Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Aside from fish what eats crayfish?

Visited the pond today and found these on the dock....


What would prey on crayfish and eat them on my dock? Raccoon? Birds?

Me, especially with a good cajun seasoning!

Mink or Otter will eat crayfish.

Racoons, Herons, Nate

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.

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.

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?

Maybe, but I'll bet the fish that you catch are bigger than theirs!

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.

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.

I watched a Redtail Hawk swoop down and grab a Crawfish off the bank...I guess you can add them to the list.

Now that would be interesting to document... A hawk eating a crawdad!

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.

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.

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!

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...

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.

Any sign of a slide on the bank or dam ? If not my 2 cents is coons. My gut says otters.

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!

Absolutely.

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?

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.

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!

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

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.