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Water snake eating kid’s pond fish
Posted on 6/26/23 at 10:16 am
Posted on 6/26/23 at 10:16 am
One of our kids built a little pond and has been stocking it with crawfish and basic fish like bream, sculpins, etc. He noticed that fish were disappearing and blamed barn cats. He put a mesh cover on the pond, and added a camera.
Learned yesterday we have a water snake coming to visit! We live a 1/4 mile from any stream or body of water, wasn't expecting that! He tried catching it, but it escaped.
Anybody here ever had a similar situation?
Learned yesterday we have a water snake coming to visit! We live a 1/4 mile from any stream or body of water, wasn't expecting that! He tried catching it, but it escaped.
Anybody here ever had a similar situation?
6
Posted on 6/26/23 at 10:37 am to concrete_tiger
Tell him to just keep adding fish. The snake is cooler. 
They'll raid fish ponds, for sure.
They'll raid fish ponds, for sure.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 10:54 am to concrete_tiger
Put a minnow trap in the pond, 1/2 submerged. Put all of the fish/crawfish (and frogs if you can catch some) in the trap and you'll catch the snake eventually.
Been doing this in a creek behind my house with my son and we've caught 8-10 different water snakes in the past couple of months just for kicks.
Been doing this in a creek behind my house with my son and we've caught 8-10 different water snakes in the past couple of months just for kicks.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 10:57 am to concrete_tiger
Yes,
Buy some 1" mesh bird netting. Make a fence around the pond with it. Or lay it out over the top of the water, think trampoline. Is is basically a gill net out of the water. It will catch everything that tries to get to the pond. Be careful setting it up. Every little stick it touches will get caught in it. We use it around the chick coup, garden, and fruit trees. You don't need it or want it too tight. The plastic version seems to catch snakes better than the cloth.
LINK
Buy some 1" mesh bird netting. Make a fence around the pond with it. Or lay it out over the top of the water, think trampoline. Is is basically a gill net out of the water. It will catch everything that tries to get to the pond. Be careful setting it up. Every little stick it touches will get caught in it. We use it around the chick coup, garden, and fruit trees. You don't need it or want it too tight. The plastic version seems to catch snakes better than the cloth.
LINK
Posted on 6/26/23 at 12:59 pm to JustKillinTime
quote:
Put a minnow trap in the pond, 1/2 submerged.
Funny you say that, he built a trap yesterday just for that reason. Will see how it goes.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 1:01 pm to mrcoon
quote:
Buy some 1" mesh bird netting.
He has mesh on top of it, but not as a fence around it. Maybe it can be tweaked. We had this stuff around blueberry bushes to keep deer from eating them
Posted on 6/26/23 at 1:02 pm to Teague
quote:
The snake is cooler.
This particular kid would love to have both, he's got geckos, frogs, turtles, fish... the works. Love snakes but they are off-limits because mom is freaked out by them.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 2:14 pm to concrete_tiger
I’d be surprised that a water snake would do any damage to bream population
Posted on 6/26/23 at 3:30 pm to concrete_tiger
A few years ago when I was running yo-yo's, if I only caught a few I would chunk em in the fish keeper thing. Every morning a 4 footer would be hanging around the fish trying to get to em.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 3:45 pm to Mushroom1968
quote:
I’d be surprised that a water snake would do any damage to bream population
This is one of those pond inserts you can buy at lowe's or whatever. It's roughly 5'x7', it's not an actual pond. He's a kid. This snake has definitely eliminated all the big fish. The little fish must be able to hide better. I am surprised all the crawfish are there, but maybe they put up a fight, can't believe how big they are.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 4:11 pm to concrete_tiger
What kind of watersnake? Plain-bellieds are often found far away from water sources.
Posted on 6/26/23 at 6:06 pm to concrete_tiger
Ahhh I see, makes sense then
Posted on 6/26/23 at 8:38 pm to Ron Cheramie
quote:
Plain-bellieds are often found far away from water sources.
It is indeed a plain-bellied, but we call them red-bellied.
It’s full grown, so the cats might not mess with it… they normally handle snakes, including one last night they left as a gift for us.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:24 am to concrete_tiger
This reminded me of a story from a long time ago. We were fishing a local pond with a little jon boat with a trolling motor on it. Had caught a few bream and a few bass and had them on the stringer trailing the boat. When we got back to the pier, we went to pull the stringer in and there was a snake that was probably 4 foot or so with a bream almost completely in his gullet.
Let the snake keep the fish and I kept the stringer.
Let the snake keep the fish and I kept the stringer.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 10:59 am to Monday
quote:
This reminded me of a story from a long time ago. We were fishing a local pond with a little jon boat with a trolling motor on it. Had caught a few bream and a few bass and had them on the stringer trailing the boat. When we got back to the pier, we went to pull the stringer in and there was a snake that was probably 4 foot or so with a bream almost completely in his gullet.
Let the snake keep the fish and I kept the stringer.
There's a state park here in North GA called "Moccasin Creek State Park." While there are no moccasins, it is INFESTED with banded and/or brown water snakes. They steal fish off stringers all the time, and can even be so bold to snatch bait. My snake-loving kid loves this place, loves catching those things... to each their own.
[/url][/img] Smallest state park in GA, but has a beautiful lake and is adjacent to a trout hatchery, sooo... there's trout.
Posted on 6/27/23 at 2:58 pm to concrete_tiger
The big drainage lake/pond behind the Louisiana Capital is absolutely loaded with water snakes too.
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