Is this just a local thing or what? Tonight I talked to a Koi pond club about protecting their fish. ( Mainly from mink ) Our Koi ponds are becoming bigger and more expensive all the time. We are also getting more of them every year. Some of these ponds are absolutely beautiful and I can understand the owners not wanting to lose two thousand dollars worth of Koi to a ten dollar mink. Any of you guys getting these calls?

I used to get them in NC but mainly from the raccoons. I found that putting a large diameter PVC tube underwater gave them an escape route. They could build it into or under the rocks on the bottom somehow to make it more aesthetically pleasing. Not sure if that's your answer for a mink. I used to see a lot of people putting nets over them that were usually just ripped open.

Paul I asked some of the same question back in a 09 podcast .

Lot of money is invested by consumers who build them and look to our industry in help on preventing wildlife from making a gourmet of their fish ponds. We discussed techniques involved to protect them

Recorded April 23, 2009 Reginald Murray lead this discussion.

http://raccoonremoval.us/podcasts/protecting-koi-ponds-from-wildlife-birds-raccoons-otter-predators/

Coons and owls here

I've also seen Great Blue Herons stab the fish.

I didnt get called for it,but I was trapping beaver for an old couple and they told me that last year a mink killed all of their fish in the koi pond.They just never restocked for fear of losing money.

I had a client that lost two dozen large koi to at least one otter on less the 48 hours.

lol...Drambuie for breakfast?

Fixed it, typing in the dark. LOL

Had a real good raccoon job on account of a koi fish getting ate. The fella had the one fish 8 years and wasn't too happy about loosing fish.

I've had several customers that had problems with Blue Heron and raccoons. It's funny how the waterscape architect and installers forget to mention the possibility of predation.

It's coons here doing the carp killing ,I'm sure a mink would just kill every single one for something to do and then just eat the cray fish . Once again a electric fence would be the way I would go . Warning a electric fence would kill hawks and owls , blue herons at a single little poke so if that's the problem birds .I wouldnt use the 12 v powered cattle fence . Just run a net across when not in view use . Did you know that you can breed koi in your basement in a horse a troff . It's like how they breed golden shinners in arkansas . You place something in the tank or pond for them to lay there eggs on and remove and place in a different tank or pond after they have spawned on it . This way the adult koi don't eat the eggs and fry . Koi are bought and sold on eBay And you can run adds in your local paper . When bring in new koi you should keep them in a different tank till you know there healthy and won't spread stuff to your other fish . A friend of mine found that out the hard way and lost all his breeders . Yes fish get sick to . I didn't know they had koi clubs good job Paul spreading the good word .

Yep... shallow pond, big, fat, slow-moving fish that can't escape...what could go wrong???
And, Wink...there are clubs of koi owners?! Man, that's some thrilling topic!

Here is what everyone of those Koi pond owners that had mink trouble told me. They lost every single fish, no matter how large, and no one ever found any remains. Some scales and fins but no carcases or bones, I told all of them to buy trailcams. I want to know what the heck the mink do with hundreds of fish. Sell them to raccoons?

Hey Dave, it was a surprize to me too, but they all sure asked intelligent questions. They wanted to know every facet of our business and I talked and answered questions for an hour and a half. The owner of Aquatica ( They take care of all these Koi ponds ) wanted to write me a check because he was really pleased with way things went the entire evening. I said no check, just referrals. He said "Will you refer me too?" I told him he was the only one in that business that I knew so I didn't have much choice.

On the subject of mink...
I bid on a housing development, man-made lake for muskrats. Contact lady calls me back and says they can't decide whether it's mink or muskrats. I am not making this up.

Tell her you hope it's mink because you get $20 more for them. They'll turn back into muskrats real quick!

I recieved a call from a koi breeder the other day. He is having issues with hawks getting his fish. This guy has breeding ponds 50x200 ft by four foot deep and the hawks are catching them on the fly when on the surface. He said he had permits for every bird that eats fish except raptors. He wanted us to trap the hawks and relocate them. We advised him of the proceedures to file with the US Dept. Fish and Game for migratory bird predation. He averages four japanese koi per day averaging 2feet in length. Sure hope they can help him.

A two foot Koi will sell for between $300 and $7000. At that price, I would imagine the fine for killing the raptors would be a bargain. How come he can't get a permit? I know lots of guys that raise game birds who have got them. The thought also occured to me that netting would be a permanent fix. Our expensive ponds are all netted.

That's what I'm thinking. Screen over the top of his ponds and the problem is solved.

Seems to me that a brightly colored fish in a shallow pond will have a sort life cycle anyway.

What's the deal? do they not have hawks and coons in Japan?

Does anybody know if motion activated sprinklers will do anything for heron? No koi here, but lots of trout farms. Saw a female mink once that would catch her limit, and lay them all out in a row. When she was done fishing she would carry them one at a time to the woods. You could almost set your watch by her.