Otters gobble up hundreds of exotic fish worth thousands in raids on Longton garden ponds
Otters are gobbling up exotic fish worth thousands of pounds as they feast on garden ponds across South Ribble.
One family from the New Longton area discovered their 6,000 gallon pond ‘completely emptied’ of fish at the weekend.
Janet Hothersall was heartbroken to find her garden pond ‘ravaged’ by the greedy otters who devoured more than 100 fish over two days.
Among the casualties was Janet’s largest and oldest koi, which weighed around 9 pounds and was 18-years-old.
She and her husband were horrified to find them mauled to death, with one half-eaten in the waterfall and the other half with its mouth ripped off.
Janet told the Post: “Honestly, know they’re only fish, but it’s been so upsetting. My husband has fed those fish every morning and evening in the summer for almost 20 years, and baby sat them in the winter.
“The upkeep and cost is expensive, how I wished they’d never found our pond! I’ve done my research and once they’ve found your pond, it’s game over!
“We had well over 100 fish, a mixture of koi, Shubunkins, butterfly carp, goldfish, and lots of babies. It’s been unbelievable destruction, devastating, and awful brutality to witness.
“We knew wasn’t the heron as we found our largest koi on the patio, obviously far too big to be dragged off. That was the biggest and the oldest. We’ve had her for 18 years.”
Only two sturgeons have survived the slaughter.
Janet said: “Our sturgeon is over two-foot-long, and is almost 19 years old, and the baby albino sturgeon which is 15 inches was put in last year. It’s a miracle they’re still here.
“No more fish ever for us, we will turn the pond into a lily pond next year. Almost 20 years of keeping koi brought to an end in a week!”
Janet wasn’t sure exactly which type of creature was raiding her garden pond, but now has a very good idea after sharing her experience with her neighbours on a local Facebook page.
Others said their ponds were also ‘decimated’, with some sharing video capturing the cheeky otters poaching fish under the cover of darkness.
Some said they had been forced to protect ponds with battery-operated electric fencing and metal mesh covers to keep the pesky predators out.
One resident said: “We lost 85+ of ours along with sturgeon a few years back. Each time we put anything in they get eaten!”
“My neighbour lost over 150 fish to an otter”, said another. “They caught it on camera. So sad.”
“We live on Chainhouse Lane and a couple of years ago two otters killed all our fish,” added another resident. “We actually saw them in the pond, so knew it was their doing.”
“It’s an open all-you-can-eat buffet for them,” said another victim of the otter. “We had an otter in our garden recently. Fortunately in didn’t get the fish this time as my husband covered it. But back in 2021, it took everything we had.”
“My friend has just had her pond more or less emptied and it was otters as she got them on camera,” said another local resident.
“We caught them on camera having a good old time splashing around teaching the young how to catch fish in our pond,” said another. “Obviously, we were annoyed at the time, but nature has to eat too?”
Protected species
Otters are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017. This means it’s an offence to wilfully kill, injure, capture or disturb otters except under licence.
It’s also illegal to damage, destroy or stop them from accessing their breeding sites or shelters, even if the otters aren’t currently using them, or to disturb them while they’re sheltering somewhere. Find out more from Natural England.