HELP..........
I have a serious problem with pesky raccoon's walking up to my mothers backyard pond and attacking and eating her goldfish and coy. The pond is only a 1.5 feet deep and can't be made deeper because there is a parking garage below it. I have put substancial rocks/boulders in the pond for cover but the darn raccoon's keep fishing and ate 15 rather large goldfish (8 inches long).

Has anyone got a suggestion as to how I can deter the raccoon's from preying on the goldfish/coy this pond season?

Best regards........

Ad,
How big is the pond?
Pond netting is made in different sizes. Normally pond netting is made to keep leaves from falling into the water, however it can be a deterrent from predators. When using a net try to make sure there is no easy opening around the edges to allow animals to get in. Secure it well, use good size rocks or stake it down. I've heard of some that stretch the net across a PVC frame and place the whole gizmo over the pond. It is no guarantee, but it might make it difficult for the raccoons to fish effectively... and give the goldfish and koi an alert to hide.

I have a net over my pond. I also have a motion detector that sprays water at anything that moves within 35' of it. Then I installed motion detector lighting as well. Before using the netting, we did lose a couple of goldfish to the bandits. The raccoons still show up now and then, but so far they've left empty-handed in the three years with this setup.

Do you have room for a couple of big dogs? That might work.

Some people use electric fencing to keep the four-legged critters out.

Good luck!!

Thank you for your suggestions. I'm really not sure that I want to cover the pond with a net. It sure would detract from the natural look. Mind you, so does a deck covered with scales and bones.

It's not a huge pond. 10 feet by 5 feet with 3 water features.
mom's backyard pond pictures

My mother has been talking about the electric fencing as a solution. She travels too much to have dogs.

A raccoon actually came right up beside me one early morning when I was feeding the fish and it started fishing. The nerve!!

I'm glad to hear that you have the problem under control at your place.

Raccoons are resourceful, and with a shallow pond, it's simply too easy for them to fish. Even if you put in places to hide, they can stick their little hands in there and pull out the fish. So, as ugly as it is, a net or fencing the entire pond area is probably the safest way to go to protect the fish. The first five years or so that I had my pond, I didn't have predator problems and then the herons came! Even though my pond is 26" deep, they could go even into the deep end. After losing many fish, I finally put a net on the pond full time. In the summer, it only covers the deep end but the rest of the year, it's nearly full coverage. I really hate having the net on. Like today, we got about 3 inches of sticky snow, and the nets collapsed into the ponds or so I hear since I'm at work still (I have a 153 gallon pond netted too). I wish I could fence the pond area including from above but my family won't allow it.

This is my raccoon section including deterrents:

http://www.fishpondinfo.com/mammals.htm#raccoon

I hope your remaining fishies are safe (and the raccoons too because I love them despite how much of a mess they make).

Those guys just need a little fire under there but a couple times for a quick try and not to much $$$ get some electric tape (farm supply or TSC) and circle the pond with it on sticks let them get shocked a couple times may make them move on or not.
That is one brave animal the ones around here wait for me to take the horse feed lid off and get in while we feed.

or maybe at night till morning lay plywood over 1/2 the pond weight it down so the fishies can get way back there to where the koon can not get them and remove in the later morning most koons sleep during the day.

C2

Hi Admiral and welcome to the board!
Everyone here knows that I am a big fan of the electric fence. Like C2 said it teaches them a lesson real quick and one that they soon won't forget. The idea is not to kill them just a little "surprise"!
Someone else uses a sprinkler on a motion sensor that they have has sucess with. It wouldn't work very well if you have cold weather (freezing) during the winter. I like this idea too and will try it in the warmer weather.
Just my opinion..
Tlc

Skunks!
Will they bother the fish, or are they more scavangers?
A few years ago had an entire family of racoons around. They used to sit under the oak tree about 15 feet from the front door and eat acorns in the fall. 5 or 6 of them! And they were not the least bit afraid of people. The wife and I would come out and sit on the steps and watch them. If we walked to withing about 10 feet of them they would hiss at us, but other than that ignored us. This was in my pre-pond days. They haven't been around in a couple of years, but last year a family of skunks, at least 3 of them, took up residence under a small storage shed I have. They are still there, but come spring I must give them an eviction notice I'm afraid!

Am wondering though if they are going to be bothering my pond before I get rid of them. As soon as warmer weather hits I am going to try the mothball treatment and hope that drives them away, but I may need to put a small fence around the pond if they prove difficult and I think they are bothering things down there.

I have seen cat tracks down to the de-icer hole all winter, so maybe a little electric jolt is needed anyway. Are they difficult to install?

I've never seen a live skunk on our land but did see a dead one not far away. I think that skunk had dug up a yellow jacket nest next to my pond. I also think he/she did make a mess in my pond around that time, mostly knocking over pots. They can eat pond animals but aren't as good at catching them as raccoons.

If cats are visiting the opening in your pond, they are probably just coming for water. Some domestic cats will hunt fish but mine only goes after the frogs.

I think an electric fence may be overkill. Plus, it hurts the animals. I don't think they're difficult to install (although I've never tried). Netting works for most animals but is not great to look at or deal with.

Here's one page on how to humanely evict skunks:
http://www.urbanwildliferescue.org/humane/skunks.htm

R3D I assume you are asking me since I am the one who suggested it.

I like the electric fence because in my opinion doesn't hurt the animal. I suppose that could be argued based on what a person's opinion of hurt is. I have been shocked by the electric fence more than once in my life time and it didn't ever leave any marks. None..
Ok story time:
One time when I was a kid I touched it not knowing what would happen. I'll tell you what, I let go in a real hurry. The other time I was tricked by my loving Grandpa! I had turned the fence off so I could take my horse out for a ride and WHILE I was riding he turned it back on... When I came back from the ride he asked if it was on. I told him I had turned it off. We argued so I "showed" him but grabbing hold!! My poor horse got the worst of it. I still had hold of the reins. :blink: :o Ok story finished.
The fence is not hard to install. I just stuck some bamboo stakes in the ground around the pond making sure that it did not touch the pond at all. You don't want the stakes or any of the wire touching anything! Then I attached some pieces of rubber hose near the top [ high enough so the animal couldn't pass under the wire easily] so I could run the electric fence wire through without touching the bamboo pole or the wire that I used to secure the rubber hose to the bamboo. You will also need to have a ground stake [metal rod] and a ground wire that runs from the fence wire to the ground stake [you can use a metal type hose clamp to secure the ground wire to the metal rod]. The ground stake sould not touch anything either, just the ground. Now, I always say that you are NOT trying to kill the critter! They just need a little "tickle" to get their attention and remind them that area is a no, no. You need the least amount of voltage in the fence charger that you can find. Ask your local feedstore person to help. I put mine up for about a 4 week time period. The critter that I was trying to keep out did get into the fence-one time. I haven't had a problem since and the fence is no longer up. I still have cats, birds and rabbits that come of a drink but they don't bother anything so I welcome them. But if that darn raccoon comes back he will get another "lesson". :o

Please remember you are not trying to injure or kill the animal. They don't know any better, they are just being themselves...

tia

Welcome to the board AD. I sympathize with your problem! Very darling little pond your Mom has, I really like it! Sometimes you just can't get away from netting, I have one to keep my fish IN!!!

Because I live in the North and tend to be a little on the redneck side, LOL, pond predators around here get the 410!!!!!

For indoor fish predators, aka, the kitten, well he gets shot in the a** with the plastic air gun daily ;)

When we started loosing fish to predators (both Heron and Racoon, though I suspect it was the Heron because our pond is 3' deep and we never found partially eaten fish) I decided to try making a removable net. My wife found some 1/2" aluminum tubing at the hardware store and we bent it into a shape that matched the outline of our pond, then attached netting. It is very light-weight, so can be removed when we are around and want to enjoy the pond. Of course, it needs to be well achored to thwart the racoons. We didn't loose any big fish after installing it, in spite of the fact that a whole family of 5 racoons practly moved in for a year. Since it's a shiny loop that kind of 'floats' above the pond, I call it our 'pond halo'.

Problems:
1. Although its light enough for one person to lift, the 1/2" tubing isn't strong enough to be fully self-supporting, so it takes two to move it. If I were to make another I'd try to find stronger material.
2. It's large, so needs a big place for storing while enjoying the pond. I stick it up against an exterior wall that isn't planted.
3. It's shiny and so highly visible when in-place. Maybe it could be painted but I didn't want to risk paint flaking off into the pond.