Pond Boss Forums MANAGING AN EXISTING POND Evaluating and adjusting fish populations Otters

rtripple....otters have been a bit of a nightmare for me. They present special challenges because a family of otters eat LOTS OF FISH! Traps and shooting them slows them down, but the next ones are there the following year. Plus they can be in your pond for periods of time and you don't even know it because they mainly come out at night....which unless you have a night scope makes shooting them more difficult. I have rarely found their dead fish remains, but the otters were certainly in our pond. Our ponds drain into a small seasonal creek, that in turn drains into a larger creek, that flows into Lake Tawakoni. My trapper buddy says the males come up the creeks and look for a place to raise a family, then go back and find a female to fill the new house with kids.....really kind of like we humans do...lol. The traps catch several every year which helps, but it's an on-going battle....my otters have provided extra income for fish stockers...I have joked with the Overton's that they must be sneaking in otters when they drop my fish off. I have one in a trap right now, but it's raining so hard today, I am going to wait to check him out up close. We have a had a few beavers, but not many. Beavers don't eat fish, so that's a plus.