Wednesday 13 October 2010
I've just found my oldest and biggest fish dead on the ground about 6 mts away from the pond. It looks as if something has had a bit of a nibble around the poor fishes mouth. What does this? Is it birds, we have lots of gulls around here,or is it cats? I thought if an animal caught the fish to eat all of it would have been eaten. This is the seond time this has happened, if you remember I found the white fish with the gold head dead on the grass back in the summer. I don't qiuite know what to do about this problem. Down to three fish for over wintering now. :-((
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to bad cauld be a cat to
ReplyDeleteIt may not be a bird or cat, I think the fish would have been eaten or taken away. It could be the water, read here:
ReplyDeletehttp://blog.thepondguy.com/2008/07/15/why-are-my-fish-trying-to-jump-out-of-my-water-garden-water-garden-q-a-week-of-july-11th/
not a nice find, I am sure..... hope it doesn't happen again!
ReplyDeleteHow sad! It could be a cat. I made some potato cakes from leftover mashed potatoes and while they were cooling my brother-in-law's cat got on the counter and took a bite out of every one except one!
ReplyDeleteHow old was the fish? Maybe he had some heath problems due to his old age.
ReplyDeleteIt could be a heron. They are known for taking fish from domestic ponds. It may have been startled and dropped the fish.
ReplyDeleteIt could be an animal, but I would look into what frank said about the pond. I had a friend who had koi, they are like goldfish but expensive, and they were always having to fuss with the water or their koi would die.
ReplyDeletethanks every one for your input. , Ive checked the water, I already had the test kit for my indoor tank. The water was a little acid but nothing the fish can't handle, outdoor ponds always get more acid this time of year because of the falling leaves and debris which rots and turns the pond 'black'. But I do have oxygenating plants which should balance out the whole thing. I've noticed a woman who has a bigger pond to me and lives just a few doors away keeps nets over her pond so maybe it was a cat ot the birds. Think I'll have to ask her why she keeps her pond covered.
ReplyDeleteI really don't think the cause of death was natural because you said the fish was 6 metres away from the pond - unless it was a flying fish.
ReplyDeletelol..............yes that's what I thought. when it happened in the summer the fish was about two meters from the pond laying on the grass, this time it was 6 meters from the pond laying in the paved BBQ area. I really think I will go to the house a few doors down and ask why they keep netting over theirs. I have never seen a heron in this area although they do live along the burn and on the coastline both of which are within about 1/2 mile from here. We have lots of gulls why are maybe the culprits, although i would expect gulls to eat the whole fish and not leave it laying.
ReplyDeleteThat's an interesting link that Frank provided. Before I looked at that, I was going to suggest netting. It would have to be high enough for beaks of birds not to peck through. Also, I'm wondering if fish can get anxiety from the presence of predators being too close?
ReplyDelete