What animals live at a lake?

Generally, in a healthy ecosystem of a pond there are many different species. In most parts of the U.S., you could find fish (blue gill or other types of perch, catfish, mosquito fish, and some larger ponds could have trout, bass, and pike which have been "planted" there by humans or arrived through streams.), frogs & tadpoles, bullfrogs, turtles, insects (dragonflies, paddle bugs, water skippers, mosquitos, etc), crawdads, newts, and snails. Many other animals live around or near ponds. These include snakes (usually garter snakes), beavers, otters (not sea otters!), nutria, ducks, geese, toads, salamanders, and many species of birds (depending on the geographical location in the US). And there are others too, depending on how closely you look! Using a microscope, you will find all sorts of living organisms not seen with the naked eye.