I have some kind of predator doing some killing in my pond, in Fort Lauderdale Florida.
The pond is concrete, 1600 gallons, and never had a problem in the past.
However, ten months ago, I drained the pond, cleared out all the algae, all the muck and debris in the bottom, demolished a rotten wood bridge, built a new bridge pier/support, built a new bridge, reworked some submerged PVC plumbing that was broken by a fallen tree limb...the projects went on and off for months and during that time rain filled the pond, I drained it again with a utility pump, this went on dozens of time, and recently I just started to let the rain water stay in the pond because I am mostly done, but haven't introduced any fish or plants yet.
However, I have noticed some killings in the pond. I have noticed lizards (anoles) about 4 to 6 inches long with their heads cut off. I have noticed crabs near the pond being killed and ripped apart. I have noticed frogs being torn apart inside the pond. So much so I am uncertain about introducing fish because if frogs can't stay alive then fish probably won't either.
This is just this morning, I saw two frogs killed. They weren't eaten, just killed.
I am guessing it may be raccoons?
I put out a trap for it, used some banana as bait, thinking that using fruits won't trap a feral cat. But I caught a possum instead, so I let it go. Then I used banana again, this time also a possum, but a dead possum. How can a possum get caught in a cage end up dead the next morning, so whatever it was, it killed the possum that was trapped inside the cage.
What kind of animals could get into a pond half filled with water, and catch and kill crabs and frogs? Not for food, because they weren't eaten, just killed and dismembered.
The pond is concrete, 1600 gallons, and never had a problem in the past.
However, ten months ago, I drained the pond, cleared out all the algae, all the muck and debris in the bottom, demolished a rotten wood bridge, built a new bridge pier/support, built a new bridge, reworked some submerged PVC plumbing that was broken by a fallen tree limb...the projects went on and off for months and during that time rain filled the pond, I drained it again with a utility pump, this went on dozens of time, and recently I just started to let the rain water stay in the pond because I am mostly done, but haven't introduced any fish or plants yet.
However, I have noticed some killings in the pond. I have noticed lizards (anoles) about 4 to 6 inches long with their heads cut off. I have noticed crabs near the pond being killed and ripped apart. I have noticed frogs being torn apart inside the pond. So much so I am uncertain about introducing fish because if frogs can't stay alive then fish probably won't either.
This is just this morning, I saw two frogs killed. They weren't eaten, just killed.
I am guessing it may be raccoons?
I put out a trap for it, used some banana as bait, thinking that using fruits won't trap a feral cat. But I caught a possum instead, so I let it go. Then I used banana again, this time also a possum, but a dead possum. How can a possum get caught in a cage end up dead the next morning, so whatever it was, it killed the possum that was trapped inside the cage.
What kind of animals could get into a pond half filled with water, and catch and kill crabs and frogs? Not for food, because they weren't eaten, just killed and dismembered.
