For nearly ten years he had been in solitary confinement. I heard about him from my husband and I thought that he was seeing ghosts. Many days and many months I would try to get a glimpse of him and see absolutely nothing. Then one day I heard a large splash and ran to the pond, at last I had seen this ghostly fish whom my husband had nicknamed "Moby Dick"
He resided in this large growing pond for about ten years. Initially there were four butterfly Koi that my husband had put in hoping that they would multiply. Soon after we decided to get rid of all our Koi from the show pond because they were wrecking the water lilies. We managed to capture two of the butterfly Koi in this growing pond. Later we found one floating so there was just one left. Years passed without a glimpse of him so naturally I thought that he had died too. A few years later my husband said that he had spotted him. I laughed and told him that he was seeing ghosts. Last year I started going by the pond at night with a torch light. And lo and behold I spotted "Moby Dick"! I tried capturing him but by the time I returned with the net he was gone. The nets remained by the ponds for several month but nothing happened.
Last week around midday, we were chatting with some visitors around the pond when "Moby Dick" made an appearance. So lately my husband started waiting by the pond with nets around noon time. He said that "Moby Dick " usually comes around a certain area of the pond at the same time everyday. I smiled to myself and thought, boy he has a lot of patience. Some days he can be seen sitting around the pond at midday the hottest time of the day. When I approached him, he would signal for me to stay away. So I happily left him to his own devices.
Yesterday Sunday around midday, I heard my husband bellowing my name. I ran out of the house quickly thinking that something terrible had happened.When I got within earshot he shouted to me to get a large container. I ran like the devil was after me. I collected a large tub and ran toward him. He was standing by the growing pond with a net in the water. I asked incredulously if he had caught "Moby Dick"? He asked me to fill it partially with the pond water. I did that and he placed "Moby Dick" into the container. "Moby Dick" was taken to the show pond where he is now ensconced with other fishy companions. Hubby says that he hopes he survives the move and not die of a heart attack. When I last checked "Moby Dick" was doing fine. Well done fisherman Chuck!
