Raccconnss?? Help!

[JesseMoreira06]

Hello, super important question. I have had my pond up and running for two summers , never had issues, this summer for the first time woke up on Sunday with 2 Koi missing, then noticed blood and little bit of flesh on a few rocks surronding my pond, I assumed it must of been a raccoon since we dont have large birds in my area. I decided to put up a 2 foot fence using fishing wire around my pond...48 hours later another Koi gone...

What should I do? #1 I want my Koi safe first, but at the same time want to keep the look of my pond.

Thanks in advance.

 

[JRS]

Sorry to hear about your fish. Unfortunately something will probably have to change to keep them safe. Usually with coons, which typically work from shallow water, you will see some disturbance in the pond plants and such as they root around. Usually a pond big enough to have koi would also have a deep enough area for them to avoid coons. What are your pond dimensions? Any chance it is something else like a mink?

If it is a coon, eliminating shallow fishing areas will help. I designed my pond with a drop off from the edge specifically to avoid coons fishing off a plant shelf.

 

[poconojoe]

Bummer!
We've been lucky. We see raccoons all the time, but they've never bothered our fish.
I hope I didn't just jinx myself!

Put a camera there so you know for sure what you are dealing with. Knowing who is doing the damage might help how you can protect it.
If it's a bird, you can hang a fishing net up several feet, but if it's a ground animal, then you'll have to take a different approach. I would think the size of the animal would also dictate the type of protection. A small mink or otter as verses a large raccoon for example.

I wonder if nylon pond netting would keep them out? From a short distance, it isn't even noticeable. Maybe after a while, if they realize they can't get through it they will leave it alone. Then you can try taking the net off? I don't even know if it would keep a raccoon out. They might just tear it open.

 

[GBBUDD]

I wonder if nylon pond netting would keep them out?

not a chance i had a rabbit chew through my net and their teeth are toys compared to predator's

 

[JesseMoreira06]

Thanks for the replies, I set up a camera and also decided to put chicken wire completely over my pond and so far nobody has shown up. I also put a spotlight with some sort of red eye. I will keep monitoring the cameras and see what happens.

 

[BenB]

We have a huge number of raccoons in our area. We also have a scrawny German Shepherd mix that loves to kill them if they come in the back yard.

 

[GBBUDD]

build a deep pond with at least 24 inch high sides

 

[Tish]

I have coons around. They haven't got a fish but they used to grab my floating plants out of pond and take bites out of them. I use scent deterrents. have tried raw onion, hot peppers, apple cider vinegar, moth balls. all of these things work but you have to replenish to keep the scent fresh. I settled on raw onion and moth balls placed around the pond. However I only have a small area to protect. Above ground stock tank 4 ft. by 3.5 ft. I have read there are plants that will repel them. Garlic and mint are 2 that I remember but there are more.

 

[j.w]

I have deep sides on my pond all the way around. When the raccoons used to come they just jumped right in and wrecked all the plants and lilies, made a huge mess so that's why the short wire fence w/a net up high attached to the fence. Keeps both Heron and raccoons out. None in there since!