Dec 21, 2009 · The 2 worst critters that can visit your pond from the fish perspective are otters and cormorants (water turkeys , anhinga). Get rid of them ASAP. Not only will the otters eat a bunch they will kill a lot more and eat part or very little. So one may eat 2 lbs of fish and kill another 2 lbs. In addition they target the bigger fish (your brood ...

North American river otters, like most predators, prey upon the most readily accessible species. Fish is a favored food among the otters. The smell and hearing abilities of the North American river otter are acute. Otters have specialized teeth, including sharp canines and carnassials that inflict lethal bites to prey.

Otters are relatively predictable for trapping around a pond. Any secondary water source (such as a creek below the pond overflow or forage pond upstream) will typically have a crossover trail connecting them where the otter travel back and forth between the 2 bodies of water or they will swim through small channels of water connecting 2 larger ...

Optimistic me says the catching the one bass and a couple bluegills and catfish means the otters didn’t destroy the pond. (Two were caught and I’ve only ever seen two) Pessimistic me is concerned that I’ve only caught one bass when I have been throwing rattle traps jerk baits and chatterbaits to specifically target them.

Feb 8, 2010 · IMO otters are the #1 worst enemy of a pond owner as far as animals go. I have seen them clean out 1 acre ponds of nearly all the fish. Once they find easy pickings, they'll keep coming back til there is nothing left. My dad's friend had huge losses of fish in his ponds to otters until he got fed up and started shooting them.

The lake is full of LMB and large sunfish. While I was out there I was surprised by two new residents. Two very large river otters were cruising around the pond enjoying some nice and tasty fresh fish. I did a little research, and an adult river otter might eat 2-3 lbs of fish per day. That's 2 otters x 3 lbs x 365 = 2,190 lbs of fish in a year.

Dec 10, 2005 · That being said, otters and cormorants can obviously do a great deal of damage to our fish populations. But to put herons and egrets into this group is not accurate at all. For someone like Cecil that sells trophy fish for a living, loosing a fish or two is a big deal.

The otters swimming the pond almost always investigate the shiny rock and swim down into the bucket. I have caught dozens of otters this way and there is no worry of accidental catches. You also can wire a fish to the bottom of the bucket. The white bucket stands out in the pond setting and otters cant resist investigating.

Both my ponds have been stripped multiple times by river otters. Discouraging, to say the least. There is a city of Fayetteville, Arkansas, owned protected otter haven, called Lake Sequoyah, just a few miles downstream from my ponds, plus the ponds are only about 1/4 mile from the White River, which feeds that lake.

Oct 20, 2008 · A nutria would be a reasonable assumption, but it was definitely an otter. We had otters around our place on the river and I learned how to recognize them by their behavior, as we had beavers too and had to differentiate between the two. Good call on the otter's likely home being behind The Oyster Bar- Dale andI were wondering where it might roost.