"JB" wrote in message
...
OK, this is becoming a daily occurrence, a GBH flying up and perching on a
tree limb high above the pond or strolling around the pond perimeter. No
real danger now because the pond is covered with netting and the fish are
resting comfortably on the bottom of the pond.

If he can reach them through the netting he will kill them although not able
to pull them through the net. The GB here has killed several of my
beautiful goldfish. They pull on them and pull on them before giving up,
leaving the fish paralyzed and sliced into their flesh. Then they try
another,.... just to leave it dying in the tank and go after another. They
probably manage to manipulate the smaller ones through the netting. He put
a deep gash in my Goldie's head a few weeks ago. She's at least 10 years
old and quite large. They're strong enough to flip a large fish onto the
ground. Rip off their fill and leave the rest to rot. We're having a
serious problem here with this bird.

My 3,000 gallon pond is 18"
at it's shallowest but I'm guessing that any fish in this range is a
tempting target for the GBH. Here's my question: How big a fish will the
GBH eat? I have three Koi that will go over 10 lbs each, surely they
aren't at risk, are they?

Indeed they are. The GBH can do enough damage through a net to cause the
fishes death even if it can't flip the fish onto the bank. These birds are
bad news to fish keepers.
--

RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
Zone 6. Middle TN USA
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