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Icehouse Pond |
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A report on the condition of the major freshwater ponds of Orleans is
available at the Town
of Orleans website.
If you are a property owner on one of
the 60 ponds in Orleans, we hope you will join OPC and become a supporter
of our efforts to keep ponds clean for recreational activities and for the
plants and animals that inhabit them. If you love to swim, boat,
fish, or bird-watch on your favorite pond you can help too.
Enjoy watching muskrats and otters, osprey and great blue herons along
with the many other types of birds, insects, amphibians (frogs, toads, and
salamanders), and turtles that inhabit our ponds. Install
nesting boxes for wood ducks and tree swallows.
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| Hints for caring for our ponds:
Protect the shoreline from erosion by
leaving natural vegetation on the banking. Pick up trash from
town landings and beaches and dispose of it properly.
Refrain from fertilizing your lawn where
runoff will carry the product into the groundwater or to a pond, estuary,
or onto a roadway. The nitrogen and phosphorus in fertilizers cause
excessive algae growth in our waterways and cause rapid degradation in
water quality. Nitrogen acts as a fertilizer in salt water
environments and phosphorus acts the same in freshwater ponds.
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Click here
to learn more about the effects of automatic dishwasher detergents on our
ponds.
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If you see invasive species on the
shoreline such as phragmites or purple loosestrife, contact the Town
Conservation Department to learn how to remove these plants so that
they will not continue to spread.
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To those who love to fish, please
remove all fishing gear, line, sinkers,
bobbers, and bait when you finish. Thanks! |
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