Mystery visitor.......

[Oldfentiger]

.........to our garden pond, last night.
We heard splashing around midnight (pond is a few metres from our bedroom window). Mrs OFT shone a torch and said it looked like a cat was struggling in the pond. Pulled my trackie bottoms on and shot out to hopefully perform a rescue.
No sign of a cat, but three fish lying on the ground variously mutilated. No sign of the perpetrator.
Well it couldn’t be a heron, not after dark. It must be something which can pursue fish in the water, to be able to bag 3 fish in such a short time. Also there’s a net over the pond which has proved to be heron proof.
I switched on the outside light and took up station at the bedroom window to watch. Only had to wait 10 minutes until we received another visit.........an OTTER!!!
I managed to scare it off by banging on the window and shining a torch at it. Then went out and weighted the edges of the net with coping stones, bricks etc.
The bloody thing came back another three times without managing to breach the improved defences.
Mixed emotions here. Fantastic to see an otter in our garden and so close too. Sad to lose the fish in such a manner. One of them was here before we were (16 years)

 

[Blue Hills]

Interesting. Understand your mixed feelings. Where do you reckon the otter hangs out/holes up?

 

[Levo-Lon]

I thought otter when I'd read the first few lines..

You'll have a job to stop him or her..
Love otters ,my favourite film , book as a youngster was Ring of Bright Water..oh and Kes

 

[Oldfentiger]

Interesting. Understand your mixed feelings. Where do you reckon the otter hangs out/holes up?

No idea. There is a small brook which flows the other side of the road, however they can apparently travel quite long distances over land.

 

[biggs682]

Oh wow but sad re the fish

 

[steveindenmark]

I can understand your mixed feelings. I have never seen an otter in the wild.

I dont know what your defensive master plan is . But I did read recently that a fox can chew though chicken wire and so I would imagine an otter could as well.

 

[swee'pea99]

Wonderful! Sorry about your fish.

 

[Oldfentiger]

I can understand your mixed feelings. I have never seen an otter in the wild.

I dont know what your defensive master plan is . But I did read recently that a fox can chew though chicken wire and so I would imagine an otter could as well.

I don’t have a defensive master plan yet. Not sure what I can buy at the moment.

 

[Beebo]

That’s a tricky problem to deal with. How to otter proof a pond, I imagine it’s almost impossible unless you go for chicken wire.

 

[raleighnut]

 

[Dave7]

Beautiful creatures but somewhere else is better.
Someone I know in Cumbria had a koi carp pond and an otter started to visit. In the end he had to get rid of the pond and fill it in.

 

[steveindenmark]

That’s a tricky problem to deal with. How to otter proof a pond, I imagine it’s almost impossible unless you go for chicken wire.

They will eat through chicken wire. Op needs to go on a chicken keeping site on FB and they will tell him what to use.

 

[Slioch]

Get some Piranha? Crocs? Very small shark?

Seriously though, could you rig up an outside light with motion detector?

 

[annedonnelly]

Otter, fantastic! How about turning your pond into a wildlife pond? You can get all sorts of interesting things once the fish have gone.

 

[Oldfentiger]

I don’t think the light will work - the otter was getting used to the torch treatment by his 5th visit, and was more reluctant to leave.