The fish went into the pond mid to late afternoon. So a bird is
possible. My friend mentioned dragonfly larvae, as did Jan. Now that
it's mentioned twice, it could likely be that. He said it looked almost
as if the fish tried to eat something, and the something turned around
and tried to eat it back.

The GF was a fantail, maybe 3.5 to 4" SL (excluding the tail). Not the
biggest, but certainly not a wee one.

Lilly

matrix j wrote:
Eyes gouged out usually means some kind of bird.....either after it was
killed or when it was killed..was the fish still pretty fresh? ...seen
it a lot of times while fishing..after a bird gets a hold of a fish it
usually eats the eyes first..jmo