Snakes have gotten into my pond and have eaten some of the gold fish and most, if not all, the tadpoles and small fry. They appear to be grass snakes and/or ribbon snakes. Any ideas on how to chase them out and keep them out?
Snakes in my pond
what if you tried a minnow trap baited with some feeders? Do you think the snake would enter and not be able to get out?
The only problem would be if your remaining fish could fit in it? You couldn't use it then of course.
I have no idea, luckily I haven't had to deal with snakes.
SHOOT THEM!
I just did a search and found that ribbon snakes (also known as garter snakes) do in fact eat fish occasionally. Have you seen this snake eating fish? A minnow trap, set on land, might actually be a good way to catch it, especially if you can guide the snake to it with a short fence or barrier. I would recommend against killing them, but be careful if you try to capture and remove them. Even non-poisonous snake baits can be hazardous because of the risk of infection. You would probably have to take the snakes a long distance away to release them or they would otherwise find their way back.
Thanks for the suggestion. I've seen a snake with one gold fish. The snake appeared to be a grass snake, and it was trying to swallow a fairly large fish. I intervened, but the snake escaped and the fish died later. What do you suggest I use for bait in a minnow trap?
I don't know that snakes would go into a trap for bait, but if they are around your pond you could set the trap such that they would be compelled to slither into it. you could do this by setting up a short fine mesh fence barrier through the vegetation that would guide them right into the trap opening. This is the same kind of trap setup that herpetologists use to sample snakes.