Something finally found my pond..

[reptilegrrl]

Monday I went out to clean the prefilter and my lone goldfish was missing.  After the water settled down I found a few bits of her- some chunks of skin and maybe some innards.  I am guessing maybe a raccoon?  My pond is very basic, just a stock tank with a mini-skippy and lots of plants.  It's a pond for my turtle and the goldie was just gravy. 

She was never friendly but I am still sad she died.  My turtle is fortunately unhurt, but now I worry about a raccoon coming back later and hurting him.

[whiskyb]

Sorry for your loss, I hate it when something like that happens. It is funny how attached we can become. Now excuse me for my ignorance but would a turtle not eat the fish? That has been the main reason we have not added turtles to our pond

[Pa Nancy]

If your goldie was in bits and pieces I'm guessing the turtle got a hold of it not a coon.

[Jerry]

I would think if it was a Raccoon there would be other signs of disturbance.
I have 3 red ears and they do not eat the fish.  Yes, I know they can.

[LeeAnne151]

Jerry, they may be eating fry that you don't realize are there

A raccoon would have trashed your plants. Possibly your pump or filter or at least the hoses or cords as well. Your pond would look like a hurricane hit it. The fish pieces would be outside the pond.

If the pond is completely undisturbed and the fish is in pieces in the pond it was the turtle.

[miguynmkoi]

Unfortunately everyone above may be correct    Your turtle is mucho hungry after a long winter.  Sorry.

[Jerry]

The Mosquito fsh eat the eggs, so no fry :'(

[reptilegrrl]

LOL I don't think it was my turtle.  He is 8 inches long.  The fish was also 8 inches long, and gaining.  He has never been able to catch her, not even when she was small enough for him to chomp on.  Sometimes he did chase her, but most of the time they ate and swam side by side. 

He wasn't hungry after a long winter- I'm in Texas!  In winter the pond is in a greenhouse with a water heater.  He really has no winter.   

He does sometimes eat the mosquito fish, but he typically cannot catch them.

whiskyb, you can keep turtles with goldies, as long as the goldies are too big for the turtle to eat. 

The only plants in the main pond are floating plants, and the turtle regularly shreds them... they are always in a state of being trashed. I don't know if a raccoon would trash them "differently".

[whiskyb]

I'd be willing to try and keep a few turtles, what kind is yours. Are all your fish 8", mine are closer to 4" More of an appetizer maybe!

[LeeAnne151]

Maybe the fish died and the turtle ate part of it.

Raccoons typically rip plants out of their pots/soil, they tear them apart. They can dump the pots over as well. We forgot to cover our front ponds last night and I've got three waterlilies that were ripped out by the roots in pieces and almost every pad was pulled off as well.

[reptilegrrl]

Maybe so LeeAnne!  They are opportunists.  I guess I'll never know... very little was left though.  I don't have any potted plants in the pond to rip out, you see... my turtle would just destroy them. We do have night herons in the neighborhood but I thought it it was one of those, there would be no bits left.  We also have raccoons, possums, etc.

whiskyb, my turtle is a red-eared slider. I also have a box turtle, but he doesn't go in the pond- he'd drown!  I am a very experienced turtle keeper and if you do decide to get some I would be glad to help you with diet & care advice.  They should definitely not be approached as pond ornaments, but as pets for the somewhat advanced keeper.  But if you like having nice plants, and don't want to fence your pond, a turtle is not for you.  They eat and shred the plants.  I built my pond especially for my turtle so it's all his... I keep the nice plants in half-barrels elsewhere.   I keep more replaceable plants in his pond and I replace them every 3-4 months.

This was my only goldie. I used to have three, but the larger two got too big... on went to 12" and one to ten and they just pooped too much, even when I almost never fed them.  This one was a tiny 5 inches or so when I got her in 07 or 06, once the other two fish went back to my friend's pond she grew.  I almost never feed the fish, just let them eat algae and insects and crumbs of turtle food.  The remaining fish are all gambusia.