What would be eating only the heads off of the trout in the pond, my first guess would be otters and the next would be mink. Looked for signs of droppings with scales and bones but did not find any piles of it around, so I assume it might be mink since they have a very good supply of food so they are only eating the heads. Mary

-- Mary (marwel@microserve.net), April 25, 2002

Answers

definatley a menber of the weasels,, otter in a pond?? maybe,, mink would be a god bet. What about fishers? any of them in your area?

-- Stan (sopal@net-pert.com), April 25, 2002.

My guess would be raccoons. They are notorious for having big eyes and small stomachs. They will raid the peaches and take a bite out of each one, but not finish any of them. Same thing for fish, corn, etc., as long as there is a ready supply that they can have at their leisure.

-- julie f. (rumplefrogskin@excite.com), April 25, 2002.

It sounds like it could be a snapping turtle. I didn't have any trout but it sure raised heck with my small mouth bass. I caught it with a big hook and some chicken liver. I sold the turtle, it weighted 15 pounds. I hope this helps.

-- Herb Miller (hwmil@aol.com), April 25, 2002.

We had some dandy largemouth bass on a stringer while fishing a very large farm pond years ago. We saw splashing near the stringer but just thought the fish were trying to get off. I went over an hour later and pulled up the stringer to find only the heads left .... CRAZY! I couldn't believe it. I guessed a snapper or muskrat? No otters, fishers or the like there.

-- Mike in Pa (smfine@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002.

Stan thats the first time I have seen you lose your temper!liked your answer.

-- kathy h (ckhart55@earthlink.net), April 26, 2002.

Herb - when that snapper hit your fish, it went after the body, not the head, didn't it? My guess is also mink or otter - and I would bet the former. Otters are so big that they can't fiddle around eating only fishheads. Not fisher - despite their name, they aren't much for fishing. I don't have any experience with raccoons.

-- Audie (paxtours@alaska.net), April 27, 2002.