Jenny I am so sorry about your fish and pond! Good luck netting the fish, I hope he recovers. How in the world are those racoons so fast?

Also your settling pond looks great. Mine is taking off too. Today I added some branches and wood around part of the settling pond so your frog has a bit more shade. The settling pond pipe was clogged a few days ago and the level dropped 3". I didn't see the frog and worried he left. Unclogged the pipe and the frog was still MIA for a couple of days. But this evening he showed up again.

Warm regards,
Lisa

Oh Jenny, I'm so sorry! Do you have a dog? I think having some dog poop around keeps them away. Also, make sure you don't have a bird feeder in the yard. The fallen seed really attracts them.
I've grown to hate coons too, since one killed 2 of my chickens 2 weeks ago.
My brother used to have coon problems at his little pond, and he put up a water scarecrow and said it worked well.
Good luck Jenny. I hope your fish recovers.

OK someone please direct me to info on what the heck a "settling pond" is. It's pretty cool looking.

A settling pond is one that allows suspended material in the water to settle out into (usually) a deep layer of rocks. It can be gravity fed or up trickle. Sandy

Thanks everyone for your kind comments.

Lisa:

I am tempted to stay up all night to see. Only thing I can figure is they wait at the edge of the pond and when a fish comes up on the shelf "Bam, they have it." I still haven't been able to catch the injured fish. Even though it doesn't have a tail it's fast. My water is so clear you can see it was gnawed off entirely. The poor fish just wiggles through the water. I am worried about infection. They struck again last night and tore my floating islands to shreds. Just like Mike posted they must think the noodles are edible. There is blue styrofoam from one end of the yard the the other. The one you made me they didn't bother though. I took a pic of it and forgot to post it for you to see.

Catherinet:

I never had a problem when my dog was alive. He died two years ago and ever since then it's been "coon city". I just made the remark to my son that I'm going to adopt a greyhound. I won't have another dog though. I work full time and it isn't fair to the animal. Maybe when I retire. Or I can put a sign in my front yard "Curb your dogs on my grass" or "dog poo wanted". lol I think they sell water scarecrows at my garden store.

Jenny

I'm sure your dog-owner friends/neighbors would oblige! Before I had water gardens, I fed the wild birds in the back yard. Those danged coons would come with all their relatives and go all through the seed on the ground. Then they would climb all the trees, screaming at each other, and tearing the bark. Since I quit feeding the birds, I haven't seen any (except the one who killed my chickens).
I'm on a chicken forum, and I can't believe how many other people are having coon problems this year. I guess we need more coyotes/foxes/wolves to take care of them. Those guys would kill chickens too, but I think they'd leave the ponds alone!
We have a big creek running through the middle of our property, and have had big time problems in the past with beavers. I love those animals, but they chew down trees in no time flat. At that time, I was seriously considering going to the zoo and getting lion poop! I really was! Maybe you could try that!

Jenny,

Do you think dog hair would be a deterant? If you want dog hair I can ask Susan the dog groomer for some. I am sure she could bag some up for you and perhaps scatter thru the yard. Or.....what about Kitty feces? Maybe scoop some from the litter box and place around the pond? Not the most attractive option, but us ponders have to do what we have to do.

Regards,
Lisa

I've hated raccoons for years....

Cat feces don't deter them one bit, neither did my husband "marking his territory", ultrasonic animal scarers, motion sensor lights...the only thing that worked for me was an electric fence around the fish pond and chicken wire covers over the three most important wildlife/waterlily ponds.

They don't reach into plant shelves, they wade right in. My wildlife ponds are 18" deep and I have seen a coon with my own eyes all the way in the pond grubbing in the mud on the bottom.

They reach into the 30" deep pond with the bubbling columns from the edge. There is nothing in there they can hurt and sometimes we watch them from the couch. They feel all around the rocks on the shelf that we use to keep liner from showing if the water level drops. Into each and every crevice and they do pull rocks out and put them aside and shove them into the pond as well. They are very strong for their size.

Deep ponds with straight sides and no planters they can sit on or jump to are the ticket. Though they will still try...