Hello

I'm new to this thread - and a fair novice at ponds also. But I now have a
smallish pond/waterfall etc in my backyard that I'm pretty happy with, and
up until recently also had six happy koi swimming around. Several rocky
hideaways etc. A couple of months ago we had a visit from a white faced
heron and then there were four koi. So we upset all the local backyard
birds and took away their bathing rights by placing a light net over the
pond, to foil future heron raids. We also provided a couple of extra rock
shelter caves in the pond, and placed the dog on bird duty. Lo and behold,
we're now down to two koi, with the two smaller guys apparently plucked from
the pond right through the net! The dog is in disgrace.

We're now very reluctant to purchase any replacement koi until we can find a
way to keep them. We would also like to take the net off the pond (for what
its worth) to allow the backyard birds in for a drink/bath during what looks
to be a long hot summer on the way.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Ken
Wollongong, Australia