Help! Missing Koi

[abane]

A few days ago, I noticed that our koi weren't surfacing for their feedings. Thought that maybe, with my husband and son, we had overfed them....NOT!

My husband decided to clean the pond and search for them. All 7 koi are gone !wow! We are in shock !wow!

First we thought the neighbours were pranking us... nope. We have a family of racoons in the area, but other than messing up the pond (throwing plants in) they haven't touched the fish.

Here's the thing...the pond was not disturbed. You would think that with a massacre like this, we would have seen the damage.

We have had them for two years, really nice sizes. If you can believe it, only the koi were taken...the feeder goldfish that are just as old and big, are still there....

Any suggestions as to who the preditators are?

[Terri]

Three culprets I can think of...
Blue heron(or similar crane/heron)
KingFisher
Human(theft)

You say your missing koi were of a "really nice size", estimation on the largest in inches would be?

Heron would be my first guess, they scope out a prospective feeding area for a few days to ensure it's "safe", fly in and can clean out a pond in short order. Why the goldfish were left, dunno... ?

King Fishers are not so different, but the size of fish they can carry off is much smaller than that of an adult(or even juvenile) heron. They will go for the "brightest" target. A breeding pair with fledgelings could easily clean out several smaller fish(up to 8inches) in a short time.

It's not common here in Canada(or USA) but theft does happen. There should be telltail signs of an intruder, footprints, disturbed plants, etc.

Sorry for your loss,... hopefully it's found out what happened...

BTW, welcome to the board :-)

[abane]

Thanks Terri!

The koi were about 10 - 12" in length. They were beautiful butterflies...really liked watching them. We just purchased a couple of smaller koi this spring. I believe they are Okai (not sure if I got it right), a white and a yellow. They were about six inches...not overly large but added colour to the pond.

Although we have a family of racoons living in the area, the pond was not disturbed, other than an overturned plant. The funny thing is, I work from home. We just got a new puppy, and was not spending my usual time outside feeding them. I normally check on them every feeding to make sure they're all there.

I personally think it has to be a human predator...just too clean of a job!

[Terri]

Actually abane, humans are "messy", and I highly doubt this was theft - just threw that out there as a long shot option - it would take some effort to net the koi, bag them, and leave unnoticed as well as not leave any signs they were there.

Herons are very intelligent birds, they will watch and wiegh the odds before attempting to land and feed. The size of the koi you had would be easy pickings for a heron, and seven at one time is nothing but the entree - it may have just been in the area, long flight, needed a snack, saw a good opertunity and took it. They are effecient preditors, silent, and patient. Butterfly being a bit hindered by their fins would make dinning easier. It would leave without leaving a trace of it's being there, unless you have soft dirt/sand around your pond and might find footprints.

Goldfish/Koi are pretty resilent to "routine", if you disturb the pond with netting a fish or two, or cleaning a bit they really don't take much notice and would be up begging for food shortly after.... when a preditor visits it's a whole other story,... instinct kicks into high gear and they hide - sometimes for days on end - before venturing back out into the "open".

12" is a bit too big for even a male King Fisher. Coon's leave a mess as you know, not great fishers, and usually leave part of their dinner behind.

New puppy!? When you get a moment post a few pics, we all love furry friends :grin:

[Jackie Ramo]

Big Blue Heron took 8 of my fish in one sitting... only a fin left in the garden or I'd have thought some one stole them. Neat and fast but watch for them at dusk and dawn. It was in a September that it happened, they start heading south and are out of their normal places.

Sorry to hear you lost your wet pets.

[Dave in Innisfil]

My ponds suffer heavy predation losses, almost daily. Luckily for me (unlucky for them), my recent losses have only been feeder goldies and a few shubs. I'm just a few miles north of you, and would add two members of the weasel family to your list of suspects. This spring I saw a mink disappear with one of my fish, and have heard from others in our area about otter problems. I've personally seen an otter in that dike that runs between Yonge and Leslie north of Green Lane, and mink along the banks of Fairy Lake. My guess is your culprit wears fur.

Last week I caught a kingfisher sitting on our laundry line with a 4" goldie in it's beak, and several still in our pond show recent battle scars from what I'm presuming is this same bird. We have a heron that shows up occassionally too, usually between 5 and 6 am, but departs at the first sign of us waking up. I have two German shepherds, and sleep inches from an open window only feet from our ponds, and it's rare I hear or see any of my nocturnal visitors.

You might want to check with your neighbors to see if they found any fish remains, as well as watching for scavanging ravens. I'd agree with Terri that chances are it wasn't human. We suspected this too when we first noticed quantities of fish missing, and are still unsure whether the previous homeowner returned in our absense to retrieve fish he left in the pond, but after seeing a heron exiting our yard, shifted potential blame. Herons are reputed to fish for fun/practice, but leave their uneaten spoils near the shore and couldn't swallow fish hole of the size or quantity you're missing (on this I stand to be corrected, but figuring 7 X 12" = 84" of fish ???) A 12" koi is both too heavy and would put up too much of a fight for our native kingfishers. You would probably see the swimming-injured as I do, instead of total loss. Coons are messy hunters, and usually knock over our smaller planters and break plants in their efforts.

My condolensces on your losses. It's something many of us seem to take as part of the hobby. After talking to other pond owners in our area with similar tales of woe and despair, and our own personal experiences, we won't add anything less than 6" to our ponds any more. One fish breeder in the Big Bay Point area lost an estimated $10,000 in koi last year, mostly he claims to mink and otters. While otters travel in families, mink tend to be more solitary. I've never heard of a roving band of otters in an urban setting, but parts of Newmarket are fairly rural.

Let us know if you find the culprit, and we'll be able to share our different methods of "attempted" deterrant and control.

[Ian]

I have seen a couple of smaller herons latlely not sure the type similair to a green heron. They can clean a pond without much a clue they were there. Before the sun comes up and after it goes down you will find them fishing in your pond as Jackie mentions. A number of ways to deter without harming them.

[kgt3]

I have seen a couple of smaller herons latlely not sure the type similair to a green heron. They can clean a pond without much a clue they were there. Before the sun comes up and after it goes down you will find them fishing in your pond as Jackie mentions. A number of ways to deter without harming them.

Ian,

I have a great Florida recipe for Blue Heron. They taste alot like spotted owl! :lol:

[Tamianth]

And spotted owl tasts like chicken! :lol:

!rofl

[Merlin]

Sory to hear about your loss :( although I understand other animals have to eat and feed their young, it is a shame that they choose our ponds to do it from :-x .

[jellis50]

If you get more Koi and can afford it, set up security cameras. You can usually get them cheap.

[Dave in Innisfil]

Recently, we've seen quite a few green herons and American bitterns locally. Both are smaller than the great blue heron, more the size of a skinny pelican. Last weekend we fished the Holland River from Bradford and Queensville to Cooks Bay, and saw at least a dozen greens. We couldn't count how many great blues and cormorants we saw, they were everywhere. They may just be feeding up as they migrate further south. Since you're just a few km south of there.....

No shortage of food locally for them. We had jumbo perch fillets for dinner, and our neighbor turned the sunfish, crappies and smaller perch into some Ukranian fish soup.

[Merlin]

Crikey !! all those fish and no invite to lunch :lol: .

[Dave in Innisfil]

These fish are commonly known as crappies, and to most, not worth the bother to filet and de-bone. Sweet meat, but somewhere in every mouthful is usually an annoying bone. Took me an hour and a half to get 30 ready to be smoked. My oversee's visitors (I have family in Blackpool, England) usually prefer my venison or moose roasts, but there's usually an assortment of fresh native fish in our freezer too. Consider yourself invited to lunch the next time you cross "the BIG pond".