Dear all,

I live in the south west of the UK. My neighbour has had her outdoor
pond invaded by some type of creature that has killed nearly all her
Koi.
She heard a lot of splashing in the pond at 3.00am but was affraid to
go out. This morning she has found all the Koi scattered around the
garden with all the heads missing!!!!!
What on earth would do this?. We have had problems with herons in the
past but not where they left the fish with heads missing.
My neighbour has now put a net to protect the remaining fish left but
we need to know what creature would do this??
Thanks in advance,
Gary.

Probably a fox - if it's hungry enough - sorry to hear though !

Any track marks etc?

How deep is the pond?

"garyjohn_99" wrote in message
oups.com...
Dear all,

I live in the south west of the UK. My neighbour has had her outdoor
pond invaded by some type of creature that has killed nearly all her
Koi.
She heard a lot of splashing in the pond at 3.00am but was affraid to
go out. This morning she has found all the Koi scattered around the
garden with all the heads missing!!!!!
What on earth would do this?. We have had problems with herons in the
past but not where they left the fish with heads missing.
My neighbour has now put a net to protect the remaining fish left but
we need to know what creature would do this??
Thanks in advance,
Gary.

On 1 Nov 2006 08:15:10 -0800, garyjohn_99 wrote:

Dear all,

I live in the south west of the UK. My neighbour has had her outdoor
pond invaded by some type of creature that has killed nearly all her
Koi.
She heard a lot of splashing in the pond at 3.00am but was affraid to
go out. This morning she has found all the Koi scattered around the
garden with all the heads missing!!!!!
What on earth would do this?. We have had problems with herons in the
past but not where they left the fish with heads missing.
My neighbour has now put a net to protect the remaining fish left but
we need to know what creature would do this??
Thanks in advance,
Gary.

Do you have Mink in your area?

--
Regards - Rodney Pont
The from address exists but is mostly dumped,
please send any emails to the address below
e-mail ngpsm4 (at) infohitsystems (dot) ltd (dot) uk

garyjohn_99 wrote:
Dear all,

I live in the south west of the UK. My neighbour has had her outdoor
pond invaded by some type of creature that has killed nearly all her
Koi.
She heard a lot of splashing in the pond at 3.00am but was affraid to
go out. This morning she has found all the Koi scattered around the
garden with all the heads missing!!!!!
What on earth would do this?. We have had problems with herons in the
past but not where they left the fish with heads missing.
My neighbour has now put a net to protect the remaining fish left but
we need to know what creature would do this??
Thanks in advance,
Gary.

What sort of area do you live in? Built up/country?? Are you near a quiet
river?.......I'm thinking Otter?

--
ßôyþëtë

BoyPete wrote:
garyjohn_99 wrote:
Dear all,

I live in the south west of the UK. My neighbour has had her outdoor
pond invaded by some type of creature that has killed nearly all her
Koi.
She heard a lot of splashing in the pond at 3.00am but was affraid to
go out. This morning she has found all the Koi scattered around the
garden with all the heads missing!!!!!
What on earth would do this?. We have had problems with herons in the
past but not where they left the fish with heads missing.
My neighbour has now put a net to protect the remaining fish left but
we need to know what creature would do this??
Thanks in advance,
Gary.

What sort of area do you live in? Built up/country?? Are you near a quiet
river?.......I'm thinking Otter?

-- We live in the countryside, although not by a river. Have so far had suggestions of Fox, Mink and Otter - What I don't understand is why only eat the head? Surely if an animal is hungry it would eat the whole fish - but the bodies of the Koi were left scatered???
ßôyþëtë

-- We live in the countryside, although not by a river. Have so far had suggestions of Fox, Mink and Otter - What I don't understand is why only eat the head? Surely if an animal is hungry it would eat the whole fish - but the bodies of the Koi were left scatered???

Racoon. ~ jan
--------------
See my ponds and filter design:
www.jjspond.us

~Keep 'em Wet!~
Tri-Cities WA Zone 7a
To e-mail see website

"garyjohn_99" wrote in message
ups.com...

-- We live in the countryside, although not by a river. Have so far had
suggestions of Fox, Mink and Otter - What I don't understand is why only
eat the head? Surely if an animal is hungry it would eat the whole fish -
but the bodies of the Koi were left scatered???

I've heard of urban foxes released into the countryside where they will kill
a dozen chickens in a run. Not eat any of them, just kill them. Perhaps
you've got a released urban fox ?

yup, I was thinking something in the weasel family that gets into a killing groove
and doesnt stop to actually eat all of one before moving on to kill the rest.
you got wild ferrets?
Ingrid

"Rodney Pont" wrote:
Do you have Mink in your area?



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

garyjohn_99 wrote:
BoyPete wrote:
garyjohn_99 wrote:
Dear all,

I live in the south west of the UK. My neighbour has had her outdoor
pond invaded by some type of creature that has killed nearly all her
Koi.
She heard a lot of splashing in the pond at 3.00am but was affraid
to go out. This morning she has found all the Koi scattered around
the garden with all the heads missing!!!!!
What on earth would do this?. We have had problems with herons in
the past but not where they left the fish with heads missing.
My neighbour has now put a net to protect the remaining fish left
but we need to know what creature would do this??
Thanks in advance,
Gary.

What sort of area do you live in? Built up/country?? Are you near a
quiet
river?.......I'm thinking Otter?

-- We live in the countryside, although not by a river. Have so far
had suggestions of Fox, Mink and Otter - What I don't understand is
why only eat the head? Surely if an animal is hungry it would eat
the whole fish - but the bodies of the Koi were left scatered???
ßôyþëtë

This brings an unpleasant thought to mind. Are you sure the heads were
'bitten' off? Or was the severence clean......a knife?? Some sicko got a
grudge? Hope not.
--
ßôyþëtë

If I remember correctly for some reason York university has photos of quite a few animal paw prints. I'd suggest your neighbour ring her pond in soft raked sand or soft mud and has a look for prints. I think a fox would leave fairly big puncture wounds on the body.

sean mckinney wrote:
If I remember correctly for some reason York university has photos of
quite a few animal paw prints. I'd suggest your neighbour ring her pond
in soft raked sand or soft mud and has a look for prints. I think a fox
would leave fairly big puncture wounds on the body.




--
sean mckinney

To all who have sent messages, we thank you very much. This is however,
still a mystery and a has been a great stress on my neighbour. The
outcome is still unclear as of the different suggestions. So, if anyone
comes up with any further thoughts, please forward them onto this
thread.
Many thanks,
Gary.

"garyjohn_99" wrote in message
oups.com...
To all who have sent messages, we thank you very much. This is however,
still a mystery and a has been a great stress on my neighbour. The
outcome is still unclear as of the different suggestions. So, if anyone
comes up with any further thoughts, please forward them onto this
thread.
==================
I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but we had so much trouble with
predators we finally bought a tough fine black bird netting and netted our
ponds.
--
KL....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö ~~~~ }((((({*

Might help to forget the paw-print idea, and just tell the neighbor to
use some type of heavy screen to cover the pond until the "creator" gives up
and moves on.., or as a retired Special Forces MSG.., when not a very low
electrified dog fence.., to protect the Koi herd..(smile)..!! Better yet,
buy a good smart sheep dog..!!

....Need here for a little piece of British humor. It's must likely a little
seen breed of English Koi Head Eating Scatter Bear. This bear was mentioned
briefly in the 25th chapter of Wind in the Willows..!!