Grave robbers in the Koi Garden

Last week I posted about the death of one of my fish in the Koi Garden; a nice Kumonru named Rhu.

After a quick burial in the garden, I thought that would be the end of it.  Apparently my nemesis thought otherwise.  Within a day the fish was dug up and removed, with nothing left but the disrupted soil.  Hmmm, not exactly the neighborly actions one would expect and hope for in the Koi Garden. 

A quick perusal of the surrounding areas yielded no remains as might be expected with say a cat or possibly a squirrel.  And while I didn’t look at any front porches around the neighborhood, I have heard of no reports of any “gifts” for their owners from any cats, either. 

No, I think that this is the work of my nemesis from the past, the Raccoon.  It might even be a family affair as it was in the past.  In the past it was the plums and pears, now it is the fish. 

For new readers, the Koi Garden has always had issues with this Raccoon and his ilk in the past.  They had wreaked havoc on the lilies and sword plants.  They also had a penchant for playing with anything floating in the pond.  They loved the glass floats we have and had a special game they played with the floating thermometer.  They must have really liked the thermometer as I am sure they stole it for their own nefarious needs.  We now use a plastic screen to keep them away from the pond fish and the plants, at least early in the spring when the Raccoons are setting up their circuit that they use for the summer. 

Nope, this is just an escalation of the ongoing war I am having with my nemesis, the Raccoon.  I am thinking that he was just cruising by seeing if we had forgotten to place the screen for the night, and smelled the deceased fish.  I bet he/they scooped up the fish and headed off, probably to their local Raccoon eatery….