Anyone have experience of a fox raiding their garden pond for fish? And more importantly, were you able to stop it?

We’ve had something visiting the pond several times in the last fortnight and has pinched most of our food. It actually goes into the pond so that rules cats out. And it is big enough to have moved large stones and a filter unit, so we figure a fox is the only likely culprit. They were just cheap goldfish so that rules out humans, and we are pretty sure it isn’t a dog, as it has happened a few times and where we live dogs are almost all walked on leads.

We don’t want to cover the pond with a net or put other unsightly obstacles up. One thing I did think about was putting plastic fish near the edge in the hope the fox will grab one or two and think they are disgusting. Does that sound plausible? Mrs Kenny is quite sceptical about my plan. Actually, sceptical is the polite term!

My dad was utterly convinced that the neighbour’s cat was stealing our fish, until the day we went out and saw a ruddy great heron sitting at the side of the pond, bold as brass. It nabbed its last then a net went over the pond.

Not sure plastic fishes will trick predators of any kind, I think they rely more on movement and scent (in the case of foxes) than aesthetics to determine prey.

Where are you?
Mink or otter almost certainly (unless you’ve seen any baby robins around? :wink:)

We’ve had something visiting the pond several times in the last fortnight and has pinched most of our food.

You eat goldfish ? 😯

motion activated water sprinkler

How would a motion activated water sprinkler deter an animal which is prepared to wade into a pond and hunt ?

Heron

I agree that’s it’s most likely a heron. Foxes spend their time licking jam off babies faces. Herons are the most vicious killers of pondlife on the planet.

Heron was our first thought, but what has been in there moved about a couple of house brick sized stones, a couple of heavy plant pots and a filter unit so was obviously thrashing around quite a bit. Herons rely more on stealth and their legs wouldn’t be that strong I think.

We are in Colinton on the outskirts of Edinburgh, very near the Pentlands hills. We’ve seen foxes in the garden loads of times, but only put the pond in this year. I’ve never heard of mink in the area. The Water of Leith does have otters, I’m told, but is a good half mile away.

We think it also took the two frogs who lived in the pond too.

It actually goes into the pond so that rules cats out.

No, it doesn’t, one of my mums cats would get fish out of the pond. It didn’t like getting wet but it did like gold fish.

Earnie, I’ve just reread what I typed. 🙂

Oops.

To move the filter a cat would have have been fully submerged. I’ve haven’t totally ruled out Tiddles next door getting hold of scuba kit mind you. 🙂

Frogs? It’s a heron.
They’re tough birds. They can break your arm or something.

edit: And foxes are tiny animals. They’re just cats with more fur.

To move the filter a cat would have have been fully submerged.

I can’t imagine a fox being that desperate. They’re not usually that hungry IME.

Doubt its a fox, heron yes and the only solution that works is a net.

Mink or Otter

Whatever it is, assuming a cat-type object – jumps in, lands, jumps out again. Surely that’s enough to dislodge objects on the bed of the pond ?

(my money’s on bears)

My money is on the Honey Badger

My money is on East Europeans.

Obviously a nice plump koi carp would be the preferred choice but when you’re a little peckish a goldfish will provide a quick tasty snack.

The biggest threat to Britain’s carp is Eastern European migrants

I bet swans have also been mysteriously disappearing in your area.

Our cats have emptied our neighbour’s pond of all its fish. We know it’s them as I keep finding live frogs and bits of fish in the house…..

Have you got any Cavalier King Charles Spaniels in the area?

I only ask because our cav hates frogs, she hates them more than rabbits. Unfortunately, frogs don’t taste great so she chews them for a bit, feels sick and spits them out. They then hop off and she sees them and goes ‘ooh, a frog!’, and chews them for a bit, repeat ad infinatum,

If you look behind the shed you may find a load of half eaten frogs and fish,.

There’ll be loads of foxes round there, and I’d imagine it could be them. Used to have goldfish and a koi in my parents pond and herons took them all, though they come around dawn so we rarely saw them. They took my neighbours koi even through a coarse net they put over it, including some really big ones, very strong birds.

Emilia Fox and her pals?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1191718/WILLIAM-SITWELL-As-film-warns-species-face-extinction-stop-eating-fish.html

Mail readers will be in uproar 🙂

If its’s the two girls in that photo, they can take me too!

I know a heron seems most likely, but are they really likely to have knocked over heavy plant pots at the bottom of the pond, or moved a filter unit? I thought they were hunters by stealth, with just one quick movement to get the fish?

Anyone got night recoding kit I can borrow? Honestly.

Otters.

I always understood them to be extremely shy creatures, until I earlier in the year I saw a pair of them hunting in the shallows of the town beck, about 50m away from the car park where the bi-annual fun fair was going full swing.

Osprey ?

🙂

Nearest river I know with otters is more than half a mile away.

Hope it isn’t ospreys though. Once you have them you can’t get rid of them. They are worse than pandas that way!

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