Missing fish lately
- Thread starter duanes
- Start date
Yeah that heron would do it. My mother andse to loose goldfish to herons and large Tyrannus flightcatchers in Colombia. And on once they learn they can be relentless.
haha, way easier to catch dinner in a little glass box than the wide open stream
I've had visits from Mink, Raccoons, Garter Snakes, Grackles, Herons, a Kingfisher and probably others, all of whom took fish. The Mink was the worst and most insistent, and forced me to build covers for all my outdoor tanks, either screen lids that stay on 24/7 or plain wooden lids that I must put on each night....major PITA. I've also seen Fishing Spiders taking fry on occasion.
I had a Black Bear destroy a stock tank pond...not by fishing in it, but by bathing in it. Apparently, bears like to poop while bathing...who knew? I thought I had lost my wonderful little Musk Turtle on that occasion, but was thrilled to find it days later in the yard.
Your visitor looks like a Black-crowned Night Heron...or maybe there is some similar Panamanian species in your area. Either way, I'd be happy to sacrifice a few small fish for a chance to add that lovely bird to my "yard list" of species seen...but I'd still be looking for a solution to prevent future visits. The longer you wait, the greater the odds that his friends will start coming with him to check out the tank.
All those numerous MFK members who think that their 100- or 300- or whatever-gallon "big" tanks allow for all sorts of predator/prey combinations just by throwing in a bunch of plants and a rock or two...need to see something like this to remind them how tiny our tanks really are, and how completely impossible it is for small prey items or sub-dominant fish to escape predation or persecution in them.
I had a Black Bear destroy a stock tank pond...not by fishing in it, but by bathing in it. Apparently, bears like to poop while bathing...who knew? I thought I had lost my wonderful little Musk Turtle on that occasion, but was thrilled to find it days later in the yard.
Your visitor looks like a Black-crowned Night Heron...or maybe there is some similar Panamanian species in your area. Either way, I'd be happy to sacrifice a few small fish for a chance to add that lovely bird to my "yard list" of species seen...but I'd still be looking for a solution to prevent future visits. The longer you wait, the greater the odds that his friends will start coming with him to check out the tank.
All those numerous MFK members who think that their 100- or 300- or whatever-gallon "big" tanks allow for all sorts of predator/prey combinations just by throwing in a bunch of plants and a rock or two...need to see something like this to remind them how tiny our tanks really are, and how completely impossible it is for small prey items or sub-dominant fish to escape predation or persecution in them.
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Eat the bird for payback. Pesky bugger needs a lesson in the food chain.
You have clearly never tasted a fish-eating bird.
Should taste like sweet revenge.
Side note, crowned night herons are a pretty rare sight at least in my area...better make sure its not a felony to whack it.
It does...but it's the dang bird's revenge on you for "whacking" it.
Complete disclosure: I've never harmed or eaten a heron...it would be highly illegal up here, aside from the ethics thing...but I have had the misfortune of tasting things like Mergansers and once, on a bet, a Cormorant. When it comes to fish-eaters, merely cleaning it and preparing it for the oven is beyond disgusting; eating it is...worse...
Yep...they're not even that rare a sight up here in the "no-no-tropics"...
It does...but it's the dang bird's revenge on you for "whacking" it.
Complete disclosure: I've never harmed or eaten a heron...it would be highly illegal up here, aside from the ethics thing...but I have had the misfortune of tasting things like Mergansers and once, on a bet, a Cormorant. When it comes to fish-eaters, merely cleaning it and preparing it for the oven is beyond disgusting; eating it is...worse...
Yep...they're not even that rare a sight up here in the "no-no-tropics"...
Had to look it up but the yellowcrown is protected in several states including mine. And interestingly enough, they are apparently a delicacy in creole cooking. But they look more chickenish, the blackcrown above gives me more crow vibes bleh.