Do small hawks or kestrels ever hunt goldfish???

All my fish are hunkered down at the very bottom of my pond which is
3+ feet deep. One of my shubunkins is missing and I noticed their
terrified behaviour in mid day. I don't believe it is racoons because
my pond walls are very steep and they can't get the fish because they
sleep on the bottom at night (they have ripped up plants in shallow
areas though). I have never seen a herron in my neighborhood or at my
house and cats don't hang around the pond but there is a kestrel that
kills small birds in the area and it roosts occasionly in a large tree
near my pond. People tell me that kestrels don't go after fish but is
this true?? Eagles pull out large fish on nature shows and eagles are
not water birds so could'nt a kestrel/small hawk do the same to a
small fish?. Has anybody had experience with a fish killing kestrel or
small hawk? I believe that the attacks took place on my fish during
the day and I have never seen a racoon around here during the day.

Well, i spent about an hour researching this and the best answer i got
was "maybe"...





On 23 Apr 2004 23:51:50 -0700, (steve) wrote:

All my fish are hunkered down at the very bottom of my pond which is
3+ feet deep. One of my shubunkins is missing and I noticed their
terrified behaviour in mid day. I don't believe it is racoons
because
my pond walls are very steep and they can't get the fish because they
sleep on the bottom at night (they have ripped up plants in shallow
areas though). I have never seen a herron in my neighborhood or at my
house and cats don't hang around the pond but there is a kestrel that
kills small birds in the area and it roosts occasionly in a large
tree
near my pond. People tell me that kestrels don't go after fish but is
this true?? Eagles pull out large fish on nature shows and eagles are
not water birds so could'nt a kestrel/small hawk do the same to a
small fish?. Has anybody had experience with a fish killing kestrel
or
small hawk? I believe that the attacks took place on my fish during
the day and I have never seen a racoon around here during the day.

Well, i spent about an hour researching this and the best answer i got
was "maybe"...





On 23 Apr 2004 23:51:50 -0700, (steve) wrote:

All my fish are hunkered down at the very bottom of my pond which is
3+ feet deep. One of my shubunkins is missing and I noticed their
terrified behaviour in mid day. I don't believe it is racoons
because
my pond walls are very steep and they can't get the fish because they
sleep on the bottom at night (they have ripped up plants in shallow
areas though). I have never seen a herron in my neighborhood or at my
house and cats don't hang around the pond but there is a kestrel that
kills small birds in the area and it roosts occasionly in a large
tree
near my pond. People tell me that kestrels don't go after fish but is
this true?? Eagles pull out large fish on nature shows and eagles are
not water birds so could'nt a kestrel/small hawk do the same to a
small fish?. Has anybody had experience with a fish killing kestrel
or
small hawk? I believe that the attacks took place on my fish during
the day and I have never seen a racoon around here during the day.

I have had several occasions in the past where I thought one of my fish was
gone, only to find it showed up a few days later.

"steve" wrote in message
om...
All my fish are hunkered down at the very bottom of my pond which is
3+ feet deep. One of my shubunkins is missing and I noticed their
terrified behaviour in mid day. I don't believe it is racoons because
my pond walls are very steep and they can't get the fish because they
sleep on the bottom at night (they have ripped up plants in shallow
areas though). I have never seen a herron in my neighborhood or at my
house and cats don't hang around the pond but there is a kestrel that
kills small birds in the area and it roosts occasionly in a large tree
near my pond. People tell me that kestrels don't go after fish but is
this true?? Eagles pull out large fish on nature shows and eagles are
not water birds so could'nt a kestrel/small hawk do the same to a
small fish?. Has anybody had experience with a fish killing kestrel or
small hawk? I believe that the attacks took place on my fish during
the day and I have never seen a racoon around here during the day.

I have had several occasions in the past where I thought one of my fish was
gone, only to find it showed up a few days later.

"steve" wrote in message
om...
All my fish are hunkered down at the very bottom of my pond which is
3+ feet deep. One of my shubunkins is missing and I noticed their
terrified behaviour in mid day. I don't believe it is racoons because
my pond walls are very steep and they can't get the fish because they
sleep on the bottom at night (they have ripped up plants in shallow
areas though). I have never seen a herron in my neighborhood or at my
house and cats don't hang around the pond but there is a kestrel that
kills small birds in the area and it roosts occasionly in a large tree
near my pond. People tell me that kestrels don't go after fish but is
this true?? Eagles pull out large fish on nature shows and eagles are
not water birds so could'nt a kestrel/small hawk do the same to a
small fish?. Has anybody had experience with a fish killing kestrel or
small hawk? I believe that the attacks took place on my fish during
the day and I have never seen a racoon around here during the day.

Hawks and kestrels would be at the very bottom of my list of birds preying on
fish.

More likely a heron or kingfisher.
Herons usually wade in and stalk the fish, a kingfisher dives in and 'swims'
after the fish, coming back out to take the fish to a tree limb and eat it
there.

Here is my list of predator tips:

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


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

Hawks and kestrels would be at the very bottom of my list of birds preying on
fish.

More likely a heron or kingfisher.
Herons usually wade in and stalk the fish, a kingfisher dives in and 'swims'
after the fish, coming back out to take the fish to a tree limb and eat it
there.

Here is my list of predator tips:

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


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

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:GDric.12595$0u6.2180162@attbi_s03...
I have had several occasions in the past where I thought one of my fish
was
gone, only to find it showed up a few days later.
snip

Amen to that. I have two Koi that are an opalescent yellow color. One of
them periodically disapears and reappears. I am not sure where he is
commuting to, nor how he gets there, but he does.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:GDric.12595$0u6.2180162@attbi_s03...
I have had several occasions in the past where I thought one of my fish
was
gone, only to find it showed up a few days later.
snip

Amen to that. I have two Koi that are an opalescent yellow color. One of
them periodically disapears and reappears. I am not sure where he is
commuting to, nor how he gets there, but he does.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com

Sounds like a BV kind of a Koi.

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Remydog" wrote in message
news:GDric.12595$0u6.2180162@attbi_s03...
I have had several occasions in the past where I thought one of my fish
was
gone, only to find it showed up a few days later.
snip

Amen to that. I have two Koi that are an opalescent yellow color. One of
them periodically disapears and reappears. I am not sure where he is
commuting to, nor how he gets there, but he does.

--
BV.
www.iheartmypond.com