Originally Posted By: fish n chips
Originally Posted By: esshup
Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1

I used to buy one but have better things to do with 100 dollars, and don't like to kill creatures that are just doing what they evolved to do. They were here before I put my pond in I and made it an attractive place to feed.


Cecil, I feel the same way as you, but when they start impacting my pocketbook, I have to take a different stance.

I lost a whole cage full of HSB last year to GBH predation, and that is with a "bird net" lid on it. This year the $100 spent was less than 10% of my fish loss last year. I am taking more steps to ensure that the fish cages are bird proof, but I also am looking at the $100 spent as an insurance policy. I have legal options now.

Regarding coyotes, a guy (I believe in Southern Indiana) put a trail cam on a coyote den. From the time the pups were weaned until they left the den Mom & Dad brought 80 fawns home for dinner......



How did the GBH get the fish? Did they land on the cage? Did they just kill the fish and not get them out?



They'd land on the cage, grab the fish thru the netting on the top and eat them. I never saw dead fish in the cage, and only 1-2 small tears in the netting, but the fish population inside was drastically reduced (and no holes in the sides/walls of the cage). I still had fish eating the floating food, but as time went on, if they could see my profile they wouldn't eat. If I walked away so they couldn't see me, they'd eat asap.

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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).