Home › Forums › Open Discussion › The case of the missing koi
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May 23, 2013 at 3:53 am #607599
ElizagraceParticipantHelp solve a perplexing and odd mystery…
There once was a koi pond settled high on the hill of my house.
Happy did these 20 or so koi live, ranging from young 4″ koi to the papa and mama 12″ koi. They spent their days hiding from the sun, the rain and getting their laps in regularly.
Many a herron and racoons had tried to snack on our spotted orange and black friends, but alas, they failed thanks to the high walls of the pond.
In the evening dinner rang as the pellets rained on the water above their gaping mouths eager for their evening treat.
Last seen on Sunday night in a pond near the tennis courts off Fauntleroy.
All are now missing. Every single brother and sister in this huge family that lived so happily in our pond. Where did they go?
Help us solve this perplexing and f*cking annoying mystery.
May 23, 2013 at 4:12 am #790493
dyn99ParticipantRiver otter. Or a smarter heron. Happened to us a few years ago too.
I’ve even see what I thought was a Peregrine Falcon sitting next to ours once.
Do you have any scarecrows or any other predator protection?
May 23, 2013 at 4:16 am #790494
ElizagraceParticipantWe have a 10 foot pencil sculpture… does that count?
River otter – are those things that crafty? These guys have been in that pond with no missing members for almost 15 years.
And… there was no mess. not a single flower or plant disrupted. No trampling, no knocked over lanterns. The fish all just vanished without a trace.
May 23, 2013 at 4:32 am #790495
shed22ParticipantBear? Poor koi!
May 23, 2013 at 5:05 am #790496
herongrrrlParticipantYeah, I would guess an otter, too. A heron probably wouldn’t take anything quite so large as the 12″ ones, but the otters would have no trouble with them.
Sorry for your loss!
May 23, 2013 at 5:14 am #790497
justadumbguyParticipantThe fact that they are all gone would make me suspect that most nefarious of creatures, the human.
May 23, 2013 at 1:34 pm #790498
anonymeParticipantMethinks the dumb guy is not so dumb. Sounds like a two-legged predator to me, too. Do you or any of your neighbors have surveillance cameras? I take it you’ve spoken to the neighbors…?
May 23, 2013 at 2:18 pm #790499
dyn99ParticipantIf any of you have Koi, you would know that it takes hours of work, lowering the water level significantly, and some very good net skills to catch that many fish.
If your water bill is through the roof, or pond suddenly cleared up to coincide with the disappearance of the Koi, then maybe.
Otherwise, I would bet on a predator bird or river otter.
May 23, 2013 at 2:29 pm #790500
TanDLParticipantHmmm… 20 Koi is too much for a heron, otter, cat or raccoon to eat in one setting. I have a small goldfish pond in the backyard and have had to deal with a host of predators at one time or another. Everyone of them has left a trail of some sort… water splashed around, fish scales, rocks displaced. The cleanest fish snatcher, herons, always take time to stalk before grabbing dinner and they usually return to a successful fishing hole, so it’s not uncommon for them to be noticed cruising the area.
If there is absolutely NO evidence left behind and 20 large fish disappear at one time, it is highly likely to be human intervention, as mentioned above. We’ve not had that problem because our goldfish have no market value, like Koi.
May 23, 2013 at 3:31 pm #790501
wakefloodParticipantSorry for your loss!
How long of a window of time would someone/something have had to pull this off? Was it a single overnight?
Maybe you could set a trap with another fish and a camera and see what unfolds?
May 23, 2013 at 3:57 pm #790502
ElizagraceParticipantThe two legged creature was a thought. It just seems too clean to be an animal, unless there was a ton of dive bombing done on the pond while we were at work.
They were seen last on Sunday evening, and we noticed on Tuesday that they were gone. Vanished without a trace.
I am so sad for the koi, either way, not fun to be snatched out of your home. Also, now we have to replace some pricey fish we have had for a long time! All the little kids in our lives that are now young adults and teens used to love to come over and see the frenzy of feeding time.
If they were stolen, how would one go about getting the fish back? Is there a black market for orange and black fish I don’t know about?
May 23, 2013 at 5:44 pm #790503
TanDLParticipantSince Koi aren’t really an edible fish, I imagine they are quite safe and swimming in a tank somewhere at either a Koi shop or in someone else’s fish pond. I don’t know how you would get them back though, unless you could absolutely identify some of them through unusual markings. Then you’d have to prove the place you found them just recently acquired them and ask them to provide a paper trail of purchase.
There are some Koi listed on Craigslist. Any of them look familiar? If so you might contact the police.
May 23, 2013 at 5:52 pm #790504
guidosmomMemberWow! I hope the mystery is solved. I have had fish go missing from tanks (completely vanish) but the mystery was always solved. My favorite was a beta fish that was found in our basement in a spider web! Anyway, I would try posting on the Greater Seattle Aquarium Society’s facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/gsas.org and ask if anyone has any idea what could have happened. Or, which shops in the area buy koi. I am so sorry for your loss. I hope you are able to recover them if they were stolen. I can’t imagine being able to catch that many fish in such a short time without being noticed though.
May 23, 2013 at 6:07 pm #790505
SarahScootParticipantHere’s a somewhat suspicious CL ad, but these are apparently larger than what went missing from your pond: http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/grd/3801137738.html
May 23, 2013 at 6:08 pm #790506
trickycooljParticipantWhen I was a kid we stocked our backyard pond with 20-cent feeder fish that got to the size of small koi. We also had a layer of chicken wire over the top of the pond until we fenced in the yard because small children liked to cut through our yard and my mom didn’t want any to fall and drown in the 2.5ft pond. When we fenced in the yard and took off the chicken wire some of the brighter colored fish started disappearing. My mom watched out the kitchen window as a bird hauled off with one. We were out in the rural Pierce County area so there were plenty of predators. I wouldn’t be surprised if some group of animals found your poor koi and used them as their personal stash of scooby snacks. Pack of coyotes maybe? Can’t imagine a person being able to so stealthily steal that many fish, koi are pretty substantial.
May 24, 2013 at 4:40 pm #790507
ElizagraceParticipantThank you all!
SaraScoot, I did see that one and they are not ours. We do have many photos of the fish over the years so I am keeping my eyes on the good old CL.
The real reason I think is it more likely a human to blame is that there was no disruption to the area around the pond, as if someone didn’t want us to notice for a while. An animal predator wouldn’t have been so lucky/careful to leave no mess at all.
So frustrating and now our pond is so sad and empty without any orange at all!
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