My fish are missing!

[Tat2man]

I’m not sure whats going on but three of my large koi (14”), are gone. I have a 5400 gal pond that is next to my business. Theres a lot of foot traffic on the daily and its right in the middle of town so there should not be a predator problem. Its like they just vanished out of thin air. I have (had) a total of 29 different fish mostly koi and a few big blue gill.

 

[Tula]

So sorry to hear you're missing fish I've learned over the years, there are predators even in urban settings. When was the last time you saw them ?

 

[bagsmom]

Could it be a human predator? Those are big fish for any animal to get.

 

[Tat2man]

I last saw them right before the water turned green from temperatures heating up for spring. (Five weeks ago)As soon as the water started clearing up I started feeding the fish. They readily surfaced to feed as usual except my two biggest. I can see the bottom enough to know that they’re gone now

 

[j.w]

@Tat2man
Sorry and I too am wondering if someone took them? Might want to set up some camera's out of sight.

 

[Tat2man]

View attachment 156708@Tat2man
Sorry and I too am wondering if someone took them? Might want to set up some camera's out of sight.

I hear ya! They’re just solid white but they were a good size.

 

[GBBUDD]

Most folks here have a camera on the pond. And i have to agree the city means nothing. I build power lines for a living i'm out in the woods all day every day i have seen more wildlife in New Jersey for example than in New Hampshire or Maine.

 

[Patriot1947]

I’m not sure whats going on but three of my large koi (14”), are gone. I have a 5400 gal pond that is next to my business. Theres a lot of foot traffic on the daily and its right in the middle of town so there should not be a predator problem. Its like they just vanished out of thin air. I have (had) a total of 29 different fish mostly koi and a few big blue gill.

 

[Patriot1947]

Very easily could be Heron. I have one that used to wait and see me pull out of the driveway before raiding my pond!

 

[Jeff G]

I'm not sure where you live but here in western NY mink can steal fish. Here is security cam footage of a mink in action.

(Not my video.)
A mink can clean out your pond in a very short time. I had a mink run across my back yard. We were all so excited to see one. Then it went into my pond and came out with a 9 inch white carp before I had time to run out there. Two minutes later as I was lamenting the loss, it returned for more!!! Fortunately, I was able to handle the situation permanently.

 

[stonehouse]

I’m not sure whats going on but three of my large koi (14”), are gone. I have a 5400 gal pond that is next to my business. Theres a lot of foot traffic on the daily and its right in the middle of town so there should not be a predator problem. Its like they just vanished out of thin air. I have (had) a total of 29 different fish mostly koi and a few big blue gill.

stolen?

 

[kaarl]

How deep is the pond? Predators such a raccoons won't dive more than about 1 m; not sure about mink. Else this could be a large bipedal predator in the Simiformes order. In Japan I saw urban koi tanks in public areas protected with stainless steel grates and padlocks.....

 

[Tat2man]

How deep is the pond? Predators such a raccoons won't dive more than about 1 m; not sure about mink. Else this could be a large bipedal predator in the Simiformes order. In Japan I saw urban koi tanks in public areas protected with stainless steel grates and padlocks.....

The most shallow part is 1.5’ and the deepest is 4’ with lots of huge rocks and a couple of ceramic pots. I’m going to post pics of the pond when I get a chance

 

[Willragan]

I’m not sure whats going on but three of my large koi (14”), are gone. I have a 5400 gal pond that is next to my business. Theres a lot of foot traffic on the daily and its right in the middle of town so there should not be a predator problem. Its like they just vanished out of thin air. I have (had) a total of 29 different fish mostly koi and a few big blue gill.

I agree that there are predators where you don’t expect. House cats, raccoons, cranes and egrets swoop in and swoop out. Or human theft.

 

[GBBUDD]

and then there are the three biggest predator's though not really common Otter, fisher cats and mink get either one of those and you better get your fish into a sealed tank.