Caught on camera: Fish-eating otters are terrorising my koi-carp. I've trained my dog to scare them off

The unbelievable CCTV footage (click to play above) captures the moment when an otter broke into a garden pond filled with pet fish.

Nigel Cooper, 61, claims he witnessed an otter jump into his pond and kill nine of his fish - including four goldfish, two Koi - in the middle of the night. But Nigel says that nobody in the local area saw the otters for a few weeks, so residents assumed that the animals had died.

Otter killed nine pet fish

However, shocking CCTV footage, shown above, captured otter going onto the garden before being scared off again, on November 29. Nigel, who admits that he "loves otters", said: "The dogs were barking and a light sensor I had fitted went off.

"We only saw it for a split second because the dogs barking scared it away. It's a pretty big otter, it was quite plump as well. I knew it would come back because if they know that there is food there, then they will try and get it again.

"It was obviously shocked by the electric fence and didn't like it, so that scared the otter away - which was a success. I don't know how it got in the garden though, I've got a six ft fence on one side and I've got vines up - that's the only place it could have got in.

"This is the first otter sighting we've had for two or three weeks - so it's back."

Otters on the increase

Nigel, a former operations manager, believes the population of otters in the area has recently increased and now they are having to find more food sources.

But he as there has been local reports that three otters have been hit by cars, they assumed they had been killed.

Nigel even created a Facebook page to track the animals and is recording every single otter-related incident in the area on a map. He's advising people to try and prevent the otters from coming onto their gardens, by blocking up every hole they can and by stopping them from climbing fences.

Trained my dogs to scare them off

Nigel said: "I've trained my two Chihuahuas to bark at anything that's on the garden, so they woke us up.

"The sensor light came in and the otter put its nose on the electrical fence, so it got a little shock. But the fence is harmless, it doesn't hurt them apart from giving them a short zip. All the otter organisations I've spoken to have recommended that type - it gives them a short shock.

Effective deterrent for pests

Despite wanting the animals away from his property, he says he "absolutely loves" otters.

Nigel said: "Otters are gorgeous, I absolutely love them. I've even been in touch with quite a few otter societies and people are amazed that you can have them in your back garden. But it's amazing to see and this time the deterrent worked - so I'm happy."