"Anne Lurie" wrote in message r.com...
Are you sure that cats are the culprits? I have (or rather am owned by
cats) now and then, and they just don't seem to like dipping those paws that
far into water, in my experience.

Wasn't there a thread not long ago about cats and water in this ng?
Some weird cats wanting to take a shower with the poster?

Also, it doesn't sound very "catlike" for a cat to leave its prey behind.

It will if it's just experimenting with the new "toy".

Although I think the predator might be a bird or raccoon or some other, my
suggestion would be to put finer netting over the grate.

Bird, maybe, or otter. That's England. Racoon are not native over
there, and are destructive enough that I would expect the gov animal
control people to have an absolute fit if they thought any had been
released.