Raccons

Question
Good morning, We have a koe pond, this summer we have had two koe gone missing. this morning I got up around 4 am to see a family of 6 raccoons coming from my back yard. how can I keep them out of my pond. with out harming them?

Answer
I'm sorry about your koi.  I too have raccoons who visit my pond almost every night.  They haven't gotten too many fish but like to dump snails on land, knock over pots, tear up plants, and generally be bad.  My raccoon section is at http://www.fishpondinfo.com/mammals.htm#raccoon

From that page:


Raccoon Deterrents:
1. Eliminate shallow areas. Raccoons do not like to swim.
2. Eliminate areas where the raccoon can walk right into the water. They do not like to have to hop off a cliff to get into the water (but our raccoon does do it sometimes, at least into the shallow areas).
3. Add a "heron-scarer" which is a motion-sensing squirter attached to the garden hose. It will squirt anything that moves (including you!).
4. Put a pond net over the pond.
5. Add lots of hiding places for fish including many plants, overturned pots, PVC pipes, etc.
6. Add small expendable fish such as rosy red minnows to satiate the raccoon.
7. Feed the raccoon. Many people are against feeding wildlife because it is said to attract them and make them tame. Our raccoon runs if it sees us and was already around. Since we have been putting out leftovers, the raccoon has not bothered with my ponds. A fat and happy raccoon does not need to fish (but apparently he/she still needs to knock down all the bird feeders!). [Update 9/04 - the raccoons do run around the marginal area of my pond and knock things over, getting into trouble. While some large goldfish have been found dead this month, they show no signs of predation and look normal except for being dead.]
8. Find some really hot chili peppers. Coat them in peanut butter. Lay them around the pond. Raccoons and perhaps other animals may bite into them and decide that eating around your pond is nasty!
9. As a last resort, a nuisance raccoon can be trapped and moved.

Also, they now have electric fences in addition to regular ones.  See http://www.fishpondinfo.com/birds/heron.htm which is on herons that has links to the scarecrow squirter and electric fences.

I hope that gives you some ideas.

Good luck!
Robyn