Dead groundhog in pool

[rox]

We only had one kid that did that and we expressed our strong displeasure in it and let him know if he did it again and got caught we would give him a little corporal punishment. How do you get a smillie to attach to your post?

Oh my gosh I'm glad you clarified that. The way I read your earlier post was that a bunch of boys including you were pool poopers. And you deliberatly let it flow down to the lower pool. I was totally grossed out. I think your story has ruined my thoughts of ever stepping into another public pool again. I had never ever thought about anyone doing that in a pool, it never crossed my mind.

 

[Western]

Maybe a sign written in "animal" that states "no life guard on duty"

Here in the Dallas metro area the news say's over 400 cases of crypto this year, one death.

They said it is spread from basically runny butts ( sorry) and ingested by others!

I don't know about ya'll ( Texan for " yous guys") but that about does it for my family in public swimm'n holes.

 

[kenmac]

I find critters in my pool all the time. Pool place just says give a good shock treatment

 

[CornbeltKid]

I wish I found a dead groundhog in our pool because one, it would mean we had a pool and, two a groundhog would be dead which doesn't happen around here very often because I'm an absolute terrible shot.

Darn things burrow under the barn and are beginning to damage parts of the floor.

 

[coffeeman]

I wish I found a dead groundhog in our pool because one, it would mean we had a pool and, two a groundhog would be dead which doesn't happen around here very often because I'm an absolute terrible shot.

Darn things burrow under the barn and are beginning to damage parts of the floor.

Ain't that something. I got a covered area for BBQ grill and tables chars etc. It has wooden floor. I can't stand those animals that dig holes all over. In fact, can't leave a can with garbage over nite. They turn it over and raid it. I do sometime worry that one of those animals could get sick and be a danger to the kids that play between pool and grass areas. However, we never see them when we are out and about. But... I know they are there.

Cheers.

 

[coffeeman]

I find critters in my pool all the time. Pool place just says give a good shock treatment

Same info I got from pool guy. Super shock it and test water often for a couple days. He says it happens a lot in our rural areas.


Cheers...Coffeeman

 

[toy]

Oh my gosh I'm glad you clarified that. The way I read your earlier post was that a bunch of boys including you were pool poopers. And you deliberatly let it flow down to the lower pool. I was totally grossed out. I think your story has ruined my thoughts of ever stepping into another public pool again. I had never ever thought about anyone doing that in a pool, it never crossed my mind.

The pool that I was talking about wasn't actually a swimming pool we swam in the river when I was growing up, Had a clifft that we could dive off of and a swing that was tied off to a tree that was on top of the clifft the clifft was about 100 ft high. We had a lot of fun back then during the summers seemed like the river was clean[with the exception of that one thing], and even today the river is clean looking.

 

[toy]

Thanks

 

[Dargo]

I just saw this thread and will say that we had a similar situation a few years ago. I called our local animal control who said they'd come pick up and check the animal. It turned out that it had distemper, which is common in Skunks, Opossums, Groundhogs and Raccoons. They even had a local pool company come out and check our water for us. Not only did the pool company say that the water was just fine, but seemed shocked that I have a clipboard in the poolhouse utility room that I use to log each chemical treatment, each water test result, and even when I backwash my sand filter.

I'm just wondering how these critters get over a 7' tall fence and past two German Shepherd guard dogs at night to take their fateful dip in our pool. It seems that I have a nightly invasion of frogs that appear intent on suicide by pool and my skimmers are full of bugs if the kids swim at night the night before with the underwater lights on.

 

[riptides]

I'm just wondering how these critters get over a 7' tall fence and past two German Shepherd guard dogs at night to take their fateful dip in our pool. It seems that I have a nightly invasion of frogs that appear intent on suicide by pool and my skimmers are full of bugs if the kids swim at night the night before with the underwater lights on.

Only pool owners can appreciate the animal suicide sattement.

I especially liked getting snakes out of the pool, the skimmer was the most fun!

 

[kenmac]

I also find 1-2 birds floating around ( dead of course) about every week

 

[coffeeman]

The pool that I was talking about wasn't actually a swimming pool we swam in the river when I was growing up, Had a clifft that we could dive off of and a swing that was tied off to a tree that was on top of the clifft the clifft was about 100 ft high. We had a lot of fun back then during the summers seemed like the river was clean[with the exception of that one thing], and even today the river is clean looking.

Same here.I swam in the river. However, my river wasn't so clean. Catfish were lucky to live in it. Each town dumped crap into river. Mills and chemical plants also used the river for waste run off. However, I think the biggest danger for us kids was the tow boats that pushed 1000s of tons of coal as we swam around them.

Today my river is clean and we have trout and other fish in it. I think many of the clean up rules are good.

Cheers

 

[coffeeman]

I my skimmers are full of bugs if the kids swim at night the night before with the underwater lights on.

I used to get the bugs too. I quit using the pool lite and use spot lights aimed into the pool. If placed right there is plenty of light for safety. When I replaced liner a few yrs ago I didn't put the pool light back in.

Cheers...Coffeeman

 

[MossRoad]

Speaking of rabies....

A week ago Tuesday we had a bat in the house. I used to just capture them and toss them out the window, but lately they are saying the bats around here are carrying rabies and all of them should be tested. So I catch the bat and call the county health dept. the next morning. They tell me to call the county humane society. CHS picks it up and takes it to a local vet that handles the county bat calls. They kill it, pack it, put it on a greyhound bus and send it to the state health dept. for testing. I'm told I will get a call within 24 hours if it tests positive. I ask what if it tests negative? Hmmm. they don't notify you of that. How do I know if they ever got the bat to test it in the first place? So two days later, I start calling around. Guess what? No one can find the bat! Rabies shots cost between $900 and $1600 per person based on weight, plus a few hundred more for booster shots. So, I'm looking at the potential for $6000 if the thing tests positive. The Indianapolis lab is closed for remodeling so they are sending all the bats to Kentucky for testing. They don't have a hone number for the Kentucky lab. I google it and talk to the Dr. in charge of Kentucky bats lab. He says they don't have it and never got it. The local vet and health dept track it down to Indy. Indy finds it on a bus for Chicago! Fortunately, none of us got bitten and the stupid bat was not locked up in a room with my kids overnight. Anyhow... I work at the local newspaper and they happen to be doing a story on several local folks that have had similar problems with the Indy bat lab, so I ad to the story in the paper. That seems to get things going. 29 phone calls, several govt. agencies, a vet and a med Dr. and 8 days later they find the bat at the Indy lab and it tests negative.

Good Grief! Chlorinate that pool!!!

 

[Soundguy]

Dang.. glad to hear all was ok!

( just curious.. any idea what type of bat it was? )

soundguy

 

[MossRoad]

Dang.. glad to hear all was ok!

( just curious.. any idea what type of bat it was? )

soundguy

Most likely a little brown bat, which is not really little at all. Its body was about 3.5" long and it's wingspan was 8-10 inches. And it had lots of little tiny sharp teeth, too. Tough little bugger. I whacked it with the broom at least 6 times before it got tangled in the cables behind my computer. I was able to grab it with my heavy gloves and put it in a rubber storage tub. It was very active the next day, too. My wife wanted me to save the container, so I put the whole thing in a trash bag, sealed it and opened the container from outside the bag. No sooner had I opened it did I see teeth coming thought he bag. I shook him down to one end of the bag, sealed that end off and removed the container from the other end of the bag. The Humane Society was just driving up, so I handed it to the guy. He put it in a box.

I've dealt with bats many times over the years and thought nothing of it. But now they carry rabies so often, you have to be careful. The Dr.'s all said if you wake up at night in a closed room and there is a bat in there, or you find one in your child's closed room, best to have it tested. The bites can be almost undetectable. Just a scratch, really. In our case, we're pretty sure the cats were on it as soon as it moved and it did not spend any time in the bedrooms with the wife or kids.

Now I have to spend some time sealing up the house better. I'll check the ridge and gable vents for holes in the screens and put a screen over the chimney as well. They say if you can stick your finger in a hole a bat can squeeze through it.

My med Dr. also suggested I keep a light on in the attic as bats don't like the light. Sound like a good location for a low wattage C.F. bulb or two.

 

[Soundguy]

Neat story, thanks for sharing.

soundguy

 

[MossRoad]

Back to pool stories. One year the winter cover came off of the corner of our above ground pool and we did not notice. A squirrel fell in, shredded the liner, then drown. We did not have to worry about cleaning the water, as we had to drain the entire thing to replace the liner.