What Made This Trail - Pond Boss Forum

I saw this while mowing the yard.

What do you think made this trail? Hope its not an otter.

[Linked Image from ]

What does it look like going through the tall grass down tot he pond?

Get out there with your thermal this evening and have a look see! Probably a beaver. We took out 4 the other evening only cause they were girdling 24+ dia trees. We lost enough trees due to year before snowpockalipse…. They weren’t bothering the dam…
Also eating the Bahia grass around the pond…. Looked like the scraped it off the surface of soil with a tool

I'm thinking turtle, like snapping turtle.

YOY of the Creature From the Black Lagoon!

You will be fine as long as you don't have any of the adults in your pond.

My immediate thought was snapper turtle. BUT I'm not 100% sure.

Originally Posted by lmoore

What does it look like going through the tall grass down tot he pond?

Indeterminate. Just a jumble of laid over dead reeds.

Originally Posted by Quarter Acre

I'm thinking turtle, like snapping turtle.

Originally Posted by esshup

My immediate thought was snapper turtle. BUT I'm not 100% sure.

I have snapping turtles. At least two in the 12-18" diameter range.

Found this on the dock today. What makes a mess like this?

[Linked Image from i.ibb.co]

Looks like some type of velociraptor just decimated an entire black bird and spit out all the bones in one big belch.

Wow!!! I would not even dare to guess what apex predator can consume the carcass and shoot out a mouthful of bones like that!!!

The heron leaves little gifts like that on my dock. Owls too will cough up pellets full of fur, bone, and feathers.

I'm thinking Raccoon or 'possum. Birds don't have teeth, so they tend to swallow things whole with the exception of Raptors that are feeding their young or caught something too big to swallow in one gulp.

Originally Posted by Augie

The heron leaves little gifts like that on my dock. Owls too will cough up pellets full of fur, bone, and feathers.

Originally Posted by esshup

I'm thinking Raccoon or 'possum. Birds don't have teeth, so they tend to swallow things whole with the exception of Raptors that are feeding their young or caught something too big to swallow in one gulp.

I have plenty of herons and raccoons. I'm glad no one suggested an otter.

If it was around my place, it would be pigs. Those damn things and coons are everywhere.

Originally Posted by Tbar

Originally Posted by Augie

The heron leaves little gifts like that on my dock. Owls too will cough up pellets full of fur, bone, and feathers.

Originally Posted by esshup

I'm thinking Raccoon or 'possum. Birds don't have teeth, so they tend to swallow things whole with the exception of Raptors that are feeding their young or caught something too big to swallow in one gulp.

I have plenty of herons and raccoons. I'm glad no one suggested an otter.

I doubt Raccoon unless it found the dead fish on the dock already, they don't normally go to far with a meal.

If it were a Heron it would be from the "back end" since they swallow fish whole.

Hard to tell from the photo if that pile has passed through something or if it's just remnants. If it's remnants, my guess is otter (sorry). Most birds wouldn't eat the bones, and otters are the most likely furry critter to carry a fish up on the dock to eat. If it's back end leftovers, my guess is you had a heron standing there recently.

From those 2 pics I would say - otter.

Could be mink but I don't know if they would eat it in the open like that.