NANFA-- Minnow trap
Moontanman_at_aol.com
Sat, 9 Sep 2000 20:10:39 EDT
I just set a minnow trap in my "secrete" lake a few minutes ago and I noticed
a startling thing. The water was so acidic that it burned under my
fingernails and in a couple of cuts on my hand. The whole bottom of the lake
is peat so I guess this natural but I have never come in contact with natural
water that actually burned me before. It should be interesting to see if I
catch anything in the morning. Also interesting is the fact the lake is
smaller than it was three months ago despite a tremendous amount of rainfall.
Evidently draining of wetlands for nearby housing developments is taking it's
toll. The lake is less than a third of it's original size as determined by
the old shoreline and the dead cypress trees. I honestly thought there was a
law against draining of wetlands but evidently there isn't or it doesn't have
any teeth. This will make the second of these old isolated peat lakes I have
seen disappear due to urban development. The first was behind what we call
the fair grounds off Carolina Beach Road. It was a beautiful lake, several
acres, surrounded by huge cypress tress. All they had to do was dig a trench
a couple of hundred yards away and the lake disappeared. I am afraid the same
thing is happening to this one. A unique habitat is disappearing and no one
can do anything. I get mad but hey! We have all those great new houses and
apartments. Hey Fritz Rhode, is there a law that prohibits this type of
thing? I was so frustrated when the lake behind the fair grounds disappeared,
I actually drove there to set a trap and take some pictures and it was gone!
As far as I know it was the biggest peat lake in our county, no inlet or
outlet, and a unique isolated population of fish and other animals. It's
tragic but pretty much par for the course. It's almost like the people who do
this do it fast before anyone can object and if there is a fine it's nothing
compared to the profits they make from the land sales. No one seems to care.
Moon
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