I had tried having turtles in my large pond for years but was never successful in getting them to stay. I finally gave up and decided to build a designated turtle pond (any excuse to build another pond, right?) So for the past few years I've been happily keeping turtles in one pond and koi and plants in the other and it's worked out beautifully. A few days ago, however, I was shocked to see a large RES swimming around in my koi pond! I have no idea if he's an escapee from my turtle pond, an escapee from someone else's pond, or whether he's been living in the woods behind my house for a few years (possibly one of the escapees from years ago when I was buying and losing red-eared sliders). I was THRILLED to see it and it's so nice to see a turtle swimming and frolicking in the big pond, HOWEVER, he has been busy. All of my plants have been decapitated. Lilies, sensitive plant, floating hearts, arrowhead, anacharis, creeping jenny, penny wort, poppy, etc. have all been chewed up. It looks as if someone went in my pond with a chain saw! I've still got mixed emotions.... I actually love seeing a turtle in the big pond swimming with the fishes but I don't know if I love it enough to sacrifice having nice plants in there. I'm thinking maybe if I can get enough plants maybe at least half of them will survive? Anyway, my biggest concern and dilemma right now are the lotus plants. I had just purchased some gorgeous lotus plants (from our forum here) and they were barely starting to take root and shoot up leaves before they got butchered by the Texas Chain Saw Massacre turtle. My question is, are those plants now goners or is there something I can do to save them? If I can manage to remove the huge pots from the pond, can I place them elsewhere or is it too late once they've been chewed? Thanks for your thoughts.
Sue