House on a retention pond
 

In my endless pursuit to narrow down my choices...

Does anyone live on a retention pond? Positives (no homes behind, scenic etc.)? Negatives (endless frog noise, snakes etc.)?

Any help would be appreciated.

Russ

House on Pond
 

Russ,
I sort of assume nearly every pond is a retention pond as all are designed to gather runoff - I have a house on a pond, just off the first hole of Kilimanjaro,
it is so cool to watch the sunset over the water, the frogs are just coming in as the pond is only two years old, but there are lots of ducks, and the sounds they make are actually sort of comfortable,
I live out in the boonies now, and have coyotes, deer, owls ect making all kinds of noises - so the pond is noise I already like,
I do not yet live there full time, but love my visits because the water is so calming,
When we were making the decision to buy, the pond view and presence was the clinching factor, (other than the fact she wanted it.)
so I guess personal preference is the real decision point,
Besides, you will be so busy playing you'll only sit on the lanai looking at the pond at cocktail time - from a hammock!
Peace,

Yes I meant any pond. Thanks.

It was the best $75,000.00 I have ever spent.

I do not live on a pond but observe many. Water levels can vary in some ponds due to runoff, pumping out for irrigation, etc. Some even go dry. You may want to ask some questions concerning this before buying.

I lived on a relatively large pond prior to moving here. It was fed naturally and water level controlled by a dam. That's the only thing I "sacrificed" to move here. Relaxing on a lanai is great but relaxing on a lanai overlooking water is close to heaven.

How about alligators? I would choose to not live pondside here because I definitely would not like to meet up with an alligator.

I have friends that live in Zephyrhills, FL a little bit South of us here in TV who had waterfront pond property and every day they had a visit from an alligator. They moved to another community and don't miss the waterfront.

Have read a few comments on this website where residents on waterfront properties have gaiters in their yards.

I wish we had a gator in our pond that would be so cool.

I suggest you look at any pond in July and August and see if it is to your liking. I was amazed at the amount of algae and "gunk" in some of the ponds this past summer. I commented to my wife that I sure was glad to not be living on some of them. The funny thing is that some ponds were fine and others were an eyesore.

When we pull a "Jeffersons" and are "movin on up"... it'll be on a pond. We are lookin now!

Hey Doc, wanna buy my house, LOL??? Great view of the pond and golf course, no close neighbors.... Make you a deal????? LOL..

Look at the pond around the first or second week of June and you might see them.
Last year while making deliveries I seen gators on the banks of many ponds at that time. (mating time)
You will also notice a lot of turtles walking across roads to get from one pond to another in search of mates.:clap2:

Another hopper
 

No one mentioned mosquitoes. Are they a problem? BTW, I love to hear frogs sing!

Ponds and Skeeters
 

Well, the only mosquito's I have encountered was last Labor Day while playing Heron at sunset - it was hot and they were hungry -
I have not encountered any around the pond behind the house,
nor any Gators yet, one has moved in to the pond at Havana - but he has not figured out how to cross Morse, nor found the tunnel, yet.
Like any other critter, they were here first and you give them their space, now some critters space is in the freezer or up on the grill, but you just got to accept them.
:)
:)

We are on a pond and I love it. There are a few times in the summer when they pump it that it is lower but overall it is a wonderful view. We enjoy the bird life - the ducks entertain with their diving and social habits. No frog noise now but do get it late in the evening in the summers. Do not hear it in the house though.

Kathie, you're not leaving TV are ya? Hope not! How'd you end up with "no close neighbors"...I didn't think that was possible in TV! LOL

I think all the things mentioned here are expected with living on or near a pond. You would get use to the frogs croaking. Gators, although a novelty, they are stilla wild animal and I would be cautious especially if you own a small animal ie dog or cat. THe one caution I would also have is that some of these critters be it frogs, 'skeers, or snakes could make their way into your lanai area. Ive seen it happen a number of times to homes not directly on any body of water.

I would just make certain "the pond" has a means of circulating water...and does not become stagent. That could be a mess but otherwise I would enjoy the view.

We had friends who thought the pond was great, and it was until they had a gator in their back yard. Thought it was a freak thing. Second time it was by their back porch.
They no longer live by a pond. Gators can be so rude. They just don't have any respect for their neighbors.

Lookin and Buyin.... very different...:D

I love living on a pond. We enjoy sitting on our lanai in the early morning sipping coffee and watching the pond. At night it is also beautiful.

Alligators? Yup, we have them. They go from pond to pond when they are interconnected by tunnels, etc. They lie by the edge and sun themselves. They have never bothered us.......they seem very afraid of people and scatter upon approach.

We like watching the Sand Hill Cranes, Iingas (Sp), etc. We have 24" bass in our pond.

Our pond, (funny Floridians call it a lake, but it is a pond) is spring fed and never dries up. It has never gotten algae or anything. It is clear and nice.

On the other side of the pond we have a golf course, and the green is right there to watch. Very nice.

I did not pay more for this, but it is one of the main reasons I bought the house.......

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v8...k/DCP_6636.jpg

Frank D.

On the other side of the coin.....at first we were looking at a pond view, but then we saw everything activity wise that TV offers. We evaluated just wanted out of retirement, and decided that the extra price was not worth the little bit of time we plan to be actually in our Villa. On our frequent trips down, two to three times a month, we stay so busy with activities we would actually only see the water for a few hours in the morning, so we think it was a wise choice. Plus when we learned that all the ponds are marked "may or may not retain water" you may pay for a pond view now but may not later!

Army Guy

I live on a pond in Bonita, and I love it. We had some difficulty at the end of last summer when the pond went dry. It turns out that there were 2 holes in the liner as well as a sink hole (my understanding). As you can imagine there were numerous calls to The Villages office, and it was repaired within a few weeks, and is full and beautiful once again.
I love watching the many different birds, large and small, and the sunsets are wonderful. I have not seen an alligator or snake yet, but I have noticed some turtles making their way to the pond. I know some folks would not choose to be on a pond, but I feel very fortunate to have been able to build on this pond.

Love the view!
 

W bought in Amelia and love our pond! One thing to consider in TV, location,location,location! Even though you think you found the dream home, if you read these threads you'll see the average villager may move a few times once here.That was surprising to us so we kept in mind we MAY want to sell after moving FT....One thing we realized is the view will sell a house and the privacy of being on a lake and not a "kissing lanai "is priceless. I love seeing the ducks in the morning instead of the neighbor in a bathrobe!:shocked: Just some food for thought..Of course like one of the previous posters said, "There is never a guarantee there will always be water." In fact, they make you sign a copy of the land plot saying exactly that...Good Luck.

Be careful what you wish for...
 

While living in Tampa a few years ago, I saw gators crossing the highway ramp right at the stop sign coming off of I-75. There was a small pond nearby that they must have called home. We lived in a new development and also had neighbors who found a gator in their pool more than once... they chewed right through the lanai screen on each occasion (the gators, not the neighbors).

Unfortunately, other people in the neighborhood started feeding them and some unthinking adult actually taught the kids how to call them (with a mating sound) after taking a nature study course! This was very scary because some terrible events regarding gators and their prey had just occurred which I will not go into here.

We currently live in Pennsylvania and deer are the problem here. The "animal rights" people will not let them be taken out even with carefully controlled herd thinning practices. So, we routinely find them sleeping in the flower beds, or munching on the plantings. They have no fear... they just walk around the neighborhood or jump in front of your car whenever they feel like it (they are not too smart).

If the damaged or destroyed landscaping was the only problem that would be one thing, but deer also have tics which then get into your grass and then land on you when you least expect it. These tics carry a debilitating form of limes disease. My neighbor got a bad case of it just from working in the mulch last spring.

The point is that there may not be too many gators in TV now, and they may currently be afraid of people, but that could change. So, if you have (or are thinking of) a pond view please be vigilant. Finally (although I'm sure I would love the view as well), we must all make sure that future practices in The Villages allow for keeping the gator population under control.

Good post!
Thankfully the folks in my neighborhood know better then to feed the gators. If we have one and it gets too big, the wildlife folks come and get it and relocate it.

At my NY home, the deer (and wild turkeys)are all over. The deer come right up to the house and eat the flower beds, and have ruined the shrubs. I have found that there are a few types of deer resistant scrubs that I have replaced the other shrubs.
It is sad to see the deer starve. Thankfully the hunters try to keep the population down.

At the risk of hurting this thread by going off topic about hunters, etc....I will get back to ponds. Ours never dries up, and we do not have any mosquito problems. It is a good idea to know weather your pond is spring fed and full year round, or is it a man made retention pond that could dry up.

Frank

Love the pond !
 

Having rented a great home a short period for the last two years on a retention pond in Hadley. I'll definitely say that we looked forward to sitting out on the lanai listening to the symphony in the evening.
We are planning to move from New England to TV as soon as house # 2 sells. Our house lot priority # 1, is on a golf course, #2 on a retention pond. It would be great to incorporate both!

We just moved to a house which backs on two "sometimes" ponds and a golf course. Usually small ponds. However with all the rain, currently there is quite a lot of water. We love the privacy and watching the birds. I think a "view" lot is worth every penny.

I don't mind frogs and snakes (although I haven't seen any). However I have a deathly fear of gators. barf The neighbours tell me in five years they haven't seen a gator in this area.

I'm hoping the ponds are too small and if gators do come through the pipes, they won't stay around. I think gators are dormant when it is cold. I'm told you can hear the gators "talking" at night when they're active. If I see a gator, there will be a "for sale" sign on the lawn the next morning!

Call me before you put the for sale sign up! I hope youre not a golfer... we share the courses with the gators. As the saying goes.... "they were here first".

Think about it folks.......there are thousands of gators in Florida......I rarely read about people getting eaten by them. Yes, it happens rarely, but mostly from fools who go looking for lost golf balls, or dumb people who feed them.

At least in our pond, they seem much more scared of us then we are of them. They do not come knocking at the door or anything. I did have a bobcat walk in front of me the last time I was down there.....it was walking right down the middle of the street.

In Florida, I'm more scared of some drivers then I am of gators.....I LOVE our pond...

Frank

We have a small pond behind our property. I love the water view on the preserve but I still have this overwhelming fear that a gator is going to come rushing up into our back yard and eat our 9 pd. dog for dinner. I watch her carefully when she goes out but gators can be VERY FAST!

I worry, and I worry and I worry somemore even tho the neighbors say they havant seen a gator in over 11 years in the preserve.

does anyone know what a gator sounds like when they talk at night? I hear all kinds of really strange sounds in the middle of the night!!!!

This may "creep you out" :22yikes: but here are 10 examples I found online:

http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Alligat...nds_audio.aspx

Click on the sounds on the right hand side, but be careful not to run your mouse over the ads (on the left). Some of them start to play if you do, and it can be very distracting.

Wow, Allen, you're right - it did creep me out! I love sleeping with the window open, but now I'll be listening very carefully to all those noises out there!

Now I think I'll look around to see if I can find out what an armadillo sounds like. I think we have one and he's really made some very deep holes by burrowing. I'll be listening for him, too, tonight. So much for a good night's sleep! :oops:

The gator noises sure are creepy, especially the "hungry gator" bellow. But I'm glad to know what they sound like. Like Nonie, I'm not worried about myself, just my dogs. The ponds behind our house are very small. I'm told gators like the larger ponds. I sure hope that is true.

Fireboy loves our new house and the larger garage. I miss our Courtyard Villa. Enough said. :rant-rave:

Thanks so much Allen,

one of those sounds was too familiar to me when I let the dogs out in the middle of the night!!! Mabe Im overreacting, but Im going to listen very carefully tonite!!! Im hoping its just my vivid imagination and that its only frogs mating !!!:22yikes:

We have lived on a retention pond here for 4 yrs now. We love looking at the rippling water as the wind hits it and watching all the ducks and water fowl. We love it so much that we have now extended the back of our house so now our family room has a great view all the way down the pond. We also love the privacy that it gives us. It was the best value lot premium in TV. You would not be sorry.

I agree with Tamike. If you value privacy and serenity, a view lot is the way to go. And well worth the money.

Even though you think you'll never be home and busy all the time, there are lots of times you will be home relaxing or entertaining. Think of reading the morning paper on the lanai, in your pyjamas. Having lunch with your sweetheart, watching the golfers. Or entertaining friends in the evening in your candle-lit birdcage overlooking a water view. :thumbup:

Be afraid...
 

I'm not referring to the gators, per se. I clicked the link to the site with the aligator sounds. However, I closed it right away without clicking on any of the sounds because my Norton 360 warned that this "site is unsafe". Thought y'all might want to know.

Interesting... I have McAfee running all the time, and although it automatically updates, I just checked to make sure it is up to the minute and then went back to that site. I did not get any warning message... but, if you feel uncomfortable going to that page, by all means avoid it.

My guess is that Norton does not like the fact that some of the ads run when you get there. It may be interpreting them as some sort of threat. Just to set your mind at ease, I have not experienced any repercussions since I originally found the site a few days ago.

That could be it, Allen. Sometimes Norton can be a bit overprotective.