Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

I am so depressed! I awoke this morning, peered outside and saw two of my 3
year old comets lying on the rim rock of the pond! I ran outside, and they
were gulping for air; there were scales on the ground, and both fish were
beat up pretty badly. A few feet away was our big goldfish (an oversized
feeder that we rescued last year), stiff and dead. The lilies in the pond
were totally destroyed; all pads were ripped off. I hurriedly put the
comets in the water and tried to carefully wipe down their sides which had
grass and dirt on them. They lay sideways for a bit, but I gently guided
them upright and kept them away from the skimmer. I stayed at the side for
a half hour, guiding the fish that way until they seemed to get some
strength back. A third comet, one who was a year old, darted out from under
the falls rocks when she saw the other fish back in the pond. She has a few
slices in her, but was at least under water the whole time.

I think it must have been a raccoon, don't you? We had a similar occurrence
last year, and we rigged up a pond cover of vinyl lattice and crossboards
which we put over the pond each night. But, we had just installed some nice
outdoor lighting around the pond with spots trained on the falls, and we
were hopeful that we would not need the cover.

So far, the fish are doing better, but I am worried about them. They have
wintered over here in zone 5b two years and survived, and I am attached to
them. I am hopeful, since they seem to be gaining strength and swimming
fine, as well as eating a bit. Do you guys think they'll make it?

It had to have happened right before we got up at 9:30--it was plenty bright
and sunshiney out. There are no dogs around, and there was no other damage
or footprints around. The neighbors had their garbage cans upset and
ransacked, and there has been a 'coon in the area.

I'm so SAD!

NJ

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

NJ wrote
I think it must have been a raccoon, don't you?

Yes, trashed plants usually means raccoon.
Other Raccoons hints ~
- motion activated sprinklers - secured with a concrete builder's block
- fi-shock fido electric fence available are large pet stores such as PetsMart.
- havahart traps - Call your local animal control or humane society. In some
areas they have them for rent or loan.

good luck!

k30a

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

We must have offended the pond gods!

I suffered my first calamity today!

Went out to my pond about 1:30 pm today, right there on the edge of my pond
with a 10" kohaku wiggling in it's mouth was a heron, big ol freaking beast!
Dinning on $250.00 sushi!

Of course my other Koi are nowhere in sight, so I don't know how many the
SOB ate!

And yes, the nets went up faster than you can say "kill the dogs for not
killing the heron"!

I apologize to all that have had to deal with this and didn't get any
sympathy from me, I feel your pain now!

Back to the pond!

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"NJ" wrote in message
...

I am so depressed! I awoke this morning, peered outside and saw two of my
3
year old comets lying on the rim rock of the pond! I ran outside, and
they
were gulping for air; there were scales on the ground, and both fish were
beat up pretty badly. A few feet away was our big goldfish (an oversized
feeder that we rescued last year), stiff and dead. The lilies in the pond
were totally destroyed; all pads were ripped off. I hurriedly put the
comets in the water and tried to carefully wipe down their sides which had
grass and dirt on them. They lay sideways for a bit, but I gently guided
them upright and kept them away from the skimmer. I stayed at the side
for
a half hour, guiding the fish that way until they seemed to get some
strength back. A third comet, one who was a year old, darted out from
under
the falls rocks when she saw the other fish back in the pond. She has a
few
slices in her, but was at least under water the whole time.

I think it must have been a raccoon, don't you? We had a similar
occurrence
last year, and we rigged up a pond cover of vinyl lattice and crossboards
which we put over the pond each night. But, we had just installed some
nice
outdoor lighting around the pond with spots trained on the falls, and we
were hopeful that we would not need the cover.

So far, the fish are doing better, but I am worried about them. They have
wintered over here in zone 5b two years and survived, and I am attached to
them. I am hopeful, since they seem to be gaining strength and swimming
fine, as well as eating a bit. Do you guys think they'll make it?

It had to have happened right before we got up at 9:30--it was plenty
bright
and sunshiney out. There are no dogs around, and there was no other damage
or footprints around. The neighbors had their garbage cans upset and
ransacked, and there has been a 'coon in the area.

I'm so SAD!

NJ

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

right there on the edge of my pond
with a 10" kohaku wiggling in it's mouth was a heron, big ol freaking beast!
Dinning on $250.00 sushi!

ak! ak! ak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


k30a

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

Mt sympathy to everyone who is suffering thru the shock
of any sort of animal attach with their fish.
A lady here in south St. Louis has been doing battle with a
Crane ... a Crane in the city! Several folks have posted
on our Club's website that they have seen Cranes around too!
This is way too close for comfort!!

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"K30a" wrote in message
...
right there on the edge of my pond
with a 10" kohaku wiggling in it's mouth was a heron, big ol freaking
beast!
Dinning on $250.00 sushi!

ak! ak! ak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


k30a

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

Please educate me on the difference between a crane, heron, and stork!

The beast that had my fish for Dinner is white as sheet, long pointy beaks,
and huge!

Is this Heron, Stork, or Crane!

Worth noting is that my house is near the mountains, at least 40-50 miles
from the ocean!

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Nedra" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Mt sympathy to everyone who is suffering thru the shock
of any sort of animal attach with their fish.
A lady here in south St. Louis has been doing battle with a
Crane ... a Crane in the city! Several folks have posted
on our Club's website that they have seen Cranes around too!
This is way too close for comfort!!

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"K30a" wrote in message
...
right there on the edge of my pond
with a 10" kohaku wiggling in it's mouth was a heron, big ol freaking
beast!
Dinning on $250.00 sushi!

ak! ak! ak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


k30a

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

If the bird brought a human baby with it,, then it was a stork!



(sorry, couldn't resist)



"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message
...
Please educate me on the difference between a crane, heron, and stork!

The beast that had my fish for Dinner is white as sheet, long pointy
beaks,
and huge!

Is this Heron, Stork, or Crane!

Worth noting is that my house is near the mountains, at least 40-50 miles
from the ocean!

--

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

NJ wrote:
I am so depressed! I awoke this morning, peered outside and saw two of my 3
year old comets lying on the rim rock of the pond! I ran outside, and they
were gulping for air; there were scales on the ground, and both fish were
beat up pretty badly. A few feet away was our big goldfish (an oversized
feeder that we rescued last year), stiff and dead. The lilies in the pond
were totally destroyed; all pads were ripped off. I hurriedly put the
comets in the water and tried to carefully wipe down their sides which had
grass and dirt on them. They lay sideways for a bit, but I gently guided
them upright and kept them away from the skimmer. I stayed at the side for
a half hour, guiding the fish that way until they seemed to get some
strength back. A third comet, one who was a year old, darted out from under
the falls rocks when she saw the other fish back in the pond. She has a few
slices in her, but was at least under water the whole time.

I think it must have been a raccoon, don't you? We had a similar occurrence
last year, and we rigged up a pond cover of vinyl lattice and crossboards
which we put over the pond each night. But, we had just installed some nice
outdoor lighting around the pond with spots trained on the falls, and we
were hopeful that we would not need the cover.

So far, the fish are doing better, but I am worried about them. They have
wintered over here in zone 5b two years and survived, and I am attached to
them. I am hopeful, since they seem to be gaining strength and swimming
fine, as well as eating a bit. Do you guys think they'll make it?

It had to have happened right before we got up at 9:30--it was plenty bright
and sunshiney out. There are no dogs around, and there was no other damage
or footprints around. The neighbors had their garbage cans upset and
ransacked, and there has been a 'coon in the area.

I'm so SAD!

NJ




It definitely sounds like a raccoon. Hopefully your fish
will survive. I'd continue to put the lattice over the pond
if it has worked previously.

--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

Just Me \"Koi\" wrote:
We must have offended the pond gods!

I suffered my first calamity today!

Went out to my pond about 1:30 pm today, right there on the edge of my pond
with a 10" kohaku wiggling in it's mouth was a heron, big ol freaking beast!
Dinning on $250.00 sushi!

Of course my other Koi are nowhere in sight, so I don't know how many the
SOB ate!

And yes, the nets went up faster than you can say "kill the dogs for not
killing the heron"!

I apologize to all that have had to deal with this and didn't get any
sympathy from me, I feel your pain now!

Back to the pond!

--
It is a horrible sight to see one of your fish in the beak
of a heron. So sorry.
--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

Just Me \"Koi\" wrote:
Please educate me on the difference between a crane, heron, and stork!

The beast that had my fish for Dinner is white as sheet, long pointy beaks,
and huge!

Sounds like a Great Egret, it's range is from California to
Tennessee.


--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

So, it's not a crane, stork, or heron, but an egret! How many birds do I
have to be afraid of now? Let's not forget red tail hawks also!

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...
Just Me \"Koi\" wrote:
Please educate me on the difference between a crane, heron, and stork!

The beast that had my fish for Dinner is white as sheet, long pointy
beaks,
and huge!

Sounds like a Great Egret, it's range is from California to
Tennessee.


--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

I have a North American Wildlife book -
just looked up the Birds!!! Looks like those of us in
Missouri are really lucky. We have most all the BIG birds
either migrating, breeding, or all year !!
Must be the Mississippi Flyway ....

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118
"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message
...
So, it's not a crane, stork, or heron, but an egret! How many birds do I
have to be afraid of now? Let's not forget red tail hawks also!

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Bonnie Espenshade" wrote in message
...
Just Me \"Koi\" wrote:
Please educate me on the difference between a crane, heron, and stork!

The beast that had my fish for Dinner is white as sheet, long pointy
beaks,
and huge!

Sounds like a Great Egret, it's range is from California to
Tennessee.


--
Bonnie
NJ
http://home.earthlink.net/~maebe43/

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

make sure you have some salt in the pond, this will help healing. it wouldnt be a
bad idea to feed antibiotic food for a while too. Ingrid

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

Unless you're in a very limited area of South Florida (I think), any white
wading bird is most likely an egret -- the big ones are Great Egrets, the
smaller ones with gorgeous plumes are Snowy Egrets, and the short stocky
ones are Cattle Egrets.

There is a Wood Stork in parts of the South, but it's easily identified by
its huge bill, and it's not nearly as beautiful as the egrets, IMHO.

Check out this gallery of photographs of wading birds at The Virtual Birder
http://www.virtualbirder.com/vbirder...allery/index.h
tml, to see some comparative photos. (There's lots of info about all things
"birdy" at that website.)

Anne Lurie
Raleigh, NC


"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message
...
Please educate me on the difference between a crane, heron, and stork!

The beast that had my fish for Dinner is white as sheet, long pointy
beaks,
and huge!

Is this Heron, Stork, or Crane!

Worth noting is that my house is near the mountains, at least 40-50 miles
from the ocean!

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Nedra" wrote in message
thlink.net...
Mt sympathy to everyone who is suffering thru the shock
of any sort of animal attach with their fish.
A lady here in south St. Louis has been doing battle with a
Crane ... a Crane in the city! Several folks have posted
on our Club's website that they have seen Cranes around too!
This is way too close for comfort!!

Nedra
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"K30a" wrote in message
...
right there on the edge of my pond
with a 10" kohaku wiggling in it's mouth was a heron, big ol freaking
beast!
Dinning on $250.00 sushi!

ak! ak! ak!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


k30a

Pond Tragedy (long post)
 

"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message
...
We must have offended the pond gods!

snip

From the "we must have offended the pond gods" department. I drained about
50% of the water out of my pond yesterday and got in to clean out as much
mud as I could. The Calcite definitely helped as there was about 5 inches of
clay on the bottom of the pond. I refilled slowly over hours, and did not
treat the water. I know, I know, no need to tell me. The water is still
cloudy but I plan to give it a day or so.

So we're standing there, and my wife says, "I'd be so happy to see a fish",
and WHAM there goes a fish eating a bug. We went out last night, and when we
came home, I saw 3-4 fish swimming along, chomping on bugs. Now here is the
gods part. I found a dead fish. I suspect the surge of new water untreated
did him in. I should be punished. But here is the weird part. I have no idea
what the fish was. To date, I have put a few minnows and 2 25 cent goldies
in. This fish was way too big to be one of my minnows and way to small to be
one of the goldies. I am perplexed.

BV.