I knew that my fish population looked down when I started removing all the
dying vegetation from the summer growth a few weeks ago. I'm guessing a GBH
has been a frequent visitor but unnoticed by me until last week after
putting up the netting. I did have a couple of GBH sightings last winter so
it's not a surprise. Not welcome either! ;-(

"ReelMcKoi" wrote in message
...

"JB" wrote in message
m...
I came home to something unusual today. There was a decapitated goldfish,
about the size of my hand, laying on the bank of the pond, with the head
nearby, both underneath the bird netting I'd placed over the pond to keep
out leaves. It's the typical black netting, about 1 inch squares, that
I've used for years. The netting will get weighted down with leaves and
will rest on/near the pond's surface until I shake them off and pull it
back taut above the water's surface.

The head looked cleaning severed. The body wasn't in too bad shape, a few
scales missing but I didn't notice any puncture marks on it before I
placed it in it's final resting place, the mulch pile.

I'm thinking GBH. Got frustrated that it couldn't pull the fish through
the netting and flew off, though I would have expected there to be more
damage to the fishes body. Maybe got tangled in the netting and took off?
Maybe it was spooked in my driving up and flew off before it had much
time to make a meal out of it's kill.

Any other ideas from the group?

I'm with you. I would suspect a GBH. They killed some of mine trying
to pull them through the netting. The net has to be about 18" above the
water.


This is a first in my 10 years of ponding.

TIA

JB