This is the long version of the heron hints.
Maybe there is something in here to help that you
haven't tried yet.
A long time ago one rec.ponder got the fish and game guys to come out to his
father's pond to dispatch a heron. They are the ONLY people who can do this
legally. Give them a call before you give up.
Good luck and let us know what happens.
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So far the most effective heron foilers for rec.ponders are
1) An electric fence, try the Fido Fence sold at large pet superstores. In
current pond magazines I've noticed that the FIshock folks have come up with a
fence that lays out over the water.
http://www.fishock.com/
Fi-Shock inc.
5360 N. National Drive
Knoxville, TN 37914-6695
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 protected 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.
16) Steve connected a motion detector to a 24 volt fire alarm strobe light
using
a 24 volt transformer and set the motion detector on "TEST" so it will
work day or night.
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.
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
and the watergardening labradors
http://www.geocities.com/watergarden...dors/home.html