The long standing theory for the predominantly orange water is that some people just dumped a couple of gold fish or so in the lake a while back, either out of a desire to rid themselves of their pets, or because their fishing trip called for some unusual bait, and said bait somehow got away. Talk about being incapable of taking care of gold fish.
You can probably guess what happened next, especially if you know a thing or two about caring for gold fish. Gold fish are known to breed at an astounding pace. Once a male has fertilized a female, it takes no more than 2-5 days for the eggs to hatch. Once hatched, the newborns go through a week-long growth spurt, at the end of which they begin to resemble their mom and dad, sans the color (that will come later).
What’s more, Lake Quemado is an ideal breeding ground for gold fish, what with its vast amount of space and water. Gold fish have a natural tendency to breed if left to their own devices, but since their breeding involves a lot of bumping and thrashing about, they need ample room to keep the kids coming. Notice how gold fish kept in a bowl never mate? Now you know why.
Space comes with another notable advantage though, at least on the part of the offspring. Gold fish have a nasty habit of eating up their young when they come across them, but spawning in such wide spaces limits the amount of “quality time” parents have with their kids.
Of course, the abundance of water in the lake doesn’t hurt either, since it grants the fish access to an environment that has everything they need and more. They don’t need an expert in caring for gold fish looking after them to thrive there.
Though the sea of orange is a magnificent sight to behold, the overpopulation of gold fish is beginning to cause some problems for the locals, particularly because they are driving away the trout that used to own the lake. Just because some people didn’t bother caring for gold fish a few years back, the bright orange view from the shores of Lake Quemado has become very troubling.
