Thanks

No I have not seen the tips I am new to this group.

At this point I don't know if I should even try if the Heron keep coming
back. I enjoy the fish and the water but it is so upsetting to see your fish
disappear.

"K30a" wrote in message
...
Will your dog jump into the proposed pond? Will he be able to get out?
That's a
problem. What might keep a heron out may not give your dog the chance to
get
out. We have two 'shelf' areas built in to our pond and we've had a total
of
four different dogs end up on the pond all by accident. Everyone got out
okay.
I'll post the long version of the heron tips if you have not seen them.
Hopefully one of them can help you with your problem.


So far the most effective heron foilers for rec.ponders are
1) An electric fence, try the Fido Fence sold at large pet superstores.
2) Fishing wire strung around the pond a few inches off the ground to
causing
the heron frustration on where to put his feet.
3) A plastic fish, called a heron scarer, anchored on the bottom and
floating
below the surface, the heron grabs for it and is scared when the fish
fights
back. It also gives the resident fish time to hide.
4) Dogs who spend their daylight hours outside - only problem is black
capped
night herons will feed in the middle of the night. When the dogs did the
Full
Dog Alert at our house the heron waited until I opened the deck slider
before
he took off.
5) Call your local Fish and Wildlife office and sob over the phone and see
what
they suggest. Do not attempt to kill, maim or harm a heron without
official
permission. They are protected under the Migratory Bird Act. A
HREF="http://migratorybirds.fws.gov/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html"http://mig
ratorybirds.fws.gov/intrnltr/mbta/mbtandx.html/A
click on the 'H' But just because they are protected as migratory birds
don't
count on your heron migrating.... some herons maintain year round
colonies.
5a) If you think shooting herons is the answer or you are just channeling
your
inner redneck -- don't post your name and email address on the internet
stating
that fact - a fish and wildlife agent can pay you a social call.
6) Netting the pond really, really, really well..... and realizing that
some
herons (green heron) can wiggle under nets.
7) A Scarecrow motion detector sprinkler. Two units used in a '90 degree
crossfire' substantially improves overall efficiency
8) A heron decoy. Large plastic fake herons that trick the real heron into
thinking your pond is occupied. Possible problem is a heron's feeding
territory
in times of abundant food is only a few yards wide. And juvenile herons
like to
feed in groups. Think of teenagers going to the mall. And finally, a male
heron
was once spotted courting a fake heron decoy with offerings of dead
goldfish
and frogs from the heron decoy owner's pond.
9) Fake alligators. Can work unless you have a year round colony of herons
that
never fly south and don't know an alligator from a lazy labrador. Fake
alligators have also been known give meter readers the heebie jeebies.
10) A floating plastic snake (same caution about the meter reader).
11) Paintball warfare .... hmmm, we are not sure on this one. If owning a
feather from a bird of prey is a crime then knocking one off a heron may
be
frowned upon. So don't knock any feathers off your heron if you splat him
with
paint...
12) Lay mouse traps around on the ground....upside down!!
13) From England "The time to stop them then is before they land. They
have
such large wings that sudden stops or changes of direction are out of the
question, meaning, that if the obstacle is in the air, they are unable to
fly
around it. Lengths of wire (or rot-proof strong string) stretched from
roof
height on the house to a high point at the rear of the garden, completely
over
the
pond. The wire should be about one metre from the adjacent piece."
14) From Thomas Seminazzi "I rigged up a "heron-scare" to deter him. I
wired a
bathroom vent fan to a motion sensor, and set the sensor to TEST mode so
it
would go off day ornight. A got a bundle of those colorful mylar streamers
little girls put on their bike handles and attached them to the output of
the
fan. The fan is hidden under my deck, but if something trips the sensor,
the
streamers start
flapping all over the place...like an anemone reaching out for prey."
15) A recent addition: feed your fish sinking food and they won't be
conditioned to come to the
surface when something blurry shows up at the edge of the pond.

Rec.ponders do not recommend
1) Driving your SUV through the rock garden after arriving home to find
the
heron in the pond in order to scare him off.
2) Hiding in the bushes, grabbing the heron by the neck and ending up
getting
lots of stitches in the ER. Their beaks are very sharp and powerful.
3) Leaping out of the shower and running into the backyard, naked,
screaming at
the heron.
4) Dropping on all fours and barking like a dog at a particularly
aggressive
heron.
5) Attempting to shoot the heron, lasso the heron, skewer the heron,
verbally
abuse the heron, make fun of the heron or ruffle the heron's feathers in
any
manner. Refer to the Migratory Bird Act - fines and jail stays cut in on
pond
dollars and pond time.

[The above suggestions have actually happened and were responsible in
removing
the heron for a period of time. Rec.ponders find them lacking in dignity
and
therefore do not recommend them. We must remain dignified, if only to keep
our
spouses from having us committed.]



k30a