like this and change this ecology to something very undesirable.
It is bad enough that my son and I caught a ‘wild’ four-foot python just north of the San Juan Bridge on the Cedar River April 2008 while kayaking.
http://dmkooker.blogtownhall.com/2008/03/03/wild_pythons,_invasive_reptile_species_in_jacksonville_florida.thtml
Please make every effort to find a proper home for your fish if they are unwanted. Please do not dump your fresh water fish aquarium in the local creeks.
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