There are birds that feed at night that live in the Northeastern part of the country. Also, bear in mind that during this time of year, birds are starting their migrations so birds that are not from our areas, could very well be passing through.

My question to you - on the second night, what type if disturbances did you see with your netting?

I am also wondering what you and your neighbor typically do to dissuade blue herons from invading your ponds? I have found that a sensor sprayer does a lot of good - however, given the time of year, it seems early to put out a sprayer.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Crowned Night Heron

This post was edited by carolyn22 on Fri, Mar 8, 13 at 9:23

Maybe use a game-cam to see what it is? We just put ours out to see what's been messing with the fish, and have seen a couple of pictures of a cat coming around.

Just cleaned my pond and all my koi are gone! All of them! No sign of anything wrong until we cleaned the pond today. I had over 50 koi of all sizes. Someone said maybe a mink ate them. We had kept the net on the pond all year to keep the heron out. Now this. So upsetting. How do you keep a mink from eating your fish?

So sorry to hear about the loss of all your koi.

I'm not familiar with mink, would they get under the net?

My first pond was 2.5 feet deep. I lost several fish to predators. That pond has been rebuilt to 4 feet deep, I haven't had any more problems.

The critter put a hole in the net.. Someone else thought it might be an otter.. They said to buy critter litter to help keep the critters away. I'm not familiar with that but I'm going to look for it.

Several years ago, when my pond was shallow, I had problems with herons. I ended up having to put chicken wire over the pond.

i've had a net over my pond for that reason for over a year. i'm told it's a mink eating my fish. i'm setting a trap tonight.

A mink ate all the Koi and goldfish we had in our pond this past winter. We keep a bubbler going which creates a small hole in the ice. We actually saw the mink swimming under the ice, so I waited near the hole and he came up with a #%^@&# fish in his mouth! I even caught it on camera! Now I have to figure out how to post the pic, lol

I bought a camera but haven't seen anything yet.

It's sad to read about so many beautiful fish killed like sitting ducks in people's ponds. Why don'tt the businesses selling the fish and pond set-ups warn people about all the known hazards? ???

Why scare off potential customers? After all they can sell them more koi afterwards. Problems are what koi clubs are for.

I have heard of folks losing fish to weasels or minks. Unfortunately, short of a sturdy, tall metal fence or trapping, there's not much you can do about them. Trapping is regulated by state and county, if someone goes that route be sure to know all your area's rules.

I've very grateful we don't have those critters around my area.

This the 2nd time Ive been cleaned out. Pond is 5×8' and 4' deep. No sign of it being except it left a little calling card. Might be a fisher cat (I ve seen them around) or a weasel which this turd is about the right size for. Now what to do about it?