Funny how you have to learn about what's going on in your own back yard from
people who live elsewhere.....

Since I hadn't heard about tiger muskies anymore since the original idea was
floated in 1995, I thought the idea was dead. Surprise! I guess the strategy
is to wait until the swimming season is over and people are not paying
attention. Maybe I'll send Parks a copy of that Seattle Times editorial
which appeared back in 1995, ridiculing the very idea of introducing
predatory fish of up to 50 inches in a lake where people let their kids swim
(disregarding the "knowledge" that tiger muskies prefer to stay among
aquatic vegetation).

In general I don't think it's smart to introduce yet another exotic (sterile
hybrid or not) to combat other exotics. Now, if this were a properly
monitored experiment, I guess I could support a 10-15 year experiment (by
not stocking repeatedly the tiger muskies will die out). But the news
release (or the discussions back in 1995) did not mention any form of
monitoring to see what the effect will be. The only monitoring that has been
done is electro-shocking (stunning the fish and determine the population in
the lake from that). I assume that's what will be continued to measure the
effect.

Yes, pike and their relatives eat grebe chicks. So probably the tiger
muskies will too. If however the tiger muskies have the desired effect of
removing/reducing the carp in the lake, that will benefit the Pied-billed
Grebes. I've documented destruction of the floating nests and their contents
by spawning carp. When the large carp splash around at the surface they
accidentally destroy nest and eggs. This past year the Pied-bills didn't
manage to hatch any eggs until July. Earlier attempts (4 or 5) appeared to
be unsuccessful due to carp activity. Doing something about the carp would
be good. I'm pretty sure that one tiger muskie per surface acre of lake
won't be it.

I guess it's time to follow through on that one thing I've been putting off.
This past summer a Seattle Times photographer took a picture of a turtle in
Green Lake to go with an article about the Park. It's neither a red-eared
slider nor a western painted turtle. To me it looks like it might be a
western pond turtle. Curious to know if it is. Even more curious to know if
tiger muskies eat turtles....

Something to do tomorrow.

Thanks Jon. ('just wondering') Anderson,
Martin Muller, Seattle
MartinMuller at email.msn.com