Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Turtles Dying

I found 9 dead adult turtle shells around the pond yesterday. What could have caused the die offf?

I still see plenty of small turtles swimming around and no dead fish.

Any marks on the shells, like bite marks?

Not on the two I looked at.

River otters. I have the same problem.

There are no bite, chew marks on the shells. Pictures here:

https://ibb.co/album/bFH7WN

When I set off the fish feeder the TP and CPBG come up and feed aggressively. I have only saw two turtles come to the feed where there have been 20-40 before.

Walking the shore line I did not see any dead fish but did see a lot of clam shells. I saw lots of mosquito minnows, some tadpoles, Two Canada Geese with babies, etc. Very little pond weed in the water(<5%) but plenty on the shore.

There are no dead turtles around the four smaller ponds.

Do I see multiple species dead?

Any chance of teens with air rifles being on your pond?

I have observed guys "plinking" at turtles, and killing a lot before we yelled at them to knock it off.

I thought about that but didn't see any holes in the shells.

I caught this today. Looks like a GBH gave it a haircut.

What is this fish?

Is that a trace of light colored edge at the bottom of the opercule?

I caught a notched BG like that once. I'd say they recovered from some kind of injury. Heron strikes frequently leave a straight line scar on one or both sides, but maybe it hit that one sideways???

In the spring when turtles leave for whatever reason coons chew their legs off

We were at the pond again today and counted 24 dead turtles.

The fishing has was a little off today with under sized fish being caught.

FWIW, the pond is down 3 feet…the lowest its been since I owned it.

Just curious, what is the water temp at 12" depth?

If it continues to stay low like that, I'd seriously consider harvesting a bunch of fish to reduce the biomass.

Good idea. I will measure the temperature when I get back out there.