will alligators eat my goldfish?

[BrookeLea]

ok guys...i'm asking this qustion waaaaaay in advance, because i've been daydreaming about this and i would rather have my hopes crushed sooner than later. haha

so..in 4 or 5 years i'm building a house on some bayou front property in louisiana. i would really, really like to have a goldfish pond with a little bridge over it somewhere in the yard. the thing is...bayou front property comes along with alligators, raccoons and other fish-eating critters... as much as i love those critters, i wouldn't want my fish to get eaten.

has anyone had to deal with this problem, or are there any suggestions as to what may be able to be done to keep th fish safe?

 

[Tolak]

I have an aunt in southern Florida, around there the gators eat small dogs. They have to have a sturdy fence with concrete or concrete blocks under it to prevent the gators from digging under. Even then a family pet dissapears once in a while.

I think submerging some sewer size pvc may help give the fish a place to hide in the event a gator gets in, raccoons are pretty smart though.

Tolak

 

[OrkyBetta]

Gators eat everything. So do raccoons. Be safe and cover your pond with a screen held down with cinder blocks at night.

 

[BrookeLea]

i grew up on the bayous of new orleans, and boy do i know that gators and coons eat everything! there are pet losses very often, that's why mine don't get near the water. one time my dog almost lost her eye to a raccoon, though. that was scary. the coons used to live in our backyard (before all the development and stuff) and one night the dog got out and chased them.

soooo....to get back on subject here... haha

submerging the pvc sounds like a great idea! i don't know why i didn't think of adding hiding spots! the screen is a good idea, too.

sounds like this may work out, afterall. thanks guys!

 

[willtang3000]

and thats why man made the gun

 

[BrookeLea]

it's illegal to shoot alligators

 

[Fella]

it's illegal to shoot alligators

[snapback]881877[/snapback]​

I believe the correct method is to jump on their backs, yell "crikey, he's a big one!" and then wrestle it till it's tired.






....

 

[William]

 

[BrookeLea]

hahaha i actually have an uncle who wrestles alligators....no, seriously... i do

 

[OrkyBetta]

Hehe. Thats awesome. Well, good luck with the future pond. All I know is raccoons fish, and gators just...demolish. There is also a product that I saw somewhere that looks like some sort of statue that has a sensor, and it squirts water whenever something comes near the pond. Sure this get annoying if you forget it's there, but I heard it keeps wildlife and neighborhood cats out.

 

[afireinside]

my suggestion, put an electric fence along the whole pond seriously, they make em for ponds.

 

[OrkyBetta]

Wow, good idea! I had no idea those existed. But you'd have to be really careful for things like, water changes? And if you did that the bridge idea might not work.

 

[afireinside]

Either that, each time you see a alligator, shoot it with a stunning mart and sell it to a zoo.

 

[Weaver]

Congratulations on having the most original problem I have seen since joining this forum.Unfortunately I have no sound advice to offer.Being from N Ireland the only alligators we have are 2 legged ones.We do have loads and loads of dinosaurs though but they are too busy squabbling amongst themselves to bother about goldfish.
Good luck anyway.Puts sebs problems with next doors cat into perspective !!!