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second edition • Nebraska Pond Management • 79 is also effective in deterring burrowing along the dam. Cattails, arrowhead, and other vegetation form much of this rodent's food. Removing the food source will discourage muskrats. Keeping the pond banks mowed also limits their activities. Muskrats can be driven from the dam by placing a half cup of mothballs in holes drilled at 3 foot intervals along the face of the dam near the water's edge. The holes should be sealed shut with soil after the mothballs have been added. Nuisance muskrats can also be controlled by trapping, either during the trapping season or after obtaining a depredation permit. Frogs need water to reproduce and thus are common in ponds. Gelatinous masses of frog eggs can be found attached to vegetation along shallow shoreline areas during the spawning season from spring through early summer. Maintaining good shoreline vegetation cover is important for all life stages of frogs. It also provides them protection from terrestrial and aquatic predators. Frogs do not have a negative or positive affect on a fish community. Some frog species are quite mobile and adults may not stay at a pond, but bullfrogs usually make a pond their permanent home. The bullfrog is the only species that has a tadpole stage lasting longer than a year. Bass and other predators will feed on frogs and keep their numbers in check. Consult fishing regulations regarding possession or harvest of bullfrogs. Salamanders also need water to reproduce. They normally are not common in ponds containing fish, especially if predators, such as largemouth bass and catfish, are present. High numbers of salamanders in a pond normally indicates the pond is too shallow to sustain a viable fishery or that no fish have been introduced yet. If a pond contains a high number of salamanders and has adequate depth to support sport fish, they should be eliminated before fingerling fish are stocked; otherwise, the salamanders will eat them. Adult fish should be stocked if removal of salamanders isn't feasible. Waterbirds, such as terns, gulls, herons, kingfishers, cormorants, pelicans, and grebes, are attracted to ponds. While many will eat fish, they rarely consume enough to affect fish populations; however, a high concentration of pelicans and cormorants on a small pond can greatly reduce fish populations. Some of these birds are intermediate hosts for the black and yellow grubs. While they are often thought to carry fish or fish eggs from one pond to another, it has never been documented. These birds, like snakes and turtles, are normally beneficial predators that remove weak or diseased fish from a pond. Some of these birds can also help control nuisance pests such as leeches and snails. Other birds that frequent ponds, such as swallows, purple martins, and kingbirds, are effective in controlling pesky insects, such as mosquitos and biting flies. Nearly all birds are protected by state and federal laws and should not be killed or discouraged from feeding or nesting around ponds. Although a pond will also attract migrating waterfowl, pond owners near metropolitan areas across the state and all pond owners east of Highway 14 should not feed or encourage them to nest. This is especially true for Canada geese. They can become over-abundant and cause health and water quality problems. See page 46 regarding additional information on waterfowl. Damselfly on Equisetum (Horsetail)