Minks in my pond

[JENNIEWREN]

Hi, We woke up on Saturday morning to carnage around our fish pond. Three of our largest gold fish were lying beside it heads eaten and so far we have only spotted 3 or so fish left out of the 20 we knew we had last summer. The pond is netted at this time of year to keep the leaves out so something had pushed under the netting and got into the pond. We live in Bideford, North Devon in a residential area about half a mile or so from the river Torridge and our garden is surrounded by high walls apart from the gate and steps into it. Has anyone got any suggestions, no footprints or evidence of our visitor apart from his uneaten dinner. Is it a mink?
Jenniewren

[smartie]

That sounds like the most likely option as the pond is netted. I can't think what other predator would actually have gone into the pond. What a shame.

[aeshna5]

Possibly Mink, but you live in an area with a good Otter population, so there's no conclusive evidence. Should you discover any droppings they smell quite different between the 2 species; those of otter are usually sweet smelling unlike those of mink, which are rather unpleasant, sometimes likened to burnt rubber, but different people have different perceptions.

Sad news about the fish.

[smartie]

I'd gladly give my entire fish collection to see an otter in the garden (sorry fish )

[Blackdog]

Originally Posted by JENNIEWREN

We live in Bideford, North Devon in a residential area about half a mile or so from the river Torridge.....

I know most of the guys who work at the Royal Marines base over at Instow, they have a jetty opposite the shipyard at Appledore, not too far from you. They have reported seeing otter spraint and footprints in the mud at low water since spring last year. So, even if they did not raid your garden, they are pretty close

[werdnal]

We too lost all our fish last year in similar circumstances. We are in a fairly rural spot in Cornwall, and our property is bordered by a stream which is the source of the River Fal.

Our pond had a chicken wire cover on a wooden frame which my hubby built when our son was little to stop balls (or him) going in it. There was only a tiny gap underneath at one side, and it was quiet heavy, so feel probably an otter would have struggled to get through.

I found a few fish scales and scraps at the sides of the pond and noticed the pond weed had been stirred up as if something had been swimming around in it. Our elderly neighbour then reported a few months later, she was working alongside the stream in her garden, when she caught sight of something moving through the long grass on the opposite bank. She swore blind it was an otter, although we have seen a mink in the wild elsewhere and at the distance, and with the eyesight of an 80 year old, they are easily confused.

I'm still not convinced it was an otter that visited us, but having left the pond virtually empty for nearly 12 months, we took a chance and re-stocked it recently with young fish from my parent's pond, so time will tell if we get a re-visit!

[JENNIEWREN]

Thank you to everyone who posted a reply. I have written to our local paper to see if anyone else has had a similar event in the area or indeed if anyone has been lucky enough to get a sighting. In the meantime we are contemplating wether to restock or wether to set a 'live' trap and see if we catch anything more exciting than our own cats?! My parents live more rurally near Chittlehampton and have a stream close by and there neighbour was lucky enough to catch site of an otter leaving his fishpond!! I have a gut feeling ours is a mink we will see.

[Thy]

A mink sounds most likely, as they are surprisingly good climbers, and when tracking them once, was amazed to see a Mink in a tree. So the walls and gate might not prove the obstacle one would suspect.

[Crested Newt]

Sounds like Mink and Mink are INCREDIBLY destructive.