I had a white gold fish with black spots, named Oreo. I fed him one evening a couple nights a go. The next morning he was gone. :( No trace of his little body.
I have a rather large bull frog in the pond, and I suspect he could have ate him? The pond does not have sloped sides, and it is raised on top of that with no 'bank' area. It would be very difficult if not impossible for animals to get in there. My neighbors cat used to come to drink, but never could reach the water, so he doesn't come anymore ha ha .
None of the plants or anything else were disturbed at all. I just know it was this BF that did it.
What is the best way to catch the beast? I even considered draining the pond to catch it. It is about 450 gals or so. Please help, I do not want to lose any more fish!
I have smaller frogs as well, but I suspect I could catch them somehow? a few times a year and haul them away. I went out last night with a flash light and a net, but he was just so green and handsome, not to mention FAST, and I didn't have enough arms to hold all that... speaking of arms, by dad says he will come over and shoot it w the pellet gun. I don't really want to kill it persay, I just want it gone! especially after he ate my Oreo!!
will bull frogs eat goldfish almost as long as they are?
My sis had a beautiful lg Oranda that she caught her bullfrog in the middle of eating! I wouldn't have believed it but she had a pic. I wouldn't personally kill it...I would keep trying at night with the flashlight. Maybe with help you could have someone shine light in frog eyes while you sneak up and catch it.
OK well I went out after dark, 11 actually w my daughter this time to hold the flashlight. Didn't have enough arms last time to hold the net, use the net, and hold and aim/move the flashlight. Plus I thought even two nets might be handy, one to 'shoo' into the main net.
I GOT IT!!!
Then I didn't know what to do with it LOL I screamed like a girl. MY daughters eyes were big as quarters. She ran in to get her dad. He came out w a ball bat! I said you can't KILL it?!! well, why not he said, I said well it's green. and shiny. see his handsome big eyes? No I don't really see it that way either, but still he can't help it he's green and slimy. (I'd never kiss one of those btw, faaar to hideous...) Fine, he says we will stick it in a bucket for now. Couldn't decide how to cover it to keep it in, so we ended up putting it in the pet taxi!!! That is where he is right now! I think tomorrow I will take him into town to the city pond. Then I went back and caught a much smaller leopard frog, put him in a separate container. I seen some bullfrog tadpoles but couldn't catch them. I guess I will just have to go out once in a while at night and catch who I can. Come winter what do they do? I guess hibernate? Maybe when they start slowing down, I can fish them out each fall, maybe none will get too large and eat my fish that way. I tell you I am just sick to have my Oreo ate like that :(
Anyone know of an easier way to catch them?
Also while I was looking for more frogs in the larger pond, my flashlight laid on a crawdad!!!!!!!!!! I did NOT put any of those in there of course, I do have some pesky neighbor kids that *could* have put it in there, but I doubt it, as usually their mouths are so big they end up tattling on each other's pranks. None of them can keep secrets ya know... so where do you think it came from and will it eat my nice large fish? I don't care if it eats minnow or babies along the edge, that is ok, just not my larger fish.
Oh that is Oreo, white fish w black spots in the middle. The spotted one with the red and black in the upper r hand corner is Freckles.
the crawdad (or crayfish) is really a pond friend, they won't eat a live fish, but they will eat a carcass.
I have 3 crayfish in my pond now, they are the clean up crew.
I had one of the crayfish over-winter with my 5 baby bass in the house.
The crayfish are really neat to watch, especially when they shed their shells! After they shed, they eat the cast off shell.
well how on earth did it get in there do you think? It must be 2- 2 1/2 inches long, I've only had the pond set up for maybe 2 months.
did you bring in any plants into the pond? the crayfish could have been hidden in the foliage/roots/pot.
Over the winter of crayfish watching, up close and personal, I've learned that they crawl on the water plants, and are surprisingly mobile.
I had some water lettuces in the tank the early part of the winter, and many times observed the crayfish up amongst the leaves/roots.
crayfish grow quicky, I think. Mine shed his skin/shell 3 times between November/April.
The only plants I added were from the Texas Water Lily Co -op and didnt have soil on them when they arrived.
Reading about the bull frog eating the gold fish reminded me of a couple of incidents we had a few years ago. We found a bull frog in one of our ponds with a partially swallowed chick in its mouth. Unfortunately both the frog and the chick died but its one of those things you would never believe unless you saw it with your own eyes. The chick was a couple of weeks old and probably tried to take a drink from the edge of the pond.
Bullfrogs will attact and eat birds that are feeding along the pond edge
Crawfish babies move with the rains, down creeks, up creeks, thru the water, then they find themselves a home, and help your tank maintain its eco system, and by the way, goldfish eat tadpoles, small crawfish, etc. Oscars looove crawfish, and tadpoles too. So dont think the food chain is lopsided when it is simply healthy eco system you need
When I had goldfish , I kept several tubs of water for the frogs to lay eggs in for my fisheys. I dip the tads out and feed my very healthy fish and put one in the tubs to eat mosquito larva . They enjoyed the little trip to the dinner table .
Frilly, it is not uncommon for blue herons to make dinner of pond fish. At dusk you can see them perching on chimneys, waiting tomake their dives for dinner. Raccoons do not eat fish, they just destroy them, along with marginals that they knock over. I've lost so many fish, that we netted the pond. So, if you lose any more, look to the sky.
Yep , that's what happened to my last one . D H saw it flying low from the backyard and could 't figure out why it was so far from water and close to the ground . Mentioned it to me and I didn't snap until the next day when I went to get pond water for my plants . No fish , and it was in a small preformed pond under a tree.
I hauled the bull frog away, and haven't lost any more fish.
http://www.nfkc.info/nfkconliine/Raccoons!%20Herons!%20Cats!%20Snakes!%20Alligators.htm
this was a neat article on predators. Raccoons do eat fish. Wiki also says that raccoons love fish for diner!
I have had tons of tadpoles and cannot tell that my goldfish eat them. Maybe koi do? I heard that they would eat frog tadpoles but not toads as the toads are bitter. I do know they don't touch toad eggs. I have lots of them and can't tell they come near them really.
I just thought it was strange the crawdad was there, as there isn't any water source close by.
Raccoons also kill for the thrill. It does not bother me so much that animals kill for food. A raccoon came into our pond, caught most of the fish,bit off their heads, threw some back in the pond a some on the the ground. I understand that the sound of running water is a dead giveaway, but twinkling/flashing lights will deter them. We tried putting up a motion detector light with no success.
Netting our small pond kept the fish safe, but took away from our enjoyment.
Oh my gosh, thats what it was that chewed off my largest Koi's tail and put it in front of it's head :( The koi was at the deep side of the pond, actually laying up the bank! I thought I saw something orange over there, looking from the house deck. I ran as fast as I could, I cried like a baby, as that was the first koi I had purchased, and the largest and prettiest one too (;
Tootsie
I lost one of my favorite koi to a blue herring. Now I have two scare crows (motion detecting water squirters) that get me wet all the time.... but no more blue herring.
I put up a Great Blue Heron decoy last year? The darn white herons would land on the far end of the pond, on the lowest branches right above the water, AND KILL MY FISH :( After awhile the white ones did not come back :) Now we have those great blue herons!! No kidding, one of the several times was standing right next to the plastic one! We could not keep it away! I ran up and down the pond smacking my 2 pie tins together... it did not move!! Drove car down to pond layed on horn...nothing! got out 12, 22, & BB just for them to hear the sound, still nothing,or fly off to another part of the pond :( E-GADS
Tootsie
Hey, will the crayfish overwinter in the pond? My Koi and frogs did fine last winter and it was cooooold!
crayfish usually dig in under the frost level, and go dormant I believe, in the mud anyway
you mean out of the pond or in it?
I don't have mud - it's a lined pond. Will there probably is some muck down there.....
he'll find a nook and curl up when its cold, or climb back out if he's unhappy, they can use their claws like hands and use the plants to climb on, or go to the top water, and they will stay up in the roots and catch their dinner. Very resourceful and entertaining.