??Predator Quiz??

I'd guess the culprit was a great blue heron, as I think a 13" fish might be
bit tough for the smaller green heron to manage.

As for not noticing a great blue heron, I assumed that Chad meant there was
no one home between 6:30 am & 5:30 pm to see the GBH (birder's jargon).

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC







"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...
Chad wrote:
Ok, I lost a fish yesterday and have no clue to who the culpret
is....yet. Time to play a little detective game.... we will see who
is right when I catch him in the act and STOP him from getting any
Koi.

The Fish :

5 year old white fancy goldfish, about 13 inches in length. Of
course, the one that always rested on my feet while I work with the
lilies and would let my kids pet her. Probably a bit too friendly

The Facts:

1. Fish was present in the pond pre-work 6:30 a.m.
2. Fish was noticed missing around 5:30 p.m.
3.Nothing was disturbed in pond. 1300 + gallon pond, 5 decent sized
Lilies, Horsetail, Dwarf Papyrus, Hornwort(around lillies), etc.
4.Nothing disturbed around the pond. The perimeter of the pond is
River Flats that range from 6" to 16" and are not quite settled in
place, outside of that is fresh cedar bark mulch which always sticks
to my feet when I am working on the pond.
5.9 other fish were hanging around where the stream enters the pond,
then acted normal when fed.
6.I had a raccoon problem with my deck pond 3 years ago. But they
left evidence, close your eyes if your squimish, "parts laying
around".
7.One other thing to include, I have been in my house over 6 years and
I live in an urban area. The closest outskirts of town are about 3+
miles away. Over last weekend I was driving over a creek that is
about 4 blocks away and in a pond, next to a large nursery I noticed
what looked like a small [2 ½ ft tall] white ibis. Well, I thought
this land was owned by the nursery, but I had never drove around the
other side so I thought what the heck. Turns out the land is called
Heron's Haven Wetland, an Urban Wetland and is maintained by the
Audubon Society. I am still in shock that I didn't know it was there.
Anyway, here is an excerpt of fauna from their site. "Home to
green herons, big blue herons, American bitterns, Canada geese, wood
chucks, mink, muskrat, and deer". Before last weekend I had only seen
the woodchuck around and my in-laws spotted some deer two weeks ago
walking in a strip mall parking lot about 3 blocks away.

So, who do you think did it???

My vote would be for the green heron or great blue heron.
The green heron can hide very well and go unseen. There
is no way you'd miss a great blue by your pond.
--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/