More Pool Stories

Speaking of pools (also the subject of my last blog), I’ve noticed an increase in critters in my in-ground pool this year. It started in early June when I walked out on the deck around 8 a.m. and noticed a sudden ripple in the water. I thought it was just a combination of the wind and a leaf that had fallen in. When I moved closer to give the pool a morning skim, I noticed a live frog floating in the shallow end. When it spied me, it dove to the depths of the deep end. The next time it came up, I scooped it with the skimmer and deposited it outside the pool fence.
That evening I found what I believe to be the same frog floating around. This time I released it farther from the pool.
As June progressed, more and more beetles showed up, especially after dark. After skimming a bunch off the top of the water, I would find plenty more in the skimmer basket. The frogs also returned periodically.
Somewhere around the end of the month, I was startled to find a live mole on the top step leading into the pool. He was about three-quarters submerged. I heard that one of my neighbors had recently treated his lawn for a serious mole infestation and I suspect the poor creature had surfaced and headed toward the pool to escape all the gas and chemicals being poured underground. I gently lifted the mole and placed him on the concrete. He scampered into a nearby crevice between the concrete and the fence and I never saw him again although his fellow moles, also fleeing the adjacent yard, wreaked havoc on sections of my previously mole-free lawn. They didn’t stay long, however, because I treat regularly for grubs.
About four hours after I found the mole, I was giving the pool a mid-day skim and smelled something rotten. I looked in the crevice between the concrete and the fence and found a large, mangled, dead bird. A few days later, my son found a dead mouse in the pool. Actually, my wife discovered it and told my son about it and he removed it.
In early July, I was headed to give the pool night skim and when I stepped within a foot of the edge I heard a noise and then a plop. When I looked down I realized I had frightened a very large frog sitting near the edge of the pool. He was able to avoid me longer than his smaller friends, but eventually I scooped him and dropped him outside the pool area. The next night the large frog was back. This time I dropped it over the six-foot high fence that runs the length of much of my yard, making him the neighbors’ problem. I know I shouldn’t have done it, but at this point there were more reptiles using the pool than humans and I was growing a little frustrated.
A couple of days later, I found a bunch of baby frogs in the pool and another in the skimmer basket. One was dead. The rest were scooped up and left far away from the pool.
As I mentioned in my previous blog, this is only my second summer with the pool. Last year, no frogs, moles, mice, birds and just a few beetles. I suspect last year’s hot, dry weather kept the critter population down. My wife grew up with an in-ground pool surrounded by woods. She says they found frogs in the skimmer basket almost daily. I grew up with an above ground pool so critters in the water were not an issue. My property is not bordered by woods, although about 50 feet from my property line is a creek that runs along a small wooded area next to I-91. I suspect it is the source of my frog problem.

Let me know what you think, especially if you have a pool.