Hi Destany,

It could be any of those animals, but I'll bet you're right about the bullfrog. I, personally, wouldn't keep the bullfrog. I've seen pictures of bullfrogs eating birds.
Its sort of a philosophical dilemma.....if we're going to build certain animals' habitats, then we have to decide what we can accept and what we can't.....but it definitely attracts all types.
Bullfrogs are cool........but if you like fish more, then it might be an easy choice.
I think a cat might have gotten one or two of them, but not all of them.
Is it possible that they are still hiding somehwere, after being scared by a predator?
Coons can be sooooo destructive, but I would think you'd have seen alot more disruption of your pond.
I don't think the comets will ever be too big for the bullfrog. Good luck to you with this!

Sounds more like a heron to me.

Deb

If they are disappearing at night it might be an owl. There are a lot of predators that hunt at night and aren't afraid of the water. You might never know they have been there unless you are sleepless like me. Sandy

Bullfrogs don't eat fish unless the fish is flopping around out of the water. The cat - doubt it.

Sounds like a heron. They come in silently, wait by the side and eat any fish that comes close enough. If too big to eat it might peck a hole in it, but smaller fish down the hatch. The only sign you might notice is a big splat of white bird poop or maybe a few fish scales by the side of the pond. Fish hide after a heron attack so you might have more fish left.

Owl - doubtful, not impossible, but highly doubtful.

Raccoons makes a big mess usually and with the deep sides don't have an entry point it would seem.

The heron will eat the frogs too - so the bullfrog is not safe either.

Herons and Kingfishers take fish in the very early AM usually leaving no trace. Their are various species, nationwide. They are very likely the culprit. They do come back over and over when they find a likely feeding spot.

Raccoons do make a huge mess, like a tornado has hit the pond.

I've seen multiple photos and had people I've known online for years tell me they've seen bullfrogs catch fish. I know they eat other frogs, mice, birds, anything they can catch.

Cats aren't natural fishers, they are more likely to be caught with fish a heron or raccoon dropped because something scared them.

Wow, I know there are herons at the lakes around here, I honestly thought I was immune (I know, I know denial) because I put my pond under a tree where it wouldn't be spotted from the sky. Dang.
I agree I don't think it was likely the cat or a racoon, I just feel like I'd see some evidence and I thought I did a good job of safe-guarding against land predators.
Interesting you should say that about herons eating the frog, Commettose, he's gone missing today. But I suppose he could be hiding.
I'd like to think the other fishes are hiding, but I've checked all the nooks and crannies carefully. When I go out onto the back deck, high above, they don't notice me and I can see all of the fishes in the middle of the pond undisturbed. All day I'm only seeing the larger one and the two smaller ones. Hmmm.

Perhaps I should clarify - bullfrogs don't eat fish underwater but will try to eat anything that moves that they see and it is above the surface of the water in front of them or above them (they need to see it move). Hence, a fish caught up in thick plants or if somehow in the shallows can be eaten, but a bullfrog will not dive underwater to eat a fish. Bullfrogs will try to eat anything that moves whether or not it can actually fit it in its mouth. I've seen them jump at squirrels, birds, vacuum hose, my hand, etc.

Kingfishers use a dead tree perch but are not a common backyard bird. Herons find the pond while flying overhead to and from roosting and hunting grounds. My pond was undetected for one season and once found the bird comes back and checks all the time. I have a net so it cannot eat the fish. I got cocky and took the net down after one year of no fish kills and in two days I lost fish again and the bird was seen in the am. I see it almost daily flying overhead just at sunset. Herons will hunt at any time of the day but are more common in communities in the early am before people are up and about.

In California I had the whole pond of about a dozen 2 ft koi completely wiped out by racoons...no bones, no nothing. They love the water and the meal is a big bonus to them.

My comets of almost a year were et up in a weekend whilE i was gone for 1 weekend! One little girl remained, only to be consumed by the next weekend!
I've pulled the whole pond , and am trying to figure out how to keep my new fish safe!
I'm thinking chicken wire just at the water level so the fish can eat their food, yet go and hide if need be!
I was also thinking of putting a black milk crate in the pond for the fish to have a place to hide!
Any other suggetions are appreciated!

I woke up very early one morning and looked out at the pond in time to see a Belted Kingfisher swoop down off the fence and scoop up a 6" shubunkin. They make a very distinct cackling sound. I woke up and waved a broom at him several times but he got half a dozen more fish before I netted the pond. I took the net off when floating plants had grown enough to cover much of the water surface.

I added a large styrofoam floating island planter that has evergreen plants in it for winter protection for the fish and haven't had to net again.

I live in the middle of the city, not rural at all.

How 'bout a snake? I have had my baby fish and the minnows from the small pond wiped out by a family of garter snakes living among the rocks by my ponds. Actually saw one IN the pond moving silently through the water. We caught them and relocated them and have had no one missing since.
Debbie

I found them!!! Or at least, most of them! Boy they must have some really good hiding places because I checked that thing over very closely all day yesterday and couldn't find hide nor hair of those little fishes.
But I looked out early this morning, hoping to glimpse the culprit and saw some seven or eight juvenilles just swimming around like they'd been there all along. The others are probably in there somewhere!

Take a look!
Sorry the photos are a bit grainy, my camera isn't very good in softer lighting.
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There known hiding places are obviously in the rocks around the edges, and also around the pots that hold the lily, cattails and papyrus.
But are you able to see on the top righ side, where it looks like the liner is bunched, just beneath the surface? I don't know if you can really tell in these photos. I left a strip of pvc liner, under the rocks that goes down into the pond about six or seven inches, and bows outward. The fishes like to get up underneath there and hide as well. Yesterday, while looking for them, I poked this with a stick, thinking any behind there would come out. But maybe that's where they were and they've caught on to my little trick... who knows.
I'm just glad they weren't eaten! I'll feel much better too, once this lily comes up!
Thanks for your replies!

Destany, You just made my day? I was so sad for you when you couldn't find them. When the Heron came the first time and got my favorite fish, my water was murky and I couldn't find any of my other fish. I drained my pond to clean it so I could re-stock it with fresh water and there they were in the bottom hiding. I should have learned the first time, but no I had to wait until he came back and got a lot of them. Glenda

Glad you found your fishies. I wouldn't dismiss the heron too lightly though because if they're around it's only a matter of time before they find your pond. We thought we were immune until one finally found us this year. Drat. We caught him again this morning wading in our pond. You need a lot more plants, floating plants in particular because your fish are too exposed (I like the floating planter idea, too).

Yes, you really need more plants. Visit the exchange section, many people will send for postage or trade for land plants. There are other exchanges on other pond forums too.

Aquatic plants can be expensive to buy but they multiply really quickly and many people are happy to share them.

Thanks for the input! I will be keeping my eye out. Something obviously spooked the fishes, so even if they do have hiding places, I know I still have predators to deal with.
I'm trying to talk my hubby into visiting the garden center next week when he goes on vacation to look for some water lettuce (after I check and see I'm allowed to have it in my state), or other floating plants.
I've still got my waterlily, which is late in coming this year because I wasted so much time on a dud crown. Once it comes up, it'll cover probably half the pond. But as I built my pond as a water GARDEN, I perfectly agree that I need more plants!
And thank you for the tip about the plant exchange section.

Destany, can you have Hyacinths? Or do you even want any? Glenda

YAY! So glad to hear this!
One thing you can do is take a bigger clay pot, and break a piece out of the side. Set it upside down in the water, and place a potted plant on top of that. Its a neat hiding place for fish. Or......you can get a black milk crate and put it upside down in the water as a plant stand.
You might also consider stringing some string in various directions across your pond. Herons don't want to mess with string.
So happy for you!

If your fish are acting spooked, then someone did snack or try to snack.

I had to install an electric fence around my fish pond. Nothing else worked on the raccoons. Now they mess with my container and waterlily ponds but there are no fish and they don't come very often. The electric fence has the advantage of deterring herons too as they don't land in the water, they land and then walk in.

My neighbor told me she saw a Great Blue Heron perched on my roof several times. Laughed and said she thought it was "The Stork" I'd rather have my fish eaten.....

lol buyorsell!

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This bird "Ole Blue" would change your mind if you saw him do what Hubby and I watched him do. We have a double stranded electric fence around the yard, you can see it in the pic. It makes a believer out of the dog and the horses when they touch it. Ole Blue stepped over the bottom strand and ducked under the top strand and didn't miss a beat getting to my pond. We watched him walk round and round the pond trying to figure out how to get to those beauties. I took a dozen pictures of him and we could walk within 10 ft of him before he would fly away. I had 90 lb test fishing line strung all around my pond and he still got my fish before I put up the net. I discovered his foot prints in the algae all around the shallow sides of my pond and realized he was flying into my pond and not flying into the yard and walking up to the pond. Thus the net. I also had a floating alligator at the time. This was the old pond before we re-built it. Glenda

Wow Glenda! Scary! I wish I could buy all that equipment, but I'm allowed so much a year to spend. I checked on my lily yesterday, the new pads are just a few short inches from the surface now! I'm so excited!!! I wonder if I'll see any blooms this year though, seeing as I planted it so late.
I wouldn't mind some Hyacinths, but I'm not sure I'm allowed. How do I find out?
Buyorsell, lol! I can't say much about the stork... I'll be getting a visit from him come January.
Catherine, I like the clay pot idea. I actually have a couple that are wasting space on my back porch. It might be just the thing to put the papyrus on top of, since it's not sitting low enough and I've been trying to figure out where to put it. Thanks for the tip!

Just so false information isn't propogated. Bullfrogs are more than capable of nabbing fish underwtaer and eating them. We had a medium size bullfrog one year, and he ate several 1"-2" fish. What would happen, is sometimes we'd scare him, he'd dive down to the bottom of the pond, as he'd coem to the surface later when he thought it was safe, if there was a fish on his way up... he'd nab it. Many times he came up witha a fish fin sticking out of his mouth... still flapping. It took me a stinking month to catch that bugger to relocate him to a place far far away.

Glenda, that is one smart bird you've got there.

jpinard, I've read plenty of posts by people who saw bullfrogs with fish tails hanging out of their mouths and I've seen plenty of photos too. They are a problem here, eating native frogs to extinction so I won't ever know personally.

Destany, I would think you could have water hyacinths in Missouri. It is only the states where they survive winter that have problems with them. No chance of that in zone 6.

Your waterlilies certainly should bloom. Have you fertilized them? I use Jobe's Tomato Spikes, they are cheaper than pond tabs.

I can't speak to bullfrogs, since all we have at our pond are green frogs. However, I guess I'd get rid of the bull frog if I knew they were capable of eating fish. In my case, I thought all the same things you did ... cat? racoon? something else? My fears were confirmed when we spotted a blue heron one morning. I couldn't believe what I was seeing - we live in the burbs for crying out loud. They leave no evidence of any disturbance except missing fish. I thought something was coming around at night, too. But herons can feed very early - we've seen ours between 5AM and 7AM, so unless you're out watching for them, you won't see them. For me 2 Scarecrow motion detector sprinklers have worked. They have a "blind" spot, so one did not deter him, but two pointed in opposite directions (so they cover the entire pond area) has kept him off guard. (They can figure those out, too.) So far, no more fish losses.

Don't forget the snakes! I lost a beautiful Shubunkin that was at least 8 inches, and double that with the tails. It simply disappeared about a week after my babysitter found a large black snake tangled in the top of the net. The net was there to keep out the Blue Herons but enough room for the snakes to get my fish. I now have a net tightly strung across the top to keep all of the predators away!

I wonder if Bull frogs is where they got the name "bully" for people who are obnoxious and pick on others??? I'll never forget the pic someone posted once of a bullfrog with a bird in its mouth. :(
Destany, I'm wondering if your poor little water lily wasn't severely injured as a child. ;)
Just be patient, and I'm sure all these months/year of therapy will pay off.
Every time I bought a lily from Walmart/Menards, it bloomed within a month. Sounds like your roots were injured somehow. Just be sure to fertilize it.......but push the tabs into the side area of the plant. I've burned my leaves by pushing it in too close to the roots.
Keep us posted on its progress!

Update to my last posting. Nix the Scarecrows. They didn't work after all. After 3 weeks, Mr/Ms Heron decided the blast of water was worth a tasty meal. We've resorted to netting the pond. It's actually not that bad and worth the peace of mind.

Sounds like someone is operating a

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