I went with the pond netting. But it does take away from the ambiance of
the pond just a bit. I have to lift it off to hand-feed my fish. I was
thinking of taking it off the other day and have occasionally pulled it back
to expose the pond while I am home and out in the yard, but my husband went
outdoors the other day and heard the flapping of large wings. He turned to
look up and behind him and there was the heron perched on our roof above the
backyard! So, he is still "stalking" my pond waiting for his next
opportunity! It must be an easy meal for him as there are so many little
ponds and creeks around here it is surprising that he would venture into
such a populated area to feed. I was going to research their habits to see
if they migrate. I hope they do! The sooner the better!

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

Lisa
----- Original Message -----
From:
Newsgroups: rec.ponds
Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 12:17 AM
Subject: Help! Blue Heron eating all of my fish!


yes, chicken wire would certainly rate high on the uggg scale. but fine
bird netting
doesnt because it is very dark and it does disappears soon after you put
it on.
IT IS CHEAP ENOUGH TO TRY at least. you can always toss it if it is
really that
objectionable. Ingrid

(Gary) wrote:

The same thing happened to me several weeks ago. A heron got several
of my 10-year-old goldfish. I understand that this is a natural thing
for a heron to do, but nevertheless, I hated losing my fish! The
remaining fish were spooky for a few weeks after their traumatic
encounter, but now they are back to behaving normally. I put some
chicken wire over the pond for about 3 weeks after the heron visit.
Unsightly, but it did the trick. After the water lilies covered most
of the surface of the pond, I took the wire off. Haven't seen any
sign of the heron revisiting, but I will probably have to put the wire
back on this fall after the vegetation dies back. They say herons
will return and continue eating fish until they are all gone. There
are a lot of ideas out there about preventing heron from getting fish.
The only thing I've tried is a physical barrier, but unfortunately,
it rates high on the ugly-scale.
Gary



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