How to keep racoons from eating my goldfish?

Question

I love keeping goldfish in this outdoor pond. But it seems like those bandits love to jump right in and eat my friends. Any ideas on how to keep them out? I hear a 2 ft deep pond will save lives. Will that work?

Answer 1

The depth of the pond will make a difference, as can a wire mesh cover. You don't say how large your pond is, but if you can make a wooden frame around it then staple chicken wire across the frame, it can keep out raccoons, cats, leaves, and herons. You'll still be able to see and feed the fish, and you can remove the cover to do maintenance.

Answer 2

I hear ya on the racoons! Man what trouble! 2 ft deep could work as long as you didn't have any bog plant edges, but I would also very, very strongly suggest a deep, underwater hiding place and even then, those racoons are patient and will just sit there and wait for a fish to innocently come swimming to the top and then nab 'em! Short of a cover over the top of the pond, which they do make, nothing is completely racoon-proof. I do stop short of causing injury or death to the raccoon though. I would rather not have fish than to kill a raccoon over it.

Answer 3

Raccoons are tricky to deal with when it comes to ponds. If your pond isn't too deep, it will actually go into the water to fish. You can try and put together an area where your pond fish can hide near the deepest part of the pond so that they have a place to escape to. If your pond is shallow, your concrete pipe may be a good idea since the raccoon would just uproot any plants. How deep is your pond and how big is it?

Answer 4

You could try trapping the raccoons for awhile (in live "have-a-heart" traps). When we first put our koi pond in 8 years ago, it was like we put an "All-You-Can-Eat Buffet, Free to Raccoons" sign up!!They totally decimated our pond. We started trapping them (use stale bread with peanut butter and molasses as bait - DO NOT use cat food as it attracts skunks, we learned to our sorrow....) and caught six within a month. We have not lost any fish to raccoons since.

In our state, raccoons are a non-native species that displaces many indigenous - and less destructive - animals, and it is illegal to keep them as pets or to let them go once you have caught one, so we call the county's Animal Control office to come get them and euthanize them. This is a service that is provided free of charge, and might be worth looking into where you live.

Other things that might help, besides trapping and the mesh or chicken-wire cover that everyone else is recommending, is making the pond deeper - at least two feet and preferably a deeper "hole" that is around three feet deep, with straight up-and-down sides. Many pond-building websites and books recommend "stepped" sides for planting, but the straight sides eliminate shallow places for predators to stand while they hunt your fish! Plants can still be put in the pond - simply set the pots on powder-coated plant stands, upside-down 3-5 gallon planting buckets from the nursery (or other containers) with several holes drilled in them to allow for water flow, or upside-down milk crates. I've used all three, and like the milk crates and the containers with holes drilled in them the best.

Also, make sure you have a lot of places for your fish to hide in, including plant cover, to give them half a chance.

Hope this helps - good luck!

Answer 5

You could try putting a screen over the pond, but the racoons may still be able to get past that.

Answer 6

2 feet deep isn't enough. I have neighbors who have ponds that are about 4 feet deep, but the Raccoons just sit on the edge and pull adult Koi out of the water. If you get a mesh cover, this will make it difficult for the Raccoons and any large birds like Herons. Good luck!

Nosoop4u

Answer 7

Put a screen under the water of about two inches. This way you can still see water and not the screen and feed the fish and keep out pest. Just make sure the mesh isn't big enough for the fish to swim through it. If the fish are big, chicken wire will work. Just nail it into the sides of the pond very well.

Answer 8

Hi Wulfie-I agree with Get Off My Lawn, in addition to a secure net covering putting food out specifically for these predators will almost certainly protect your fishy friends. What animal is going to bother working for his supper when he can simply sit down to it?

Good luck.

Answer 9

Cover your pond with something. Or make a fence out of chicken wire.

Answer 10

You could try putting a screen over the pond.