I built a 2acres pond last summer,just out of the back yard, After letting it fill up last winter .I stocked it with 6"channel cats and shell crackers,along with fathead minnows,,Spent all last summer feeding these guys,and by fall, able to gow them out to 13"-14" edible nuggets, I used 4-5 duck decoys as jugs to jug fish it an hwen had one get on i would dip it up with a fishnet tied onto a 14'gigpole we use on the river,, Any way,,,,,Since the first of the year,Ive had a pair of bald eagles camping out on the pond,Through ice,wind,sleet,snow,rain,freezing temps an all types of changing Missouri weather these 2 fuggers are living large on catfish that might come up to surface for whatever reason, Ive never had a problem with em before,, its funny till it aint, that was today when I spotted movment out in the woods 200'uphill from pond where on investigating,I found a flopping catfish an 5 more dead one that the fuggers had caught and dropped in a 25' area for whatever reason,,Anybody had this going on like this?
Only took 4 comments before the usual fire kicks in KILL em all. Before you do much of anything look for a nest close by. You get caught using an air cannon or bird bombs around an active nest you aren’t going to like what happens monetarily.
Its not nesting season here in the Ozarks yet, These guys migrate to this are by the dozens or hundreds,we went gigging the other nite and counted 22 along the river., Lots of clear water rivers lakes and creeks, usually lots of small game, road kill deer is a biggie and cow calf ops, not to mention lots of duck hunting few counties over,, few years ago I used to pick up road killed deer an give them to a buddy to place out in a field,he would shoot 'yotes off em and watch eagles feed on em,, I quit picking them up one day when a blowfly flew up my nose an went to buzzing,,, I about passed out from projectile vomiting before I could blow him out,, havnt picked one up for 15 yrs LOL
Sky carp. Like any other predator they will kill for fun, not just when they’re hungry as Disney would have you believe. Don’t let them migrate back up here, we have more than enough year round. Thanks in advance.
DO NOT get caught harassing them! DO NOT pick up a feather they drop
Dogs help. There's a commercial laser system that "shoots" birds with laser light, not sure if USFWS would consider that harassment, and I suppose it's pricey.
We keep the dogs around and as much of a human presence as we can afford, and hope the neighbor starts calving soon. They like afterbirths better than fish.
Its not nesting season here in the Ozarks yet, These guys migrate to this are by the dozens or hundreds,we went gigging the other nite and counted 22 along the river., Lots of clear water rivers lakes and creeks, usually lots of small game, road kill deer is a biggie and cow calf ops, not to mention lots of duck hunting few counties over,, few years ago I used to pick up road killed deer an give them to a buddy to place out in a field,he would shoot 'yotes off em and watch eagles feed on em,, I quit picking them up one day when a blowfly flew up my nose an went to buzzing,,, I about passed out from projectile vomiting before I could blow him out,, havnt picked one up for 15 yrs LOL
so you say you have an airborne freedom convoy staging in your area?
I built a 2acres pond last summer,just out of the back yard, After letting it fill up last winter .I stocked it with 6"channel cats and shell crackers,along with fathead minnows,,Spent all last summer feeding these guys,and by fall, able to gow them out to 13"-14" edible nuggets, I used 4-5 duck decoys as jugs to jug fish it an hwen had one get on i would dip it up with a fishnet tied onto a 14'gigpole we use on the river,, Any way,,,,,Since the first of the year,Ive had a pair of bald eagles camping out on the pond,Through ice,wind,sleet,snow,rain,freezing temps an all types of changing Missouri weather these 2 fuggers are living large on catfish that might come up to surface for whatever reason, Ive never had a problem with em before,, its funny till it aint, that was today when I spotted movment out in the woods 200'uphill from pond where on investigating,I found a flopping catfish an 5 more dead one that the fuggers had caught and dropped in a 25' area for whatever reason,,Anybody had this going on like this?
You need to ask yourself why are catfish coming to the surface to begin with? Have you habituated them to eating food off the surface by feeding them? In the wild a catfish does not need a lot of dissolved oxygen to survive, but most fish will come to the surface if they are low on dissolved oxygen where they are easy picking for an eagle or an osprey. Maybe an aerator would help keep them under water where they belong..
DO NOT get caught harassing them! DO NOT pick up a feather they drop
Dogs help. There's a commercial laser system that "shoots" birds with laser light, not sure if USFWS would consider that harassment, and I suppose it's pricey.
We keep the dogs around and as much of a human presence as we can afford, and hope the neighbor starts calving soon. They like afterbirths better than fish.
These fish have been off commercial pellets for 3 months, the fathead minnows had a nice reproductive year to get them thru the winter as planned, All pond fish come to the surface, between fresh rain water,wind and cool temps Id think it unlikely about low oxygen , although a year old pond it looks very healthy,, instead of a water or fish problem I think Its a case of winged poachers finding a honey hole,, lol
DO NOT get caught harassing them! DO NOT pick up a feather they drop
Dogs help. There's a commercial laser system that "shoots" birds with laser light, not sure if USFWS would consider that harassment, and I suppose it's pricey.
We keep the dogs around and as much of a human presence as we can afford, and hope the neighbor starts calving soon. They like afterbirths better than fish.
This guy ^^^^^^
likely knows of what he speaks.
I do have dogs dogs running around as well as a horse or three,, Neighbor down the road around 300 momma cows,with that many or more in just a few more miles, not to mention a 1000+ acre watershed lake and river 10 miles away,, why they like this pond is beyond me,, I grew up with a 10ac pond 50 from our house full of all types of big fish and never an eagle pair to baby sit it
Odds are, when you grew up there weren't any eagle pairs migrating into your area.
Very few raptors in the area where I grew up, we used to watch them migrate through suburbia. Then they learned they could make a living there and some stay year round now.
Odds are, when you grew up there weren't any eagle pairs migrating into your area.
Very few raptors in the area where I grew up, we used to watch them migrate through suburbia. Then they learned they could make a living there and some stay year round now.
You are correct on guessing Ima geezer,, 58 nxt month, A bald eagle back then would have the town buzzing,, and the ol timers then kept the red tail hawks to a very minimum
You could buy a dissolved oxygen meter just to make sure. You are in MO. I assume and that is probably south enough so that the pond doesn’t freeze over like they do up north. Any vegetarian or organic material that is decomposing over the winter will use up dissolved oxygen. We planted 500 rainbow trout in our little natural lake and we never saw them at the surface. The otters were our problem.
DO NOT get caught harassing them! DO NOT pick up a feather they drop
Dogs help. There's a commercial laser system that "shoots" birds with laser light, not sure if USFWS would consider that harassment, and I suppose it's pricey.
We keep the dogs around and as much of a human presence as we can afford, and hope the neighbor starts calving soon. They like afterbirths better than fish.
This guy ^^^^^^
likely knows of what he speaks.
I do have dogs dogs running around as well as a horse or three,, Neighbor down the road around 300 momma cows,with that many or more in just a few more miles, not to mention a 1000+ acre watershed lake and river 10 miles away,, why they like this pond is beyond me,, I grew up with a 10ac pond 50 from our house full of all types of big fish and never an eagle pair to baby sit it
Yep, like all raptors too damn many of them and they ought to be controlled. No excuse for complete protection. They sure as hell aren't endangered. Folks had enough sense to keep them killed down in my grandfathers day.
Yep, like all raptors too damn many of them and they ought to be controlled. No excuse for complete protection. They sure as hell aren't endangered. Folks had enough sense to keep them killed down in my grandfathers day.
Agree!! went spotlighting for rabbits a week ago seen 1 in a 30 mile trip, and you wont see one run over on the hiway either,, to many animals like a rabbit dinner,forget finding a covey of quail,,
DO NOT get caught harassing them! DO NOT pick up a feather they drop
Dogs help. There's a commercial laser system that "shoots" birds with laser light, not sure if USFWS would consider that harassment, and I suppose it's pricey.
We keep the dogs around and as much of a human presence as we can afford, and hope the neighbor starts calving soon. They like afterbirths better than fish.
This guy ^^^^^^
likely knows of what he speaks.
I do have dogs dogs running around as well as a horse or three,, Neighbor down the road around 300 momma cows,with that many or more in just a few more miles, not to mention a 1000+ acre watershed lake and river 10 miles away,, why they like this pond is beyond me,, I grew up with a 10ac pond 50 from our house full of all types of big fish and never an eagle pair to baby sit it
The dogs need training:
Thats cool Dutch,I had a heeler/border collie cross that would do the same thing when you said "Trixie,there a Niqqer in the bushes" she would go crazie on anything that moved LOL
DO NOT get caught harassing them! DO NOT pick up a feather they drop
Dogs help. There's a commercial laser system that "shoots" birds with laser light, not sure if USFWS would consider that harassment, and I suppose it's pricey.
We keep the dogs around and as much of a human presence as we can afford, and hope the neighbor starts calving soon. They like afterbirths better than fish.
This guy ^^^^^^
likely knows of what he speaks.
I do have dogs dogs running around as well as a horse or three,, Neighbor down the road around 300 momma cows,with that many or more in just a few more miles, not to mention a 1000+ acre watershed lake and river 10 miles away,, why they like this pond is beyond me,, I grew up with a 10ac pond 50 from our house full of all types of big fish and never an eagle pair to baby sit it
I'm guessing maybe there are good trees for them to perch on and watch the pond? Up here the DNR has been taking out all the trees in a lot of the WMA's so raptors have no place to sit. The idea is to keep them from taking ducks etc. off their nests.
Correct, I left a few trees on the west side and the south side of pond to shade it during the hot months, and yes if one falls off the limb they will get wet, Like valsdad said it looks made to order for them,,,
Correct, I left a few trees on the west side and the south side of pond to shade it during the hot months, and yes if one falls off the limb they will get wet, Like valsdad said it looks made to order for them,,,
Make them a couple perches up there and stick a 1 3/4 coil spring on each one.
Take a 20x20 piece of 3/4 plywood, paint it dark green or blue. Nail a catfish to it then let it float around in the pond fish side up and see what happens.
![[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]](https://i.imgur.com/lqFuAQhl.jpg)