Video: Something Is Fishy At City Hall

As visitors gaze into the pond at City Hall, they will invariably be greeted by sudden colored movement in the water — gold, white, brown flashes of light drift in and out of the field of vision. But these flashes of light turn out to be Koi, fish of Japanese origin which are hardly indigenous to Pleasant Hill. But then, neither exactly is the pond.

When Pleasant Hill City Hall opened in 1991, the pond was part of the construction. Originally it was stocked with eight Koi. Those fish, to the delight of the community, propagated and grew quite large. They entertained residents for many years.

Every good story has a tragic element, and this one is no exception. About four years ago, the maintenance company hired to maintain the pond accidentally added too much of a chlorine-type chemical to the pond and killed four of the large fish.

The others were rescued and transplanted to safer waters while the pond water underwent emergency water-ectomy, getting restored to a healthy pH balance and proper acidity.

As if to celebrate the restoration of their home waters, two of the four Koi  spawned the following year. The result: there are now about 50 medium-sized Koi in addition to three of the original (and much larger) fish.

The turtles that inhabit the pond (and no one knows exactly how many there are) are a direct gift from the community. They have made the pond their home after being transplanted from homes where people tired of caring for them as pets.

Fortunately, turtles eat the same pellets that feed the Koi, so everyone winds up a winner.

That is your Pleasant Hill Wildlife moment for the week. Do you have any Pleasant Hill wildlife photos or videos? Post them here.