Talk of The Villages Florida - Sand Circles at end of our pond

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That where fish lay their eggs, they do this with their tail,

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisinva (Post 2117267)

Please see the attached pics; this is very puzzling. It looks like the pond sand has formed circles at one end of this pond.

Am I seeing this correctly? How did it happen?

The pond is long & narrow, runs parallel to Woods Way & Dooley streets in DeSoto. The end with the circles abuts Fussell. Water level is now very low & these circles are visible. This pond is connected to other ponds & we regularly notice wavelike water movement that (guessing) is just water being pumped from one pond to another. Not sure if the water movement has anything to do with the circles. And yes, the pond has regular gators cruising back & forth, and a variety of birds coming & going. Haven't seen any workers or equipment at this end of the pond for over a year.

Click on each pic to make it bigger.

Thanks for explaining how this happened.

Turtles do this!

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisinva (Post 2117267)

... This pond is connected to other ponds & we regularly notice wavelike water movement that (guessing) is just water being pumped from one pond to another. .. .

Unrelated to your "circles" question.

Water is pumped between Retention/Detention areas in The Villages, which is typically how drainage is controlled. One quirk in The Villages, is that the water cannot be pumped over County lines. In other words, every County maintains its own stormwater and it can't be shared.

Circles in the pond sand

Those are spawning beds.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisinva (Post 2117267)

I believe those circles are where fish have laid eggs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by chrisinva (Post 2117267)

Blue gill make these circles when mating, laying eggs. It is not a puffer fish as they are marine (Salt Water) abd their circles are more intricate.

Roron123 is correct. Turtles!

Quote:

Originally Posted by rwfisher1969 (Post 2120857)

Roron123 is correct. Turtles!

All freshwater turtles lay eggs on land in holes they have dug. When the eggs hatch, the baby turtles (hatchlings) return to water. The eggs need the heat from the soil to develop and eventually hatch.

Freshwater fish such as bass, bluegills and tilapia create these spawning beds Tilapia make deeper beds which can be seen at the Lake Sumter Boardwalk.