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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 705
Lunker
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Lunker
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Visited the pond today and found these on the dock.... What would prey on crayfish and eat them on my dock? Raccoon? Birds?
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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Me, especially with a good cajun seasoning!
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Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 28,407 Likes: 788
Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Mink or Otter will eat crayfish.
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Joined: Jan 2008
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
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Chairman, Pond Boss Legacy award; Moderator; field correspondent Lunker
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 8,792 Likes: 68 |
Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. ~ Henry David Thoreau
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Joined: Mar 2004
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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I've got some small birds (size of robin or blue jay) that we call "kingfisher" that eats morsels like that, and likes to leaves the evidence on the dock to taunt me.
Just do it...
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Look something like this? Belted Kingfisher The ones that I've seen dive for their food. I don't know how adept they are at picking something up off the bottom without breaking their necks.
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Ambassador Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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That's it. They make a load noise and seem to be mocking me - could it be because they catch more fish than I do?
Just do it...
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Lunker
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Maybe, but I'll bet the fish that you catch are bigger than theirs!
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 288
Lunker
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Lunker
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I've got a kingfisher at my pond and I really enjoy it. I'm told (this might be wrong) that they are very territorial so it's unlikely that you have more than one - and it's almost certainly a female - that is "ruling" your pond.
So, they can't be eating all that much. And they mostly just eat small fish. Some websites I've looked at say they eat only fish.
Around here, racoons love to dine on crawfish.
If you're too scared to throw that bait where the fish are, why did you tie it on?
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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My money is on a racoon leaving the evidence behind. However, mink are also crayfish eaters and could be the culprit. There are other species that eat crayfish, but I doubt they would leave evidence of their meal like that.
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Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 265
Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 265 |
I watched a Redtail Hawk swoop down and grab a Crawfish off the bank...I guess you can add them to the list.
"Is the Poop-Deck really what I think it is?" - Homer Simpson
"A man can't just sit around" - Larry Walters, 1982
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Now that would be interesting to document... A hawk eating a crawdad!
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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I've got a kingfisher at my pond and I really enjoy it. I'm told (this might be wrong) that they are very territorial so it's unlikely that you have more than one - and it's almost certainly a female - that is "ruling" your pond.
So, they can't be eating all that much. And they mostly just eat small fish. Some websites I've looked at say they eat only fish.
Around here, racoons love to dine on crawfish. But they are part of a parasite cycle (black grubs that appear as black spots) and for that reason I don't want them with my high value fish.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/16/09 08:54 AM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Joined: Aug 2002
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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I'm convinced five star moles eat crayfish too. I have mole holes everywhere there are crayfish holes (terrestrial). The five star mole swim in water and eats aquatic creatures too.
My money is on racoons at your pond though.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/16/09 08:55 AM.
If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.
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Lunker
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Lunker
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Raccoons: that was my 1st guess, I'm OK with them Kingfishers: I've got them, I'm OK with them Redtail hawks: loads of them around, OK with them too 5 star moles: not sure I have them, not sure I'm OK with them Great blue herons: got them too, I'm OK with them Nate: don't know him, seems like a nice guy, I'm OK with him
Mink or otter: no evidence of them, good God I hope I don't have either of them!
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame Lunker
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The PGC stocked otters in the lower Susq, so they are a possibility. Mink will eat fish, but aren't nearly as bad as otters...
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Joined: Apr 2003
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Lunker
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Lunker
Joined: Apr 2003
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I had 3 kingfishers @ my pond after I stocked my 2 - 3" RE. I have an 80+ ft bridge across my pond & you could not touch the railing anywhere without touching fish scales. Now these were the initial stocking .. I paid for every fish they ate. I should have figured that into the initial stocking numbers but .. I was too dumb to know. I alow kingfishers now but begrudgingly. My guess on the critter not cleaning his plate .. Coon, they always leave the pinchers behind.
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If you can read this ... thank a teacher. Since it's in english ... thank our military! Ric
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Any sign of a slide on the bank or dam ? If not my 2 cents is coons. My gut says otters.
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Joined: Apr 2003
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Lunker
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Lunker
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Out of respect for ewest's gut .. I would look very close for signs of an otter!!! If an otter is in your pond you want him out ASAP!
Pond Boss Subscriber & Books Owner
If you can read this ... thank a teacher. Since it's in english ... thank our military! Ric
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Posts: 13,938 Likes: 268
Moderator Lunker
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Moderator Lunker
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Absolutely.
"Live like you'll die tomorrow, but manage your grass like you'll live forever." -S. M. Stirling
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This is not good. I'll have to look closer for otter evidence. Aside from slides and scat are there any other telltale signs? I have never seen a fish skeleton lying around. Are their dens easy to find?
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Ambassador Field Correspondent Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Just guessing here, but those two pieces of crawdaddy pictured contain some edible meat.
I wonder why they were left behind. Maybe the animal in question was scared off before it could finish the meal.
Raccoons eat crawfish all the time.
Excerpt from Robert Crais' "The Monkey's Raincoat:" "She took another microscopic bite of her sandwich, then pushed it away. Maybe she absorbed nutrients from her surroundings."
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Joined: Apr 2004
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Lunker
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Lunker
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It would be great if it were a raccoon. I'm surprised any animal would leave the claws behind. If they are going to chew the bodies why not the claws?
I'll be an absentee owner for 2 more years.... maybe this is a good reason (excuse) to buy an IR game camera to figure this out!
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Joined: Jan 2009
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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Hall of Fame Lunker
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I always find claws at our cabin and thought it was from the birds eating them in the shallows of our beach. I find bits of claws and shells in the turds of the huge mink we have running around so they eat all of it. Same with the otters that are around. My bet is a bird of some sort, I strongly believe that the mammals listed are used to eating things as tough as these claws. whether it's a tern, gull, kingfisher or heron depends on where you are. my 0.02
Words have the power to both destroy and heal, when words are both true and kind they can change our world...
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Joined: Apr 2004
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Lunker
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Lunker
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I never thought of terns or gulls. I see them occasionally and since my pond is less than 20 miles from the Susquehanna River and the Chesapeake Bay there are lots in the area. Kingfishers and various herons are always around too.
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