Yummy hyacinth

[Pond skipper]

Hi all, anyone have any idea what’s snacking on my water hyacinth in the middle of the night? I have a fenced yard and no dear or anything like that.. whatever it is it likes the bulbous part at the base of the leaves. I’m wondering if skunks or raccoons like it. I have my pair of ducks that visit the pond daily now but have never seen them show any interest in the plants. Also whatever it is, is getting at them from the edges as they float around the pond, so I guess it doesn’t like the water. Last year I ended up making a lasso type of rig to contain the hyacinths in the middle using grass trimmer string and tied it to a rock in the middle of the pond and they finally stopped getting eaten.. forgot to do that this year though. Anyway probably raccoons I guess. But just wondering if anybody else has that problem and what they think it might be.

 

[poconojoe]

Do you happen to have one of those trail cameras? They work great and can take still photos or videos with sound, time, date, temperature. Mine is made by Moutrie. It runs on 6 C batteries and stores the captures on an SD card.

 

[poconojoe]

Maybe string some fishing lines low down around the perimeter of the pond. That may deter them.

 

[SarahT]

In my Chicago IL yard, it was raccoons. I lassoed the hyacinths to the bottom of the pond in the middle away from the pond walls and that helped. Good luck!

 

[brokensword]

I concur with Sarah; keep them away from the shallows and the coons can't get them. Btw, same goes for your fish!!

 

[Pond skipper]

Lol.. ya the fish seem to be smart enough to stay away but I am definitely going to make my lasso and rock “Leash” again as soon as I get new plants. I wish I had a trail cam but I don’t think I’d invest in one just for this.. thanks for the ideas.. I’m pretty sure it’s raccoons too! Saw some scat this morning that looks about the right size.

 

[brokensword]

Lol.. ya the fish seem to be smart enough to stay away but I am definitely going to make my lasso and rock “Leash” again as soon as I get new plants. I wish I had a trail cam but I don’t think I’d invest in one just for this.. thanks for the ideas.. I’m pretty sure it’s raccoons too! Saw some scat this morning that looks about the right size.

it's still worth getting the trailcam; all sorts of critters (even the human kind) that might be poking about your pond. I use 2 in my yard to track the deer traversing through. My way of figuring out how to stop them!

Not knowing your locale, you'll be able to sooner know if a heron, owl, cat, mink, bear, or even moose happens by. Seriously, we have members whose pond has been visited by all of them.

 

[GBBUDD]

I concur with Sarah; keep them away from the shallows and the coons can't get them. Btw, same goes for your fish!!

Contrary to what many believe raccoons can swim. I have seen if myself a i spooked a family of them and they had no hesitation taking to the water.

 

[Pond skipper]

it's still worth getting the trailcam; all sorts of critters (even the human kind) that might be poking about your pond. I use 2 in my yard to track the deer traversing through. My way of figuring out how to stop them!

Not knowing your locale, you'll be able to sooner know if a heron, owl, cat, mink, bear, or even moose happens by. Seriously, we have members whose pond has been visited by all of them.

Ya i wish I lived in an area that had those kinda critters around. I’m in a small city with a fenced yard etc. I’ll be here till I retire.. about another 7 years then….. I’m gonna be somewhere with deer and moose all around … I hope lol