So much for my pond...

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  • Mongo59

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    Jul 30, 2018
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    I have a small pond on my property, have been stocking it for years. The grand kids love to fish in it because it truly is "catching".

    This time of year we catch grasshoppers and throw them in and about the second or third time they kick, WHAM!

    Went out today and nothing, nada.

    Checked the game camera and found three large, well fed otters walking through my woods a healthy mile from Blue River.

    It is one thing to have fished Blue River for years and loving it until now all you can catch is Goggleye and Asian carp, but now the robbers cleaned out my own honey hole.

    A friend in another county had the same problem and called the DNR to complain. Their answer (no lie) was, "not to worry, when all the fish are gone they will leave..."

    I pushed the pond in years ago, before grand kids, for the wildlife to water. It is a big draw for all the animals on my place and a game camera will get 200 to 2000 pics a month.

    Granted, otters are wildlife but so are termites and I don't want to keep them fed either.

    I don't know what the memory of an otter is like but I guess I spent all my time and money making a smorgasbord...
     

    phylodog

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    Arcadia
    There will likely be a trapping season opening up soon if it hasn’t already. Might allow you to take one of them and if the others see it maybe they’ll get lost.
     

    snorko

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    this kind reminds me of my father complaining about the squirrels in his back yard. The yard is festooned with oak and chestnut trees, lots of shrubbery, and a good sized landscaped pond with waterfall, goldfish, etc. So lots of food, water and shelter for squirrels. Of course they are going to hang out there.

    Like the squirrels, the otters are probably singing songs of praise and worship of you, the creator of the big feed place.
     

    yetti462

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    Unglaciated heaven
    Thank the dnr for reintroducing the otter. Of all things to waste time and money on, a pond raiding otter? I'd trap or kill the otter.

    Then there is the bobcat, an animal that was not reintroduced and whose population is booming and they won't open a season. :ugh::ugh:
     

    cbhausen

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    Feb 17, 2010
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    Indianapolis, IN
    When I was a kid we dispatched many muskrats and snapping turtles in our farm pond with a Ruger 10/22. Stories like this remind me why we were quick to eliminate them.
     

    ghuns

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    Nov 22, 2011
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    My grandparents had a large stocked pond. It was ringed by tall, mature trees. Then beavers moved in.:rolleyes:

    Grandpa's eyesight wasn't great by then and he didn't notice their presence until the first two huge cottonwood trees were laying in the pond one morning. Grandpa fought those critters like they were Germans and he was still in the Ardennes Forest until the day he died. Seemed like every one he killed, two more would show up.

    Now my cousin's kid lives there and he has surrendered the fight. Nothing around the pond anymore except stumps and brush.:(
     

    n9tkf

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    Sep 18, 2018
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    Just before the earth ends.
    A well placed electric fence around the lake might deter the otters and save the fish but keep other desirable wildlife away.

    Is there anyone in the area that specializes in removing nuisance wildlife? They might be able to help.
     

    Winamac

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    Sep 11, 2011
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    As I understand it otters are native to Indiana? This thread is not the first I have heard of otters being a nuisance. My question is...where otters a problem back when in the day before they became extinct here? I have talked to many old, old timers and none of them can recall otters being a problem? Wonder what has changed that makes it so now?
     

    Leadeye

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    .
    I would imagine that back in the day when otters were here fishing ponds weren't as common as they are now. Excavation of something like a small pond today would have been a big expensive job 100 years ago.
     

    Gabriel

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    The shore of wonderful Lake Michigan
    When I was a kid we dispatched many muskrats and snapping turtles in our farm pond with a Ruger 10/22. Stories like this remind me why we were quick to eliminate them.

    I shoot them when they're in my pond from my deck with my CZ. Mostly just the muskrats because I like watching the turtles for some reason (my neighbor shoots the turtles, though, so there's that). It makes for a nice afternoon when I'm not fishing.

    I had beavers swimming in and out of the overflow earlier this year. I didn't know if they were legal to shoot, so I went to the hardware store and bout two wire hanging baskets that fit perfectly over the 15" drain tiles that are my over flow. Haven't seen them since.
     

    Mongo59

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    Traps, fence and all would not work with all the invited guests. I don't get mad if the Heron's eat their fill. But now I doubt there is a fish in it.

    Interesting thing is the otters walk through the woods in a straight line nose to tail. Didn't get them on film going in, just waddling out.

    The maternal base of all my bluegill was a female my son had caught that looked like a half inflated football. Her offspring have fed Herons and such for better than a decade. Now there is no way to know if any survive.

    Violated is the only word that describes the feeling...
     

    churchmouse

    I still care....Really
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    Dec 7, 2011
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    Speedway area
    Traps, fence and all would not work with all the invited guests. I don't get mad if the Heron's eat their fill. But now I doubt there is a fish in it.

    Interesting thing is the otters walk through the woods in a straight line nose to tail. Didn't get them on film going in, just waddling out.

    The maternal base of all my bluegill was a female my son had caught that looked like a half inflated football. Her offspring have fed Herons and such for better than a decade. Now there is no way to know if any survive.

    Violated is the only word that describes the feeling...

    I full well understand how nature works. But remember we are the top of the food chain on land when we are armed and aware.

    SSS.

    There is a very nice and well stocked pond on my buddy's family land. It was invaded by turtles with much the same results as what you are experiencing.
    As mentioned up-thread we posted up about 100 yards of the pond on higher ground. Spent a few nice afternoons popping turtle with .22's.
    Distance and caliber made it somewhat sporting
     

    mmpsteve

    Real CZ's have a long barrel!!
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    Nov 14, 2016
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    ..... formerly near the Wild Turkey
    I doubt the otters were able to eat all the little minnows in your pond, so given time, the fish will be back. You can hasten the process by feeding them fish food pellets. They come in 50 pound bags from the local feed store. Of course, long term, you're going to have to deal with the otters. My dad has a 12 acre bass and bluegill pond down south, and otters are made to feel unwelcome. The ones that don't get the message seem to all be allergic to lead.

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