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. Thanks.

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. Thanks.

Herons are not horrible birds. Grey herons live in my area. I think they
rather majestic in flight. I enjoy watching the kingfishers dive in my pond
and pull out a fish. Get a dog.

--
Enjoy Life... Nad R (Garden in zone 5a Michigan)

In article ,
Nad R wrote:

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. Thanks.

Herons are not horrible birds. Grey herons live in my area. I think they
rather majestic in flight. I enjoy watching the kingfishers dive in my pond
and pull out a fish. Get a dog.

You're not very koi are you Nad:O))


If you like weekends (8 hr./day & 40 hr./week), then thank a labor union.
They paid for it in blood. Real working class heros.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haymarket_affair


=
--
- Billy
Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. This is not a way of life at all in any true sense. Under the clouds of war, it is humanity hanging on a cross of iron.
- Dwight D. Eisenhower, 16 April 1953
http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/8559254-11yearold-takes-on-genetically-modified-food-producers-video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_vN0--mHug

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. Thanks.

Net the pond.

D

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

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. Thanks.

Net the pond.

D

Easy solution sounds way to go. However the smart monsters can walk on
a net forcing it to provide water for your fish to enter. They "blue
Heron's" will wait and clean out a small pond. Fish to big to swallow
will just lose their eyes. Your fish Koi etc need a place to hide.

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden

"The best fertilizer is the gardener's shadow." - Anon

Hi Purplegirl, once a heron finds a pond, it will empty it !! They normally come around 7am in the morning !! Decoys can work but also as the heron has to actually walk into the pond (as it cant land actually in it) one good thing is to have a wire positioned about 15" high just back from the edge to stop it walking to the pond ! now this might be impossible for you but it does work.
Dont be talked into having thngs for the fish to hide under in the water as all it will do is to stand motionless until they come out and then grab them.
one of those childrens windmills might help as well, get as big a one as you can find, they dont like the movement or the noise they make.
Hope this helps, Lannerman.

Bill who putters wrote:
In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

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. Thanks.

Net the pond.

D

Easy solution sounds way to go. However the smart monsters can walk
on a net forcing it to provide water for your fish to enter.

Support the net so that this doen't happen or make the pond deep enough so
they cannot get to the fish at the bottom, or both. And they are not
horrible birds or monsters, they are just trying make a living like any
other creature.

They
"blue Heron's" will wait and clean out a small pond. Fish to big to
swallow will just lose their eyes. Your fish Koi etc need a place to
hide.

Some water lillies or floating water plants will help here.

David

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.

I like the herons fishing. A hidey hole for the fish will allow a few,
the smart ones, to survive heron predation for years. Just keep adding
fish. The more fish you put in there, the more smart fish you will end
up with.

Una

Una wrote:

I like the herons fishing. A hidey hole for the fish will allow a few,
the smart ones, to survive heron predation for years. Just keep adding
fish. The more fish you put in there, the more smart fish you will end
up with.

and/or stock it with fish that
make plenty of small ones quickly
(mollies, guppies).

it's pretty unlikely the heron
will get them all.


songbird

How big is your pond? I think covering it with small-holed nets will help you get Heron away from your fishes. And yes, I think getting the smaller and faster ones will be a good trick too. But of course, it will always depend with your preference.

A guy I worked with had the same problem. He raised trout for re-sale.
One day he got tired of the bird after the trout and decided to take a
shot at it with a .22 rifle. By the way, I think these birds are
protected! When he shot, he missed the bird but hit an old neighbor man
walking down the road. Needless to say: he got himself in a whole mess
of trouble. Luckly the man he shot recovered from the bullet wound.

Rich from PA

wrote:

A guy I worked with had the same problem. He raised trout for re-sale.
One day he got tired of the bird after the trout and decided to take a
shot at it with a .22 rifle. By the way, I think these birds are
protected! When he shot, he missed the bird but hit an old neighbor man
walking down the road. Needless to say: he got himself in a whole mess
of trouble. Luckly the man he shot recovered from the bullet wound.

Rich from PA

Yoose Deliverence folks....

Slither back under your rock Shelly.....

On Apr 14, 2:03*pm, (EVP MAN) wrote:
A guy I worked with had the same problem. *He raised trout for re-sale.
One day he got tired of the bird after the trout and decided to take a
shot at it with a .22 rifle. *By the way, I think these birds are
protected! *When he shot, he missed the bird but hit an old neighbor man
walking down the road. *Needless to say: *he got himself in a whole mess
of trouble. *Luckly the man he shot recovered from the bullet wound.

Rich from PA

Herons and egrets are protected under international treaty (The
Migratory Bird Act- and treaties are as). Shooting one- if you get
caught- lands you in Federal trouble. The US Fish and Wildlife Service
is notorious for lacking a sense of humor when people shoot birds.

Chris