[ilamont]

Raccoons do, by scooping (they do not like to stand in the water or swim). The pond has deep areas and we put broken pots and cinder blocks so fish can hide. We also get darker fish which are harder for predators to see. Certain local bird species such as herons do too, but they won’t come under low tree canopy or near the house.

[happyopossum]

> Raccoons do, by scooping (they do not like to stand in the water

That’s funny, because out here (California) the raccoons will take other food to the water and stand in it while eating. They stand on the steps of pools and dunk their food - presumably to wash it off - between nibbles.

Quite funny to see, and leaves some hilarious paw prints if your pool isn’t clean.

[seszett]

By the way, the French word for raccoon is "raton laveur" which means "washing rat-like-thing". So it looks like they're supposed to wash their food indeed.

[omnibrain]

The german word is "Waschbär". As you may guess, that translates to "wash bear".

[WelcomeShorty]

The dutch word is "wasbeer". As you may guess, that translates to "wash bear".

[stefs]

The austrian word is also "Waschbär". As you may guess, that translates to "wash bear" too.

[omnibrain]

I wonder how the german speaking swiss call it?

[ilamont]

It’s possible the pond is too deep (shallowest area is about 8 inches). We have a security camera, which sometimes catches them at night frantically pawing in the water from the edge of the pond to try to catch the fish. But they never go in.