Eat the bear.

quote:

Originally posted by chellim1:
Black,
Don't you have something better to do?
A bear's gonna do what a bear's gonna do. He's gotta eat too, ya know? Sounds like the catfish have made adjustments.
Would be cool video though to see the bear catch one!

Probably just going to end up stocking the pond a bit heavier this fall.
We’ll see what the camera catches. Sucks as the spot there was no place to really hide the camera and it is pretty noticeable. Hopefully no one decides to steal the camera.

quote:

Originally posted by ggile:
Let's see if I got this right. You have a pond and there are fish in this pond. One day you decided it would be cute to feed these fish, you fed them so much that they came to associate anything that walked along the shore as a source of food and swim up right next to shore looking for a handout. Now along comes a predator, a bear if you will, whose only crime is trying to survive by searching for food along the pond and it sees these fish swimming right along the shore thinking the bear is going to give them some food, but uses them for food instead.

Now, the bear is at fault and we need to get rid of the bear, when it was the human that caused all this problem in the first place. Keep yourself out of the equation and the fish will adjust to the situation in short order.

Being a little over dramatic there my friend. As I stated I realize it is nature just being nature and I helped attribute to it.
We’ve been feeding the fish for years as many folks who have ponds do and we have had bears for just as long. I am happy we have the bears and no where did I say I wanted to get rid of them or that they have committed a crime.

Most of my understanding of black bears actually eat very little, are most foragers, and not really big hunters. Opportunistic and sure by us feeding the fish kind of made them an easy target for the bear.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
I think the bear is just sniffing whats already been eatin. The bones left behind is cuz its a otter. Look along the shore for their den. Kentucky trappers can take ten per day limit due to the population growth.

I thought otters were more of a moving water/river type animal and not much for smaller ponds.
I guess anything is possible.
We’ll just have to see what the camera provides in a couple weeks.

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
Eat the bear.

Bear season here is the dead of winter. No thanks.

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Confront his ass!!! Let us know how that works out.

Nope, nope, and nope!!

Not all "hostile" like...
Leave a polite note.
Ask Mr Bear nicely. I'm sure he'll be open to a nice conversation over morning coffee.

Just make sure when you entertain negotiation that the bear understands the difference between laughing with, and laughing at.

They don't get irony.

He can just leave a old pair of his size 13 shoes on the shore and if it is a bear, he'll be all nope, nope and, nope...

quote:

Originally posted by apprentice:
Eat the bear.

Some days, you eat the bear...other days the bear eats you.

The game cam you picked up is easily the best way to narrow it down. If it’s in a place you can’t but every couple of weeks, try looking into a cellular camera, set it to trigger at whatever interval you and have it send the pics to you at your time(s) of preference.

The cellular camera can get pricey but there are a few out there that are serviceable and don’t break the bank such as the SpyPoint Link Micro which can be found for around $100. My father’s been running two or three of those on their land for about 18 months and they do the job.

Personally I do believe the bear is involved. That doesn’t explain the skeletons as a bear doesn’t really care and will eat the entire fish but it does explain the fish not coming up to the bank. An otter wouldn’t deter that but would explain the skeletons so you may well have multiple culprits.

Maybe you can put up a short fence to deter it from getting near the pond. Other than that I don't know what to tell you. However, I would think a bear would eat the fish whole and not leave the head and bones (carcas).....almost sounds like birds or racoons or something else.

Put a few of these babies in the pond.


.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

Just make certain the kids don't play with them.

Don't send a waiter/waitress to offer him a menu?

You might try speaking to them. I hear they can be beary reasonable.

Fence the pond if you can. Solar electric fence like the beekeepers do. That is the only way to protect them.

The best deterrent up close is 45/70 with Jae Bok Youngs Crater bullets. I'm partial to 550 grain.
http://www.crater4570.com/

Walk the edge of your pond looking for a slide area where the grass is laid down. If you find it then most likely you have an otter problem.

One day I was walking around my pond and found around 40 of my catfish skeletons on the bank. Close by I saw the slide where he was going into the pond. I set a conibear trap at the bottom of the slide in the water. Within 2 days I caught the biggest Otter I have ever seen.

My grandad used to feed the fish before we came to visit, he always towed out to the center of the pond to feed them a 1/4 bag of dog food each day For about a week before we arrived...he said it kept the hawks from swoopi g in to catch the fish

He might have been onto something

put up a pool

Anything show up on the game camera yet? Still would like to know.

quote:

Originally posted by David Lee:
Anything show up on the game camera yet? Still would like to know.

Life has been keeping me busy and have not gotten to get back down to the cabin.
Hopefully in the next couple weeks I’ll be able to.