Raccoons – they’re cute, clever, and they love to eat fish. When fish start disappearing from the backyard pond, homeowners may suspect that these animals are to blame. Raccoons are simply supplementing their diets with the delicious fish that pond owners place in the yard. How can a koi pond owner let the raccoons know that the small pond is not a raccoon buffet?
Understanding Raccoons That Visit the Pond
Raccoons are omnivores. This means that like humans, they will eat just about anything. Raccoons are intelligent and resourceful. They’re good climbers, with able paws that can dismantle many of the structures that humans put in their way. To a hungry raccoon, an open pond is open for business, especially for hungry raccoon mothers with kits. A word of caution: although raccoons look cute and cuddly, they are wild animals that will become aggressive when they feel threatened.
Strategies for Protecting the Pond from Raccoons
There are many strategies to protect a pond from raccoons. Netting or mesh over the pond can serve the dual purpose of deterring predators and collecting leaves in the fall. Just make sure that it is secure, since raccoons are good at dismantling netting. Surprise is another option when it comes to scaring away raccoons. Motion-sensitive lights and motion-sensitive sprayers like the Scarecrow or the Critter Sentry will come on when a raccoon enters the area of the pond. Although raccoons don’t mind water, a sharp blast from the Scarecrow may be alarming enough to deter them from coming close to the pond.
Creating A Decoy for Raccoons
It’s also possible to create a decoy for raccoons. They love digging in wood piles for bugs, so creating an area with logs and wood chips where they can dig may be a way to distract the raccoons. Put the area far away from the pond, thereby opening up a better buffet just down the road that the raccoons may prefer to frequent.
Protecting Fish From Raccoon Predators
In addition to protecting the pond as a whole, pond owners might consider ways to provide hiding places for the fish. In a natural pond, there are areas of deep water where the fish can hide. There are also rocks and logs that extend over the pond, providing places for fish to secret themselves when predators are near. Creating a deep pond with lots of hiding places like floating islands, tubes, and logs will allow the fish to swim away and hide from the predators.
Raccoons are clever pond predators. A combination of decoys, protection, and surprise may help deter them from eating fish in the koi pond. It’s also important to provide a good home for the fish, allowing the koi or other fish to hide from potential predators. The more options, the better when it comes to deterring these masked predators!
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