Errk25 Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 (edited) I was asleep early this morning. My dog was very restless and woke me up wanting to go out which is unlike her unless she thinks something is outside. So I let her out and found something had gotten into my medaka rice fish tub. My dog must have heard the critter at the tub. The 8 or so adult medaka were gone. Some plants were on the ground still pretty wet. Luckily there are still a bunch of fry. They’ve only been outside for a month or so. Last fall/winter I lost a couple goldfish from a 150 gal stock tank pond too after the plants had died back. I made a wire cover for that to use until spring and cover plants for them to hide come back. I’m thinking it’s been cranes or egrets. A neighbor had the same problem with birds. Could be raccoons but they are fairly rare around here or maybe cats. Anyone else deal with this issue? Edited July 20, 2021 by Errk25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBOzzie59 Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 Dragon Flies and Back Swimmers!!! Grrrrrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungle Fan Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I stopped setting up my deck ponds when I realized that herons in our area found that no snack was too small, or beneath them and that netting over tubs was no obstacle to them with their beaks. Herons I had to get up early to take pictures of and hike to see in the park, some of which were very elusive among them green herons, black crowned night herons, and great blue herons would come to my backyard for a quick snack and go. Had I been willing to offer up my precious finned friends as bait I could've saved myself a lot of mosquito bites and hiking, alas I'm not in a habit of selling out friends so the deck ponds disappeared, and off to the park I go. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errk25 Posted July 20, 2021 Author Share Posted July 20, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 9:52 AM, Jungle Fan said: I stopped setting up my deck ponds when I realized that herons in our area found that no snack was too small, or beneath them and that netting over tubs was no obstacle to them with their beaks. Herons I had to get up early to take pictures of and hike to see in the park, some of which were very elusive among them green herons, black crowned night herons, and great blue herons would come to my backyard for a quick snack and go. Had I been willing to offer up my precious finned friends as bait I could've saved myself a lot of mosquito bites and hiking, alas I'm not in a habit of selling out friends so the deck ponds disappeared, and off to the park I go. I did think the medaka would be too small for critters to bother with. I guess no snack too small is right! Haha! I guess the birds hunt tiny fish in the wild too and these were like an easy access buffet for them. Think I’ll make a cover for this tub too. Something I can easily take off when I want to look at them. I did discover one adult survived the slaughter too. Have to grow out all those fry now which us fine. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jungle Fan Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I thought the same but then again even grizzly bears love ants and berries. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Expectorating_Aubergine Posted July 20, 2021 Share Posted July 20, 2021 I have scrub Jay's that learned how to catch fish from my smaller outdoor tubs. It only stopped when a cat took up residence by the tubs and ate one of their fledglings. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T. Payne Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 If plants were removed from the ponds, I doubt that any species of birds were the culprit. That sounds like the work of a raccoon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demobanana Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 3:40 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said: I have scrub Jay's that learned how to catch fish from my smaller outdoor tubs. It only stopped when a cat took up residence by the tubs and ate one of their fledglings. oh damn...you know what they say. the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Or is the cat now hunting the fish too? So its just a 3 way battle for your fish? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Expectorating_Aubergine Posted July 21, 2021 Share Posted July 21, 2021 Cat doesn't care about the fish. I recon the fact that they are tiny endlers makes them not much of a meal for the cat. It's a stray and she also eats gophers and rats, so she's welcome in the "exclusion zone"... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errk25 Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 3:40 PM, Expectorating_Aubergine said: I have scrub Jay's that learned how to catch fish from my smaller outdoor tubs. It only stopped when a cat took up residence by the tubs and ate one of their fledglings. We do have scrub jays around all the time here too. They are so smart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Errk25 Posted July 21, 2021 Author Share Posted July 21, 2021 On 7/20/2021 at 6:17 PM, T. Payne said: If plants were removed from the ponds, I doubt that any species of birds were the culprit. That sounds like the work of a raccoon. Stuff like frog bit and small parts of plants were out. Raccoons are rarely seen here but they are around. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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