If a heron discovers a pond, will it eat its fill whenever it shows up, or
just grab one fish and go? I have a preformed pond surrounded by plants
(toads and frogs would love it, if I could get any, but that's another
story), which had 14 goldfish about three inches long (one was an orando,
which sure as heck couldn't jump out.)

They all made it through the longest winter in Baltimore history (as did
my painted turtle), but I've lost six of them since April. And I mean
lost, as in they disappeared. There's been no sign of remains in the
pond, which lets the turtle off the hook (she can't catch them, anyway -
in almost two years, she never even came close to catching a fish, even
the oranda), and turtles are messy eaters - there'd be scales in the pond
if she was guilty, even of only eating fish that died naturally. There's
also been no bodies or parts or crowds of flies outside the pond, and the
potted plants on the ledge are never knocked over, which would seem to
absolve raccoons or cats. We've never seen a snake in six years of the
pond being up, so that's unlikely. We've never seen a heron, either (the
flamingos make the buffet look occupied, perhaps), and I'd figure a heron
would scarf a bunch of smallish fish at a time, but what's left?



Alan

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If fish disappear and nobody sees or hears anything it is usually a heron.
And they usually put your pond on their menu so it will come back.
I'll attach the heron hints if you haven't seen them before.

Heron tips:
- string fishing line around the pond
- put in an electric fido fence
- netting over the pond.
- a motion activated sprinkler
- a brick flue at the bottom of the pond
to give the fish a place to hide
- Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond time ;-)

good luck!

k30a

Hi, Alan:
Can't answer your question about your missing fish, but I have a question if
I may...... I'm thrilled to hear that your painted made it through this
horrible winter. I just built a turtle pond and have an Eastern Painted and
a RES in there. I'm hoping to overwinter them in there, and I'm in
Connecticut. Did you notice where the turtle hibernated? Did he have dirt
to bury himself in, or did he go to the deepest part of the pond?
Sue

wrote in message
ganews.com...
If a heron discovers a pond, will it eat its fill whenever it shows up, or
just grab one fish and go? I have a preformed pond surrounded by plants
(toads and frogs would love it, if I could get any, but that's another
story), which had 14 goldfish about three inches long (one was an orando,
which sure as heck couldn't jump out.)

They all made it through the longest winter in Baltimore history (as did
my painted turtle), but I've lost six of them since April. And I mean
lost, as in they disappeared. There's been no sign of remains in the
pond, which lets the turtle off the hook (she can't catch them, anyway -
in almost two years, she never even came close to catching a fish, even
the oranda), and turtles are messy eaters - there'd be scales in the pond
if she was guilty, even of only eating fish that died naturally. There's
also been no bodies or parts or crowds of flies outside the pond, and the
potted plants on the ledge are never knocked over, which would seem to
absolve raccoons or cats. We've never seen a snake in six years of the
pond being up, so that's unlikely. We've never seen a heron, either (the
flamingos make the buffet look occupied, perhaps), and I'd figure a heron
would scarf a bunch of smallish fish at a time, but what's left?



Alan

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I have heard that if you put a fake life-sized heron at your pond, no others
will come because they assume the spot is *taken*.

I don't have first-hand information on this, just something I have heard.
But might be worth a try.

Bill

wrote in message
ganews.com...
If a heron discovers a pond, will it eat its fill whenever it shows up, or
just grab one fish and go? I have a preformed pond surrounded by plants
(toads and frogs would love it, if I could get any, but that's another
story), which had 14 goldfish about three inches long (one was an orando,
which sure as heck couldn't jump out.)

They all made it through the longest winter in Baltimore history (as did
my painted turtle), but I've lost six of them since April. And I mean
lost, as in they disappeared. There's been no sign of remains in the
pond, which lets the turtle off the hook (she can't catch them, anyway -
in almost two years, she never even came close to catching a fish, even
the oranda), and turtles are messy eaters - there'd be scales in the pond
if she was guilty, even of only eating fish that died naturally. There's
also been no bodies or parts or crowds of flies outside the pond, and the
potted plants on the ledge are never knocked over, which would seem to
absolve raccoons or cats. We've never seen a snake in six years of the
pond being up, so that's unlikely. We've never seen a heron, either (the
flamingos make the buffet look occupied, perhaps), and I'd figure a heron
would scarf a bunch of smallish fish at a time, but what's left?



Alan

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In vP2Ga.2187$8p2.826@lakeread04, on 06/12/03
at 01:33 PM, "Sue Alexandre" said:

Hi, Alan:
Can't answer your question about your missing fish, but I have a question
if I may...... I'm thrilled to hear that your painted made it through
this horrible winter. I just built a turtle pond and have an Eastern
Painted and a RES in there. I'm hoping to overwinter them in there, and
I'm in Connecticut. Did you notice where the turtle hibernated? Did he
have dirt to bury himself in, or did he go to the deepest part of the
pond? Sue

She had a basin full of sand, but I'm not sure she used it. She may just
have stayed on the bottom under the anacharis plants (they aren't planted
- they just lay and float around.) The pond had a horse trough heater and
airstone to keep it from freezing totally and keep a hole open for air
exchange - you'll likely need a heater up there for that.

The slider isn't native to that area, so I can't say how it will do.
There are others here with sliders who'll jump in.



Alan

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Lucy was a red-earred slider who was not native to our area. She was a pet of
someone who wanted to get rid of her so we took her in.
Though her native habitats in central and eastern USA get colder than here in
zone 7 PNW she did not make it through the winter.
I thought that maybe all her years as a pet she never went through a winter
hibernation and that's why she died over the winter.


k30a

I've been hit by Herons and they will come back until they have taken all
your fish.
The only thing that worked for me was netting my pond.
The net works great and you can even see the fish. You can't even see the
net until your right up on it.
--
Priss
http://priss31.tripod.com/SmallPond.html


"BB" wrote in message
...
I have heard that if you put a fake life-sized heron at your pond, no
others
will come because they assume the spot is *taken*.

I don't have first-hand information on this, just something I have heard.
But might be worth a try.

Bill

wrote in message
ganews.com...
If a heron discovers a pond, will it eat its fill whenever it shows up,
or
just grab one fish and go? I have a preformed pond surrounded by
plants
(toads and frogs would love it, if I could get any, but that's another
story), which had 14 goldfish about three inches long (one was an
orando,
which sure as heck couldn't jump out.)

They all made it through the longest winter in Baltimore history (as did
my painted turtle), but I've lost six of them since April. And I mean
lost, as in they disappeared. There's been no sign of remains in the
pond, which lets the turtle off the hook (she can't catch them, anyway -
in almost two years, she never even came close to catching a fish, even
the oranda), and turtles are messy eaters - there'd be scales in the
pond
if she was guilty, even of only eating fish that died naturally.
There's
also been no bodies or parts or crowds of flies outside the pond, and
the
potted plants on the ledge are never knocked over, which would seem to
absolve raccoons or cats. We've never seen a snake in six years of the
pond being up, so that's unlikely. We've never seen a heron, either
(the
flamingos make the buffet look occupied, perhaps), and I'd figure a
heron
would scarf a bunch of smallish fish at a time, but what's left?



Alan

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I have heard that if you put a fake life-sized heron at your pond, no others
will come because they assume the spot is *taken*.

That's true for a while. You'll find that if you don't move the fake heron
daily, the real herons catch on and ignore it.

Another problem with decoys: I seem to recall reading somewhere (on this ng?)
that someone placed a decoy on the edge of his pond. It was mating season amd a
male heron mistook it for a real female, grabbed all the goldfish and left
their bodies at the feet of the decoy as an offering. (hey, at least he bought
her dinner!)

~ Gary in zone 6a

"GACinMass" wrote in message
...
I have heard that if you put a fake life-sized heron at your pond, no
others
will come because they assume the spot is *taken*.

That's true for a while. You'll find that if you don't move the fake
heron
daily, the real herons catch on and ignore it.

Another problem with decoys: I seem to recall reading somewhere (on this
ng?)
that someone placed a decoy on the edge of his pond. It was mating season
amd a
male heron mistook it for a real female, grabbed all the goldfish and left
their bodies at the feet of the decoy as an offering. (hey, at least he
bought
her dinner!)

Yeah, but did she do her part after the date was over?

BV
My apologies for the crass, male chauvinistic oink joke. I couldn't resist.

My friend overwinters his turtles in cement tubs ($10.00 at Home Depot). He
keeps them on his garage floor. The water gets cold but not freezing.

Sam

"Sue Alexandre" wrote in message
news:vP2Ga.2187$8p2.826@lakeread04...
Hi, Alan:
Can't answer your question about your missing fish, but I have a question
if
I may...... I'm thrilled to hear that your painted made it through this
horrible winter. I just built a turtle pond and have an Eastern Painted
and
a RES in there. I'm hoping to overwinter them in there, and I'm in
Connecticut. Did you notice where the turtle hibernated? Did he have
dirt
to bury himself in, or did he go to the deepest part of the pond?
Sue

wrote in message
ganews.com...
If a heron discovers a pond, will it eat its fill whenever it shows up,
or
just grab one fish and go? I have a preformed pond surrounded by
plants
(toads and frogs would love it, if I could get any, but that's another
story), which had 14 goldfish about three inches long (one was an
orando,
which sure as heck couldn't jump out.)

They all made it through the longest winter in Baltimore history (as did
my painted turtle), but I've lost six of them since April. And I mean
lost, as in they disappeared. There's been no sign of remains in the
pond, which lets the turtle off the hook (she can't catch them, anyway -
in almost two years, she never even came close to catching a fish, even
the oranda), and turtles are messy eaters - there'd be scales in the
pond
if she was guilty, even of only eating fish that died naturally.
There's
also been no bodies or parts or crowds of flies outside the pond, and
the
potted plants on the ledge are never knocked over, which would seem to
absolve raccoons or cats. We've never seen a snake in six years of the
pond being up, so that's unlikely. We've never seen a heron, either
(the
flamingos make the buffet look occupied, perhaps), and I'd figure a
heron
would scarf a bunch of smallish fish at a time, but what's left?



Alan

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BV wrote Yeah, but did she do her part after the date was over?

No, she was observed to have a standoffish, rather rigid response to the love
offerings.
She broke his feathery heart.


k30a

LMHO!!!
"K30a" wrote in message
...
BV wrote Yeah, but did she do her part after the date was over?

No, she was observed to have a standoffish, rather rigid response to the
love
offerings.
She broke his feathery heart.


k30a

Mr. Heron got off lucky. Her "rather rigid" response might have broken
something way more important!

Actually, her refusal to move her tail out of his way should have been a
clue to Mr. Heron, but nooooooooooooo....

Anne

"K30a" wrote in message
...
BV wrote Yeah, but did she do her part after the date was over?

No, she was observed to have a standoffish, rather rigid response to the
love
offerings.
She broke his feathery heart.


k30a

wrote in message
ganews.com...
snipped
We've never seen a heron, either (the
flamingos make the buffet look occupied, perhaps), and I'd figure a heron
would scarf a bunch of smallish fish at a time, but what's left?

Last summer about a dozen small goldfish just disappeared over a period of
weeks, and on one occasion my wife spotted a magpie on the pond wall with a
fish at its feet. This year we've added 3 small gold Ogon koi, 2 have
disappeared. 3 more drab Ghost koi added at the same time are still around.

I'd not heard of magpies taking pond fish, but they have the reputation for
liking shiny things, and a google groups search found other cases of them
thieving fish here in the UK. They're also very common in our area. (

In , on 06/12/03
at 05:23 PM, ESPMER (K30a) said:


If fish disappear and nobody sees or hears anything it is usually a
heron. And they usually put your pond on their menu so it will come back.
I'll attach the heron hints if you haven't seen them before.

Heron tips:
- string fishing line around the pond

Can you describe how to arrange the line?


Alan

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