Thank you for your replies and I will certainly be musing over them with the family involved.
The fact that this all occurred during daylight hours, involved ALL the fish dying and taking
place in such a confined human-inhabited area, made my wife and I wonder if Ninurta's
suggestions of a human may be the culprit.
...............................
The cul-de-sac comes from a busy road, to avoid being seen due to neighbours, being hit by
a passing vehicle or finding a lead-tied dog gnashing its teeth, a predator's best tactic would
be to come at night. 'Jill's' mother assured my son that this all happened during late morning.
If we assume the invader(s) are more at home in natural surroundings, it/they would have to
travel a few miles following the river, enter the estate area by crossing at least one busy road,
and then decide on how to approach the location of their prey. If entering from the rear, the
high fence has to be -either vaulted or crawled under which reduces the type of predator to
perform the vandalism as any gap between the fence and the ground would only be an inch
at best
...............................
Granted, a couple of the Koi were said to be almost skeletal and others deceased from chunks
being taken out of them, a possible result of opportunistic carrion effects. Crows and seagulls
do hang about close by due to flooded arable land near the river and I'm sure a quick bite to
a floundering fish on a lawn from these birds could be a factor to their eventual condition, but
it's that wall around the pond that still draws my attention.
I know due to my week-long caring of the pond that the liner -the thick rubber mat that keeps
the water from being absorbed into the ground, leaked. The owners told me about it and how I
would need to top-up the water every other day. This would have a bearing on the depth of the
pond and with the height of the wall, this is another point that could rule out a small predator
who fancies its chances at a slow-moving meal. It was alarming how deep the water dropped
during my short time at feeding the Koi and refilling the pond.
Many of the Koi were found a yard or so away from the pond and so it's reasonable to think
that their killer(s) were powerful enough to enter the premises unseen by any neighbours,
know that this particular property had fish, lean over the foot-deep wall, grab the heavy carp
and then take them individually to their final place on the lawn -in full view of anyone with
the confidence that an escape wasn't a concern, before partly-consuming some of them.
In my opinion, whatever did this either had to have strong neck muscles, dexterous limbs or
hands.
The fact that this all occurred during daylight hours, involved ALL the fish dying and taking
place in such a confined human-inhabited area, made my wife and I wonder if Ninurta's
suggestions of a human may be the culprit.
...............................
The cul-de-sac comes from a busy road, to avoid being seen due to neighbours, being hit by
a passing vehicle or finding a lead-tied dog gnashing its teeth, a predator's best tactic would
be to come at night. 'Jill's' mother assured my son that this all happened during late morning.
If we assume the invader(s) are more at home in natural surroundings, it/they would have to
travel a few miles following the river, enter the estate area by crossing at least one busy road,
and then decide on how to approach the location of their prey. If entering from the rear, the
high fence has to be -either vaulted or crawled under which reduces the type of predator to
perform the vandalism as any gap between the fence and the ground would only be an inch
at best
...............................
Granted, a couple of the Koi were said to be almost skeletal and others deceased from chunks
being taken out of them, a possible result of opportunistic carrion effects. Crows and seagulls
do hang about close by due to flooded arable land near the river and I'm sure a quick bite to
a floundering fish on a lawn from these birds could be a factor to their eventual condition, but
it's that wall around the pond that still draws my attention.
I know due to my week-long caring of the pond that the liner -the thick rubber mat that keeps
the water from being absorbed into the ground, leaked. The owners told me about it and how I
would need to top-up the water every other day. This would have a bearing on the depth of the
pond and with the height of the wall, this is another point that could rule out a small predator
who fancies its chances at a slow-moving meal. It was alarming how deep the water dropped
during my short time at feeding the Koi and refilling the pond.
Many of the Koi were found a yard or so away from the pond and so it's reasonable to think
that their killer(s) were powerful enough to enter the premises unseen by any neighbours,
know that this particular property had fish, lean over the foot-deep wall, grab the heavy carp
and then take them individually to their final place on the lawn -in full view of anyone with
the confidence that an escape wasn't a concern, before partly-consuming some of them.
In my opinion, whatever did this either had to have strong neck muscles, dexterous limbs or
hands.
Read The TV Guide, yer' don't need a TV.