Columnist Susan Snyder: RTC pond is home to fish tales

Tuesday, April 10, 2001 | 8:23 a.m.

Susan Snyder's column appears Tuesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at snyder@lasvegassun.com or 259-4082.

"Watch this."

A man tipped kibble out of a plastic, half-gallon jug and into the burbling pond at the front door of Clark County's Regional Transit Commission office.

Hungry carp in hues of brown and bright orange thrashed at the surface.

"In winter this is enough to feed them for a month," he said.

Just then, something large and dark shot from under a rock and hurled itself into the hungry school. Orange bodies scattered in all directions, trying to avoid the maw of a very large and very hungry fish.

"That's Ralph," said the man who wore a county maintenance uniform but wouldn't give his name. "He's a large-mouth bass."

Nope. Not kidding. The RTC has a large-mouth bass in its fish pond.

And that's not all.

Keeping Ralph and the edgy carp company is Kitty, a fat catfish.

Ralph, Kitty and the rest of the scaly crew were taken from the lake at Sunset Park when it was drained about a year ago, their caretaker said. The cattails around the pond came from Floyd Lamb State Park.

He dipped a small rake into the water's edge and removed a wad of yucky green stuff. Ralph scuttled under the waterfall at one end. Kitty lounged on the bottom, and the carp resumed their meal, which now floated all over the surface.

The man says he has been cleaning the pond for about two years and inherited the fish duty with the job. He said he typically spends 45 minutes a week cleaning the pond, but sometimes he's forced to give it more attention.

"We have people who bathe in here almost every night," he said. "Some days there's so much soap in the water. And I pull out clumps of hair."

Ick.

"I do it for Ralph."

Ralph looks 20 to 22 inches long. His caretaker guesses the fish weighs about 5 pounds. And that's good enough for eating in the minds of those who have tried to snatch Ralph from the pond.

At least, the fish feeder figures as much.

"We used to have three catfish," he said.

Ralph likely eludes any would-be captors by scooting under the rocks or by simply being too slippery and quick to be caught. He even avoids the hands that feed him.

"I've tried, but I can't get him to come out of the water like Flipper," the man said, raking more goo from the pond's sides.

Sam Wright, an RTC employee, chuckled when asked about the pond he strolls past daily. He says he, too, has heard about people fishing for Ralph and Kitty. Might be true. Might be a fish story. But the odd collection is a source of mirth for many.

"People tease us a lot about our fish pond over here," Wright said. "I think it's jealousy. They wish they had one."

Ralph's caretaker says the agency may add a few benches or a table or two nearby so employees and visitors can be more comfortable while admiring the RTC's bit of urban wildlife.

"A lot of the people who have to come to this building stop here and sit on the rocks," he said. "I like to think they're contemplating things."

We would hope they're thinking of bus schedules, rather than a little tartar sauce, some hush puppies and a good cast-iron frying pan.