Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Assistant fish density sampler...

... ah just when you think that a super long and snowy winter covering the pond, an airline that keeps freezing coupled with a bizzare and pervasive filamentous algae bloom is just about as much bad luck as the pond needs:

Chris, that's where I draw the line about "wildlife". Yeah, I know the critters gotta eat but not at my table.

At least his last meal was a good one

Pottsy, do you have an otter or a mink?

That would have been an otter. A big one too.

I get 'visits' every few months. Between them, drought, Osprey etc. the fact I have any fish left is a miracle in itself. I never need to cull at least.

The trout farm around the corner gets absolutely hammered by a roving band of River Otter.

Pottsy, I've seen mink do the same thing with some of the smaller LMB at our pond. We have been seeing a pair of mink for the last week, yesterday I got within 25 yards of one them while I was fishing. I don't mind an occasional mink at the pond, the muskats seem to disappear quickly when they are around, but a river otter making himself at home would make me mad.

They seem to not only make themselves at home but they are like that bad uncle that invites himself over for the holidays and never wants to leave, even after making a mess and eating all of your food.

This one was bold enough that my wife was ~25 feet away yelling and screaming at it while I was at work and it didn't even look at her. As you can imagine having her e-mail me that picture while I was working didn't speed up my day any.

A pair of mink eh? Hope you don't have any chickens.

Pottsy, usually you don't see mink in pairs as they are very solitary citters, but it is that breeding time of year right now. For the last several days we have been only seeing them one at a time. They are kind of timid, the one I saw yesterday tried to hide under the rubber boat mat until I started walking toward him, then he hid under the dock. We don't have chickens but I havn't seen any of the muskrats lately though.

If that's the assistant I'd HATE to see the head sampler!

Had a pair a few years back that put one of our HSF growout ponds on their dining circuit. Left JUST before the season opened on them.

Apparently my pond is back on the circuit... otter #2 came through.

Now that the snow and ice is gone I am seeing a ton of muskrat damage too... argh!

Sometimes leaving the deceased around in an inconspicuous place keeps the relatives away. This guy ended up on the side of the otter road and we have not had any visits since by his cousins mauler or nibbler.



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