purplegirl wrote:

Hi, I am new to gardenBanter through desperation at losing all my fish
(30+) to a Heron. We have a decoy - obviously useless! but wondered if
anyone has had success with anything else? We want to re-stock but only
when we have made it safe from this horrible bird.

How do you know you have 30 fish?

You really need to describe your pond; area x depth, and in what type
of environment... a photo would help immensely. My pond covers about
1/3 acre, is about 20' deep at the center, is spring fed, and is
located in a wildflower meadow so is surrounded by flora, it contains
several types of fish, many types of frogs, snakes, turtles, is home
to many insects, and possibly the creature from the black lagoon.
Several times a day my pair of resident Canada geese use it for
bathing and will soon use it to rear young. I enjoy watching the
herons, egrets, and other critters fishing my pond... when my grand
kids visit they fish in it too. The fish, frogs, snails, etc. can
reproduce far faster than they can be eaten. If your pond is
relatively small and in a more formal setting there are many
techniques that can be employed to help thwart preditors. Naturally
if yours is a man made affair built of man made materials and
occasionally needs to be filled with a hose it is not a pond, it's a
pool. Based on the fact that you know how many fish it contains I'm
pretty certain what you have is a pool... it's easy to protect fish in
a pool, pretty much the same way one keeps their cat out of their
aquarium and protects plants from deer... there is one sure way and
one sure way only, you need to screen/fence. Or you can add materials
that will encourage your fish to reproduce and hide. Herons are
solitary hunters and are territorial, it's rare you'll find more than
one at one location at any given time, with relatively small bodies of
waster they tend to take turns... fish can reproduce far quicker than
one or three herons can eat them. Having a pond one must understand
and accept the natural orders. I think way too many employ a water
feature for its aesthetic value (whatever that is) but haven't a clue.
Kids love to fish more than anything else:
http://i53.tinypic.com/2zgcexh.jpg
Well almost more than anything else:
http://i55.tinypic.com/2heczz8.jpg
I can hardly wait until he takes over the mowing, unfortunately mowing
is probably the last thing teenagers want to do.