After 5 years, something ate my fish.....

......came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone. Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.

The little pond is 30" deep with almost vertical sides, partially covered by
a Japanese maple tree, and set right against my house and patio. Five years
of flawless operation brought to a halt. I am in no rush to replace the
fish just yet since I figure I am now feeding some long-legged bird in the
neighborhood.

My question.....what breed of bird in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area of Texas
is the likely culprit? There is a small city lake stocked with fish less
than a half-mile from my house which may be the main source of
attraction....

Thanks for any help.

Jay

I am in Fort Worth and i know i see egrets and herons at the lakes. We
also have owls, ospreys, and small hawks.



On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 18:31:37 -0500, "Jay Adair"
wrote:

.....came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground
fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone.
Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding
like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.

The little pond is 30" deep with almost vertical sides, partially
covered by
a Japanese maple tree, and set right against my house and patio.
Five years
of flawless operation brought to a halt. I am in no rush to replace
the
fish just yet since I figure I am now feeding some long-legged bird
in the
neighborhood.

My question.....what breed of bird in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area of
Texas
is the likely culprit? There is a small city lake stocked with fish
less
than a half-mile from my house which may be the main source of
attraction....

Thanks for any help.

Jay

I am in Fort Worth and i know i see egrets and herons at the lakes. We
also have owls, ospreys, and small hawks.



On Sun, 11 Apr 2004 18:31:37 -0500, "Jay Adair"
wrote:

.....came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground
fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone.
Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding
like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.

The little pond is 30" deep with almost vertical sides, partially
covered by
a Japanese maple tree, and set right against my house and patio.
Five years
of flawless operation brought to a halt. I am in no rush to replace
the
fish just yet since I figure I am now feeding some long-legged bird
in the
neighborhood.

My question.....what breed of bird in the Dallas / Ft. Worth area of
Texas
is the likely culprit? There is a small city lake stocked with fish
less
than a half-mile from my house which may be the main source of
attraction....

Thanks for any help.

Jay

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
.....came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone. Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.
=====================================
We kept suffering the SAME problem until we netted the ponds. We couldn't
replace the fish as fast as the predators were eating them. We had herons,
assorted snakes, snapper turtles of all sizes, bullfrogs, and king-fishers
feeding on them. The nets keep all of these critters out.

Something is terrorizing your fish. Other than the nets there is nothing
that will keep all the preditors out. All I see are small newts in the
smaller pond. They can only eat the even smaller baby fish and that's ok,
since the fish breed like rabbits now.
I get the nets at Ace Hardware.
--
Carol....
"Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
.....came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone. Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.
=====================================
We kept suffering the SAME problem until we netted the ponds. We couldn't
replace the fish as fast as the predators were eating them. We had herons,
assorted snakes, snapper turtles of all sizes, bullfrogs, and king-fishers
feeding on them. The nets keep all of these critters out.

Something is terrorizing your fish. Other than the nets there is nothing
that will keep all the preditors out. All I see are small newts in the
smaller pond. They can only eat the even smaller baby fish and that's ok,
since the fish breed like rabbits now.
I get the nets at Ace Hardware.
--
Carol....
"Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I'm in Corpus and live 2 blocks from the Gulf and am very aware of the
large brown herons here along with the pelicans, seagulls
etc...beautiful birds so large their wings can be heard over the
crashing waves by the seaside.

My soloution was to build a terrace over my pond so the birds can't see
them from far up... plus it gives much needed shade in the brutal South
Texas summers down here.

I have never lost one fish in the the 12 years i have had my pond.

I'm in Corpus and live 2 blocks from the Gulf and am very aware of the
large brown herons here along with the pelicans, seagulls
etc...beautiful birds so large their wings can be heard over the
crashing waves by the seaside.

My soloution was to build a terrace over my pond so the birds can't see
them from far up... plus it gives much needed shade in the brutal South
Texas summers down here.

I have never lost one fish in the the 12 years i have had my pond.

"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
.....came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground
fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone.
Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding
like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.
=====================================
We kept suffering the SAME problem until we netted the ponds. We couldn't
replace the fish as fast as the predators were eating them. We had
herons,
assorted snakes, snapper turtles of all sizes, bullfrogs, and king-fishers
feeding on them. The nets keep all of these critters out.

Something is terrorizing your fish. Other than the nets there is nothing
that will keep all the preditors out. All I see are small newts in the
smaller pond. They can only eat the even smaller baby fish and that's ok,
since the fish breed like rabbits now.
I get the nets at Ace Hardware.
--
Carol....

Thanks to all. I may have to implement some type of netting, but the
gorgeous Japanese maple is definitely in the way. I'll have to think on
it.....I mistakenly thought after 5 years my pond was invisible to
predators...

I guess I could just sit on the patio with a cup of coffee and a shotgun....

Jay

"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...

"Jay Adair" wrote in message
...
.....came home from work the other morning and 4 adult shubunkins had
disappeared. No trace of them on the perimeter of the inground
fiberglass
pool or on the bottom. Two days later, the other 3 adults are gone.
Only
survivors - a 5 year old koi (huge) and 4 shubunkin yearlings hiding
like
scared rabbits around the pots on the bottom.
=====================================
We kept suffering the SAME problem until we netted the ponds. We couldn't
replace the fish as fast as the predators were eating them. We had
herons,
assorted snakes, snapper turtles of all sizes, bullfrogs, and king-fishers
feeding on them. The nets keep all of these critters out.

Something is terrorizing your fish. Other than the nets there is nothing
that will keep all the preditors out. All I see are small newts in the
smaller pond. They can only eat the even smaller baby fish and that's ok,
since the fish breed like rabbits now.
I get the nets at Ace Hardware.
--
Carol....

Thanks to all. I may have to implement some type of netting, but the
gorgeous Japanese maple is definitely in the way. I'll have to think on
it.....I mistakenly thought after 5 years my pond was invisible to
predators...

I guess I could just sit on the patio with a cup of coffee and a shotgun....

Jay

General overall predator deterrents:

Heron, fishing bird tips:
- netting over the pond
- chimney flue in the bottom of the pond
- electric shock fence
- motion activated sprinkler
- (P.S. Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond
dollars and pond time ;-)

Raccoon tips:
~ electric shock fence.
~ motion activated sprinkler
~ Call animal control and ask if they have a Hav-a-Hart
humane animal trap to borrow or rent


good luck!


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A