Two of my ponds have been raided recently, and the biggest fish in each taken. The first was a 4" female swordtail, dropped 10 feet from the pond, with no apparent injuries. i thought a bird might have gotten her, and dropped her because of her muscular flopping.

The second was a 7" fantail that must have weighed at least 3/4 pound; completely gone.

I'm not sure of the culprit; the only mammals here are mongoose (like ferrets), cats, dogs, pigs (well, plus horses, cows, etc, that wouldn't be interested or likely to get in my yard).

I've seen hawks in the area--do they eat fish? There are egrets on the island, but I've never seen one around here--there are no lakes or rivers, just seasonal streams and man-made ponds. We also have doves, cardinals, mynahs and lots of smaller birds.

One pond is quite shallow, the other is small and has sturdy pots inside to stand on.

Any votes on who is stealing my fish?

I've put a net over the pool that still has favorite fish in it. I have lots of goldfish in another pool (above-ground swimming pool given over to fish) that is about 40" deep; do I need to worry about them?

thanks!