I've seen grackles leave fish body-parts. :-(

But Judy, they could catch a fish that size and pull it out of the pond? Just seems they are so small to do that. But we do have one here once in a blue moon....

I would venture a guess as a raccoon or a coyote or perhaps a coati. A heron would swallow the fish whole, an osprey has to 'dive' to catch fish, owls would not approach water, they don't have the ability to pluck something out of the water, nor can they pull it in from the edge.

I watched a coyote catching spawning carp, drag them out of the water and chew on their heads. (brains have a lot of protein). 'Coon's are of course wonderful fisherman, as are coati. You may want to sprinkle flour around the pond, so that any animal that comes back will leave a track and you will be able to identify what you are dealing with. Flour is cheap, can be thickly spread, and will not hurt anything and can be raked up and scooped up or just watered into the ground.

Good luck, sorry about your fish, and let us know what happens!

Susie

Thanks Susie. That is great advice on the flour and some good theories on which predators, exactly the kind of ideas I was hoping to hear.

I never thought much about a coyote actually catching fish, not that they couldn't more that it was unlikely. To know someone has watched them fishing is good though. We have tons in the neighborhood but to my knowledge they have been in our yard just a handful of times in 2 decades here since it is fenced and they have to climb over or go under. But they did prey on our free range chickens a few times years ago... had small flocks for a total of about 5 years though, so obviously the coyotes didn't look at our yard as a banquet table otherwise we'd have been out of chickens in just a month or so.

I also thought about raccoons and coati but you just never see them, so who knows if they are still out here. Then again, I believe they are both nocturnal and I know those coons can fish. I read today though that the coati weighs just 10 lbs, pretty small to snag that big fish.

I was leaning heavily to the bobcat but just don't know if they would actually fish like that. And the leaving behind of large portions stumps me - both fish were in the exact condition and plenty left so there was little need to take the second fish...

I'm also really shocked the dogs did not alert over the "intruder" because they are very good about that usually. Must have been sleeping soundly, the pampered house pooches...

I was just reading yesterday in Chicagoland Gardening magazine about a koi farm. The customers said when they came up to the pond, they saw it was covered on five sides with chain link -- meaning including the top.

It says around here in Chicagoland the three major predators would be herons, raccoons and bullfrogs; but it mentions nationally bobcats are a problem -- and in Florida, alligators! Wow, be glad about not having that one.

We scared a Heron away last week...I think he got some of the smaller fish. I had put the dogs in the garage because it was so cold. My Rottie hates to be put in the garage so I guess he will be on guard duty for awhile. The Heron had at lease a 5 ft. wing span.

Yep, alligators I can do without! And interesting note on the bobcats, oswegian - I can see them fishing and I know they are here in my neighborhood as I've seen them on my back porch. They too preyed on my chickens and are the reason we won't get chickens again (I don't want them if I have to coop them up). They just came and raided that chicken house every other night or so until there was nearly nothing left!

Kathi, those herons are really impressive, aren't they? When that one was here a few years back, he flew down to the pond and his HUGE body and wingspan made a big dark blot against the sky. No way you could miss him zooming in if you were anywhere around. He was so big, I was shocked at the size at that time. I also caught him sitting up on the antenna on the house (no cable here). He was making a very weird sound and I looked to see what it was. He was like a huge statue sitting up there, dwarfing the antenna with his bulk.

Well, night is falling now.... hopefully there won't be a repeat performance out there.

If it's the Catalina foothills you live in, your herons might be coming from the treatment effluent riparian area over from Roger Road up to the Ina plant there. I've seen large water birds rise out of there and flap towards points east. Probably lots of good fishing in the foothills. ;-)

I read in the Star they are thinking of closing down the Roger Road plant, which will stop the effluent flow in the Santa Cruz over there. It would be a loss of a lovely place. I don't remember seeing fish in the effluent, but probably herons like the amphibians there.

That pond article said that bullfrogs can take bites out of fish. And it seems like bullfrogs are everywhere. I read in a post here that someone keeps them in their garden pond.

Kathleen, sorry about your loss. Sounds very similar to what people describe after a raccoon has hit their pond. Haven't been hit by predators (knock on wood) myself yet, although we do see the occassional curious heron (we're very near the wetland preserves in Gilbert), been lucky so far.
Lynn

Bingo, Lynn! It is a raccoon. I was up late reading last night (actually early this morning), heard a tiny metal clink outside so I went to look. Put on the porch light and my big flashlight but there was nothing by the pond - I even walked over to it for a closer look but nothing was around it. On the way back under my big mesquite tree right next to the patio, something told me to look up. There he was in a crotch of the tree no more than 6 feet from where I stood and just barely above the level of my head so I had a full view.

He had knocked our finch feeder out of the tree while he was polishing off the hanging net bag full of old crackers we'd hung in the mesquite this weekend for the birds. The finch feeder is glass with a metal top and was I'm sure the metal clink I heard as it dropped and hit a stone or something hard on the ground. In the beam of my flashlight, he blinked at me like I was interrupting his nap or something and I took a good look at him then ran in the house to wake DH and get the camera. Of course he was gone when I got back out there. He was a big one, quite plump and fluffy shiny coat and I have to admit it was really thrilling to see him so up close and personal.

On a closer look, he had tried fishing again but the big piece of shade cloth DH had draped fully over the pond had foiled him and all he did was push a corner into the pond. The fish are traumatized and are all hiding down at the bottom and at the far end from where the massacre took place. No matter what anyone says, they are smart enough to know there is something hunting them after witnessing what happened.

I guess we will be continuing to cover the pond with the shade cloth each night from now on - not exactly pretty but at least the fish get a chance this way. I guess we will have to be careful about putting out food for the birds too. I have to wonder if he was attracted by the bird food or the sound of the pond. I'm still just amazed to think they live down here in the desert where there are no real streams or creeks such as found in more typical habitat like woods and grasslands. I guess they are like the coyotes, adapting and living off of man's developed cities.

Raccoons are relatively abundant here. If they're really hungry, the shade cloth will not deter them for long.

I grew up in NY State where raccoons were abundant but when I moved to AZ I was convinced there were none here until I saw one on a camping trip. It's nice to see that, even though they are attacking your fish and you are obviously dismayed by it, you are philosophical about it and that your first response is not to think that the varmint MUST be destroyed. I'm sorry for the loss of the fish but I'm encouraged by your resourcefulness.

momherb, nope, we do not lean to the erradication response in these cases. We relocate spiders and rattlesnakes ourselves and fence the coyotes out. We use no insecticides or poisons because I know how it travels down the prey/food chain. The only animal I truly despise on one level almost enough to consider erradication (while enjoying it on all others) is the pack rat because they have cost us a lot of money by eating up wires in our cars over the years. One car almost caught on fire from this and I broke down twice away from home. Still, we've just had to learn ways to foil them getting under the hood. My thought is that you just can't successfully fight mother nature - it's dumb and exhausting and pretty fruitless IMHO, sort of like using a flat iron on curly hair -- what's the point? So you have to adapt....

wp, after 25 years here in the desert, I am still amazed at what I don't know as I learn new things like this. I'm sure we will find some alternate ways to discourage this fishing activity. We did successfully run the herons out : )

When I had a little laying flock of chickens in my back yard, I checked in on a bunch of poultry message boards. Aside from dogs that were abandond out in the country "to fend for themselves or get adopted", raccoons were considered one of the worst predators of poultry and other farm animals. They're quiet, cagey, smart, and strong.

Glad to see you identified your predator. Now, can you figure a way to scare it off? Good luck. Here in Gilbert we see a lot of great blue herons, and often they sit up on our chimney cap. First time I saw one up there, it scared me to death! I thought it was a STORK!! Just kidding. We have had two up on our roof at once, and have a couple of pictures of at least one up there. When you mentioned your Koi it made me think of the ones we have seen in the canal next to our house. I am not a fish person, but these were really special, bright gold (like a goldfish), but with long wavy white fins and tail, almost as long as the body. The total length was probably 16 to 18 inches or so. The two we saw were quite beautiful, and we wonder who would ditch such a fish. Probably the same dingbat who dumped the 8 white ducks well over a year ago. Now they are down to four, which we and many other folks love to feed bread. I go out to the fence and yell HERE DUCK! and they come a quacking if they are in earshot. I never knew they were flightless until they arrived. How about that?!

Living with Mom Nature's critters is both rewarding and a challenge. This year, because of the lack of rain we are seeing even more cottontails in our yard. They are really putting a dent in our artichoke plants and love the garden excess we toss over the fence. I am sure we have the best fed bunnies in the neighborhood. Last weekend there were five all standing on their hindlegs eating artichoke leaves. Time to fence if we want any 'chokes. Hope you can resolve your predator problem without bloodshed. Good luck!

If you can trap the raccoon then fish and game should be able to come out and haul it (relocate it) away. Or you could try one of those sprayers that are on a motion sensor device that will spray hard when it detects movement ( I think Fosters and Smith has them in their pond catalog). Also, I have found with night critters like raccoons, armadillos etc. That sometimes a simple flood light is enough to scare them off. Aim these motion sensors low due to thier size. GL
~SJN