There is a thin sheet of ice over the entire surface of the pond today. I don't remember that happening before. It's still below 30 degrees and nothing is moving around the pond, not even the little unidentified grey birds that usually rummage around the reeds even on the coldest days. The water is lower than I'm comfortable with but I can't use the improvised (until I fix the waterfall) flow-line until we get above freezing.
The gophers are back, but I have 1/2 bottle of the mint oil left. I'll saturate a rag with it and stuff it in his house. It's strange, but for whatever reason that's the only thing that will cause him to leave. Everything else just makes him mad.