'THINGS' in my Koi Pond?

I have some 'things' living in my koi pond, and I need to know what they are!!! Yesterday, Herbie the wonderdog, was again rooting around in the nasturtiums when this thing ran out, across the stones and dove into the water. It swam across the entire pond (25') like a freaking platypus along the bottom, and then popped out on the other side and took off under the Mulberry tree. A second one was on a lily pad playing in the water. He also ducked down, swan and came out in the same spot. So there's more than one of them!!

They're rodents (strike one!!) that are maybe a bit bigger than a mouse. They have fur like a muskrat, tales that are nekid and about the same length as their bodies, or maybe shorter, and they LOVE being in the water. That's as good a description I can give you, because, upon realizing we had been invaded, I immediately made for the back door. Roy, Joy and all the other koi are on their own till these little boogers are gone, cause I am NOT going back out there!!! Mice are bad enough, bats are just mice with wings, and now THIS!! And PLEASE don't any suggest that snakes will come along and take care of them. There is only ONE THING WORSE than mice, and that would be snakes.

Believe me! I will NOT be out there at the pond until I know the critters are gone!!
I'll find some netting and try that. The herons have gone for the year, at least the majority of them, and its getting late enough in the year that most of the toads and frogs and salamanders are starting to get ready for winter. I just don't know what this hairy little beasts are or why they decided to come now, but I don't like it!!

LeonardK said:

Zey are die schvimmermaus, zey do za schvimmen in der poodles. Zey bites.

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Okay, surprisingly, this is NO comfort to me!!!!

Bahamutchild said:

Just remember, with little rodenty-things, 1+1=12

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HOLY SH*T!!!! Even less comfort!!!!! But thanks for pointing this out to me!!

MidnightMuse said:

They sound somewhat familiar - I don't suppose you'd brave getting a photo of one?

Oh, and FYI - bats are fantastic! I love bats.

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Hey, did you read the two previous posts!!!!

However, I do have two sons. They are brave! They will attempt to get some pictures. I, in the meantime, will sit inside the house, setting massive mouse traps all over in the event they think they have found a nice warm spot for the winter. Just the thought of rodents near my house gives me the willies!!

aka eraser said:

If they're not much bigger than mice, they're probably rats.

Sorry....

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Okay, so this does not make me feel any better. I thought rats were bigger critters!

{runs to look up if rats even live around here, hoping like hell they do not!}

frimble3 said:

Depending on your location, lemmings or voles seem the likeliest bets, they are both smallish aquatic rodents, and both are innocent vegetarians, not garbage-eatin' rats. In my area they live in burrows along the banks of ditches or streams, and are usually seen in the spring, eating whatever grew first. They can have a kind of jaunty charm, sitting there, holding a stem of grass in their paws as they chew on it. Harmless, and as far as I know, not koi-killers. Unsettling if you're not expecting them. My mother's reaction to them was similar to yours: "RATS!!". Mom wouldn't cross the driveway to the car unless someone checked to make sure there were no voles hiding behind the wheels.

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Your mom is a VERY smart woman. Once the little boogers find the wheels, it's only a matter of time before they figure out how to get into the vehicle!! OMG!!! Okay, new worry!!! As if my son pointing out that I shouldn't worry at all because if there's too many of them, the SNAKES will eat them!!! My kingdom for some cute little bunnies to move in if I have to have rodents. I love the birds and the amphibians that are always at the pond, and I can even tolerate the chipmunks and squirrels (unless they are leaping at me with their little teeth bared and their claws protruding menacingly) but mice, rats and voles are sooooo bad!
Maybe it would be better if I came up with a new name for whatever the hell it is -- something cute and fuzzy and totally non-yukky?

The thing that is weird is that there was no sign of anything all year. Why now, in the fall?

MidnightMuse said:

Where do you live ? I don't mean specifics, just what state?

Are you honestly terrified of rodents if they're outdoors? Does Herbie the wonderdog do nothing when he sees these things?

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LOL!! Herbie the wonderdog is the cutest weinerdog in the world and I love him to death, but he is all bark and no bite! We get toads all over the place, and you would think Herbie is about to tear them apart, but then one croaked at him and jumped, and now my master protector stays a good four feet away from them at all times. He gives them hell, but its all talk, no action. (so typical!). He loves to chase them through the flower bed that rings the pond, but it would scare the beejeebers out of him to catch one. He's a bit picky. I doubt he would like the furry feeling in his mouth.

I'm in the Okanagan valley in BC geographically speaking (rodent hell, figuratively speaking). The problem with rodents outside is that, come winter, they try to be rodents inside! Once inside, they hide in cereal boxes, laundry hampers, underwear drawers, and have babies in your slippers while you sleep at night.

When I was about seven, I was reaching into a barrel of laying mash to feed to the chickens (that would be the one that my stupid sister had not covered properly the night before, the one and only time she ever got off her butt to do a chore...but lets not open up THAt wound). I reached in, grabbed the can we used to scoop the mash, and found the barrel alive with mice -- dozens of mice. They ran up my arms, into my hair, across my face -- I had to stand on tip-toes to reach into the barrell anyways. They got into my shirt, because they had no way to get out and I think they were looking for something to drink. Yes, I am that afraid of mice. My sister should be that afraid of me!!

oarsman said:

I've had muskrats take residence around my pier and boats. If they are muskrats, you might notice the pond is more cloudy than normal and vegetation (aquatic plants) disappearing. Muskrats create a burrow and the material left after the digging will make the water cloudy. Muskrats are chunky looking and tend to hold their tail out of the water or on the surface.

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We had muskrats in the canal at the farm, but they were way bigger than these guys are, I think. I'll have the boys check for burrows and stuff today.

MidnightMuse said:

You're up above me in BC? Well, you do have rats there, and muscrats, voles, field mice, possums, moles . . . and scared little wiener dogs You might also have -- crap, I constantly forget the name of this one -- it's an intruder from down south ... I'll have to look it up again. They love water, but they're really much bigger, more like a small beaver, but with a rat-tail, not a flat one.

Do you feed birds outside - and has the food you feed them clumped on the ground? Rats love that, so do the possums. There's a hundred old wive's cures for scaring off rodents, but the only thing I've found that works is Orkin and a terrier

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Yeah, okay, thanks for making me feel sooooo much better!!! Like I didn't have nightmares before!!!!!! You missed one solution: HOUSE FOR SALE -- COMES WITH DEFECTIVE DACHSHUND
Now, where can I move where I will not have to worry about rodents and snakes!!!!

MidnightMuse said:

Yeah, I think that'd be about it ! Maybe your dachsund needs a guard dog?

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maybe a chi-bow-wow -- they usually mean business? Or one of those little robot dogs? Seriously, as far as dachshunds go, Herbie really is a weinie!!