Fellow pond geeks,

Our little pond with the lighthouse now has otter problems. Some people tried to convince me that was an honor, but I'm not so sure. There is a pile of fish scales on the banks of a tiny little pond nearby and what looks like a burrow nearby. I haven't found any bass heads yet, but we found a large bowfin skull and some catfish heads near the burrow. And one otter was captured on video eating a catfish. So who knows how many fish they have eaten. And there's a family of three that I have seen.

After reading some post on this forum about otters, we decides to shoot near them. So I just scared the crap (literally) out of the whole family recently. We also excavated what looked like their burrow. But one has already returned... now more warily.

Ideally, I'd love to have both otters and a decent fish population. After all, they are lot like us - playful and overzealous sometimes. I read somewhere else that adding structure to your pond will deter otter predation somewhat. So I looked up otter fencing and I found some specs on a structure that would keep otters out. Apparently, they don't climb or dig very well. The article showed a 5' fence (1' in the ground) with vinyl coated, welded wire mesh with 2x4" openings. Making a fence around the entire pond would keep out the otters entirely. But that would cost a lot of money at 950 feet of fencing and posts. So a cheap alternative is buying 50-100' sections to make circular pins placed in the pond extending from the bottom to about 1 foot above the water surface. This may deter the otters somewhat. How much, I don't know.

The mesh size of the fence would allow passage of some decent sized fish. And I'm not too concerned about having really big fish in the pond. So maybe the otters could be management tool.

Have you'll heard anything about otter exclosures like these or some other kind? I wonder how they will restructure the fish community.

Best regards,
SC

Hello Mesocosm, I too have otters visit my pond since it is in a heavily wooded area. In late october with snow on the ground I saw their tracks which are unmistakable with that tail dragging. I decided to try deterrents and would see their tracks in the snow if it didn't work. I put a small battery ultrasonic detector by the pond where they come up from the stream about 70 ft. away, then I put an old radio by the pond with it playing all the time.
So far no new otter tracks in the 5 weeks since setting it up. I'll keep you posted, Good Luck !

A tape-recording from the movie "Caddy Shack" would be great - Bill Murrey's monologue with the varmint specifically.

I've got the radio on country music, if I find he prefers it I'll change to hip-hop, that should really scare him, or take the old tv and put my copy of Caddy Shack on, maybe the visual would work, or he would crack-up watching Rodney Dangerfield.
(you've got a Great looking lighthouse cabin)

imho the only good otter is a dead one!!!!
they consume 7-9 lbs of fish per day and can clean a small pond out in no time at all
i killed one so far in the two years of pond ownership
there is a company that makes deterrent digital glowing eyes with sensors that flash when motion id detected, sorrry i dont have the name or number for them its more fun to shoot them though!
now if i could just seethat dam beaver one time with rifle in hand!
i know beavers dont eat fish but they can sure cut down alot of willows in a hurry

I think you will have to make a decision about otters or fish. They can and will clean you out.

I'm trying the non lethal way first, but If that doesn't work I can find a local trapper who will put an end to it.
The trapping season for otter runs till march 31 up here.

The otters will leave eventually.

After much deliberation, we finally decided what to do about the otters. We decided a 4' fence would be too costly and labor intensive to make, so we opted for a 1 ft, 3-wire electric fence. The fence has wires placesd 4", 8", and 12" above the ground. The middle wire is a ground, so they'll even get shocked trying to jump/climb over the top. We used 2.5' PVC pipes with 3 drill passages to thread the wires (tiny gauge for a good zap). The cost of the project was about $250 (we had the PVC already).

Picture below
http://photos-c.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-sf2p/v652/198/67/798761648/n798761648_1218226_7301.jpg

they leave when the food supply is gone!!!!

Great job Mesocosm, Maybe when the snow leaves in june I'll try that. How many amps is the fence controller?

i have a bad beaver problem about 75 yards below my pond. i trapped them last month and caught 6 beavers, 1 coon, and 1 otter. how will i know if the otters make it to my pond? are they nocturnal only?

When you start finding fish bones scattered around your pond... That's a pretty good clue!

My guess is if you caught an otter within 75yds of your pond, unless it was his first trip up the crick he had already been eating your fish.
If you aren't familar with otter sign go to a trapping site & ask the experts. Here's a good one: http://www.trapperman.com/
Look for tracks, slides, droppings with scales in them, partially eaten fish etc.
Otters are one critter you want to know the first day he visits your pond.

i see some kind of tracks around the edges all the time. i fiqured it was coons eating the left over fish food.

Coons are common around any water source. Coon tracks are easy to recognize by their long fingers & are smaller than a grown otters track. An otter track will be somewhat similar to a medium size dogs but will have 5 sharp pointed toes (dogs have 4). They lope when they travel so will leave a pattern similar to a rabbit in snow.
Here's some tracks: http://www.bear-tracker.com/otter.html

Finally finished my otter fence similar to what Mesocosm built.
I used 12 gauge aluminum wire with pvc posts placed about every 10 to 15 ft., then i drilled them at 4 & 8 inches. after running the wire thru and tightening it, I added more posts were needed to adjust for varying elevations then zip tied the wire to the correct height.


Geese inspecting the fence

AP

Your pond is really something and I like the fence idea. Nice effort approaching things with conservation in mind...I hope others follow your example.

Sometimes hot lead isn't the only solution... Good work! Otters are neat animals, its a shame to have to kill them. I hope the fence works! I expect some large plump PS this year...

Thank-you TJ and CJ, I decided to put a fence up because I think it will be the best deterrent since I don't live at my pond.
I have no problem with people doing what ever it takes to keep their ponds safe from predators, whether it be by trapping or using the politically correct SUPERSONIC PROJECTILE LAUNCHING DEVICE.

I feel sorry for any otter who touches the fence, I was repositioning the positive wires from the charger to the fence, they are insulated and I was wearing gloves, I haven't moved that fast in 30 years.
I should have known better, but now I know for sure.

Been there done that

There is another way of checking an elec fence but, I'm told, it is even worse.

Dave, I saw the video on utube of the guy doing the human watering can trick on an electric fence, man I think a vasectomy would be less painful.

20 mile fence controller. Brutal!

I wanted to be sure the otters didn't think I was kidding.
Got a great deal on Ebay, brand new for 50 bucks.

How many feet of wire is the fence made from? Reason for asking is my experience with electric fencing.

I used a 1/2 mile controller to power about 200' of wire and if the grass was wet I found dead critters..... I had a grackle with it's beak around the wire, and a Fox Squirrel with one paw wrapped around the wire, and it's hair singed where it contacted the damp grass.

I lived in the city for a short while, and one of my dogs would climb the 4' fence to chase squirrels & rabbits in the neighbor's yard. I told the neighbors on each side, and ran a single wire around the top of the fence. After she hit it once, that was all that it took - she never tried to exit the yard after that, even after I took the wire down. (grounded chain link fence, the wire was insulated from the fence)

The 2 wire fence has about 1500ft of wire so it's really overpowered, but I wanted to be sure that any grass or weeds touching it would not drain the system too much to be effective.
It's only been on 5 days and no dead critters found yet, but I was worried that a bear would plow thru it so I put flagging tape on it in 3 areas where it crosses a walking path to make it more visible.

Electric Fence Tip #37: Don't use strips of aluminum foil for flagging tape. Especially if you tie them on "live."

There's some funny videos on u tube involving animals and dumb people and electric fences.

It is not nice to laugh at dumb people.

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Hey Adirondack pond,

Hope the fence works for you. So far, we haven't seen any sign of otters or muskrats in the pond. We did find a big snapping turtle laying totally stunned against the wires. The folks thought he might be dead from the shock. In any case, he disappeared after a couple of days. They have since seen a large snapper in the pond disturbing the bream beds. But I don't know if its the same one. Of course, the fence wasn't intended to keep out turtles. We also found a dead frog attached, by his tongue, to the fence wire. That was pretty funny actually. But I really don't want to kill my frog chorus. So far, we haven't shocked ourselves yet. We also have a 20 mile fence controller and I really don't wanna know how that feels. 8)

Cheers
Scott

Scott, you really don't know what your missing, grabbing that wire really juices-up your day.
I'm sure there's more than enough juice to discourage any otter and it's cheap insurance against predators, no dead critters here yet, I just hope a bear doesn't plow thru it.

Larry

I used to use one of those infared staked scarecrows that is hooked to a garden hose. When it detects movement it points and blasts. I don't know how many times I forgot and got blasted. As soon is it moves and points you know you're screwed. No time to move except one typically turns tail to run and gets a wet butt.

I laugh at myself all the time Otto. But of course I'm the only one around so no one else would unless I told them.

Right after I got zapped I started to laugh, then I looked around to see if anyone saw how dumb I was, good thing the pond is deep in the woods.

I heard a GBH making contact with a wire is a sight to see. Supposed to look like break dancing.

CB, ifrared scarecrow????????

isnt april fools day past?

post up a link to that

Is this a great place or what.

Cecil, was it a break dance or a "beak" dance? OK, now that was a lame joke but I couldn't help myself!

The water scarecrow... http://www.contech-inc.com/Products/Scarecrow/

You must not have received the memo, due to the abundance of fools in the US we had to extend April fools day into May. Projections indicate that at the current rate of fool reproduction we may need to add a June fools day as well.

JHAP, let's not get political now.

If anyone is interested I will give you a good deal on the scarecrow. Also this buglight fish feeder.

http://www.freshflo.com/buglite.html

I'll take the buglite off your hands if you pay the shipping.

You funny man!

Considering how slow business is I'll be lucky if I'm on the Internet in the near future. Of course you had no way of knowing that.

OK. You have shamed me into buying the buglite. Send me a PM with asking price. Hopefully it will help get my BG to 2# so I can give some business.

No I'm not taking charity. Either you really want it or not.

I will be honest with you Burger. The big bluegills won't be interested in feeding under the light. It's the smaller ones that do.

My pond is about 1/4 mile up the hill from a salmon stream and only one time in the last 4 years of having the pond have otters left the stream and came to it. Was a mature one and a younger pup. They could not have been in there more than 3 or 4 hours before I spotted them and with a shotgun got them to decide the stream was a much better place to be.....They did not seem to get any fish and my pond has 3 of these structures in it along with some other stuff. But these might do the trick and when the pond was down and I could just see this pile in the shallowest area, the fish were hanging around it.

jed58, I hope your right about the otters cause they also like to visit at night, that's why I put in an electric fence.

Just wondering how did your electric fence work, I have Otters, they have already got most of my fish, I just went and bought another 1000 and put them in my 7 acre pond. I did have a lot of fish , nice ones but starting over again.

Adirondack Pond has been MIA for a while as far as posting. You may want to PM or email him.

ok,I will try that. Thanks.

This is what I have done, works great, no more Otters!! [img:left][/img]

Nice looking fence. It's a shame you had to go to such an extreme measure.