Yesterday, I made the sad discovery that my goldfish suffered a
probable heron attack. It looks like the heron got about half of my
30+ goldfish. The survivors are all spooked (naturally) and won't
even come up for food. Some have scrape marks on their bodies where
it looks like they escaped the heron's bill. I had a heron around
here a couple of years ago, so I put chicken wire over the pond for a
couple of weeks. This discouraged the heron and he gave up and didn't
return ---- that is, until yesterday (not sure if it was even the same
bird - probably not). Anyway, too little & too late, I put the wire
back up to protect the remaining fish.
My question - Assuming that I can ward off further attacks, will my
fish return to their old behavior of coming up for food, eating out of
my hand, etc., or will they have the fish equivalent of
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" for the rest of their lives? Anyone
know how long it might take for the fish to get back to normal? I
also heard that sometimes when aquariums are attacked (e.g. by a cat)
the surviving fish sometimes just shut down and die (probably from
stress). Hope that doesn't happen to my pond fish. They are just
10-cent feeder goldfish that I've managed to keep alive and healthy
for about 10 years, but I hate to lose them just the same. I also
realize that it's natural for herons to eat fish so I wouldn't want to
harm the bird, even though it's on my s---list right now! (That would
be like someone throwing rocks at me everytime I went to the
refrigerator!)
I'm trying to gradually get the fish used to me being around them
again by making frequent, short appearances at the pond, being quiet
so as not to spook them, and offering them small amounts of fish food
several times a day.
Would appreciate any ideas anyone might have recovery from attack.
Thanks,
Gary

My condolences. I've been visited by the big blue bird before as well.

Your fish WILL get over it. Not too worry. FWIW, I don't put netting over my
pond, but I do use a scarecrow. Knock on wood, I haven't lost a fish yet
(when it was on!)

Joe


On 5/14/04 3:28 PM, "Gary" wrote:

Yesterday, I made the sad discovery that my goldfish suffered a
probable heron attack. It looks like the heron got about half of my
30+ goldfish. The survivors are all spooked (naturally) and won't
even come up for food. Some have scrape marks on their bodies where
it looks like they escaped the heron's bill. I had a heron around
here a couple of years ago, so I put chicken wire over the pond for a
couple of weeks. This discouraged the heron and he gave up and didn't
return ---- that is, until yesterday (not sure if it was even the same
bird - probably not). Anyway, too little & too late, I put the wire
back up to protect the remaining fish.
My question - Assuming that I can ward off further attacks, will my
fish return to their old behavior of coming up for food, eating out of
my hand, etc., or will they have the fish equivalent of
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" for the rest of their lives? Anyone
know how long it might take for the fish to get back to normal? I
also heard that sometimes when aquariums are attacked (e.g. by a cat)
the surviving fish sometimes just shut down and die (probably from
stress). Hope that doesn't happen to my pond fish. They are just
10-cent feeder goldfish that I've managed to keep alive and healthy
for about 10 years, but I hate to lose them just the same. I also
realize that it's natural for herons to eat fish so I wouldn't want to
harm the bird, even though it's on my s---list right now! (That would
be like someone throwing rocks at me everytime I went to the
refrigerator!)
I'm trying to gradually get the fish used to me being around them
again by making frequent, short appearances at the pond, being quiet
so as not to spook them, and offering them small amounts of fish food
several times a day.
Would appreciate any ideas anyone might have recovery from attack.
Thanks,
Gary



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My uncle's pond was attacked too. If I stood on the side that the Heron
stood, all the fish would hide. They haven't recovered.

My Koi were attacked when they were in an aquarium. They would hide when I
came to feed. Now that they're in the pond, they would bump into my hands
when I fix the plants.

If your fish has severe PTSD, try relocating them to temporary location?

Gary wrote:

Yesterday, I made the sad discovery that my goldfish suffered a
probable heron attack. It looks like the heron got about half of my
30+ goldfish. The survivors are all spooked (naturally) and won't
even come up for food. Some have scrape marks on their bodies where
it looks like they escaped the heron's bill. I had a heron around
here a couple of years ago, so I put chicken wire over the pond for a
couple of weeks. This discouraged the heron and he gave up and didn't
return ---- that is, until yesterday (not sure if it was even the same
bird - probably not). Anyway, too little & too late, I put the wire
back up to protect the remaining fish.
My question - Assuming that I can ward off further attacks, will my
fish return to their old behavior of coming up for food, eating out of
my hand, etc., or will they have the fish equivalent of
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" for the rest of their lives? Anyone
know how long it might take for the fish to get back to normal? I
also heard that sometimes when aquariums are attacked (e.g. by a cat)
the surviving fish sometimes just shut down and die (probably from
stress). Hope that doesn't happen to my pond fish. They are just
10-cent feeder goldfish that I've managed to keep alive and healthy
for about 10 years, but I hate to lose them just the same. I also
realize that it's natural for herons to eat fish so I wouldn't want to
harm the bird, even though it's on my s---list right now! (That would
be like someone throwing rocks at me everytime I went to the
refrigerator!)
I'm trying to gradually get the fish used to me being around them
again by making frequent, short appearances at the pond, being quiet
so as not to spook them, and offering them small amounts of fish food
several times a day.
Would appreciate any ideas anyone might have recovery from attack.
Thanks,
Gary

"Gary" wrote in message
om...
Yesterday, I made the sad discovery that my goldfish suffered a
probable heron attack. It looks like the heron got about half of my
30+ goldfish. The survivors are all spooked (naturally) and won't
even come up for food. Some have scrape marks on their bodies where
it looks like they escaped the heron's bill. I had a heron around
here a couple of years ago, so I put chicken wire over the pond for a
couple of weeks. This discouraged the heron and he gave up and didn't
return ---- that is, until yesterday (not sure if it was even the same
bird - probably not). Anyway, too little & too late, I put the wire
back up to protect the remaining fish.

** We have to keep bird netting over our ponds or wouldn't have one fish
left. The herons do keep coming back and will come back until your pond is
cleaned out completely. Snakes, mud turtles, and bullfrogs also feed on
fish.

My question - Assuming that I can ward off further attacks, will my
fish return to their old behavior of coming up for food, eating out of
my hand, etc., or will they have the fish equivalent of
"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" for the rest of their lives?

** In time they forget the attack and return to normal - or mine did (after
a week or so.)

Anyone
know how long it might take for the fish to get back to normal? I
also heard that sometimes when aquariums are attacked (e.g. by a cat)
the surviving fish sometimes just shut down and die (probably from
stress). Hope that doesn't happen to my pond fish. They are just
10-cent feeder goldfish that I've managed to keep alive and healthy
for about 10 years, but I hate to lose them just the same. I also
realize that it's natural for herons to eat fish so I wouldn't want to
harm the bird, even though it's on my s---list right now! (That would
be like someone throwing rocks at me everytime I went to the
refrigerator!)

** Get that tough fine black bird netting at Ace Hardware. It works great
and is not expensive.

I'm trying to gradually get the fish used to me being around them
again by making frequent, short appearances at the pond, being quiet
so as not to spook them, and offering them small amounts of fish food
several times a day.
Would appreciate any ideas anyone might have recovery from attack.
Thanks,
Gary
--
Carol....
"A closed mouth gathers no feet."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also have a population of former feeder goldfish I have had for 15 or so
years. I had a heron attack about 3 years ago that cut the number to about
10% of former times, and took mainly the bigger fish. The goldfish took a
month (what was left of them) to recover their former behavior.

Have your goldfish developed interesting genetic modifications? I have
colors ranging from nearly white to very dark greenish gold and almost
black, and all kinds of fancy finnage.


"Gary" wrote in message
om...
Yesterday, I made the sad discovery that my goldfish suffered a
probable heron attack. It looks like the heron got about half of my
30+ goldfish. The survivors are all spooked (naturally) and won't
even come up for food.

I also had a heron attack last year, the *^#@! bird got 12 or so of my
biggest gold fish and 3 frogs. I went to Lowes and bought a Regent
digital wireless motion activated alarm. The receiver part has a
receptacle to plug in a lamp or what ever. I put it in a zip lock bag to
seal it from the weather. I bought a party strobe and put it in a large
zip lock bag and plugged it in to the recipatical of the unit. I aimed
the motion sensor at the pond. Now when anything goes near my pond you
hear a door bell sound and a bright strobe light goes off. I cover the
motion sensor with foil when I am out by the pond to keep the strobe
off. This has worked well for me but don't forget to take the foil off
when you go in or the *^#+@! bird will come to see you again. Also be
sure to keep the receiver unit as water tight as you can as it is made
for indoors hence the zip lock bags and tape.for both strobe and unit.
Steve

Now seems like a good time to post heron
hints for new ponders checking out this
thread.....

Tips for herons, egrets and other fishing birds:
- netting over the pond
- chimney flue in the bottom of the pond for fish
to hide in and feel safe
- put in an electric fido shock fence
- a motion activated sprinkler
- Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond time ;-)


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and great suggestions. The
chicken wire is just a temporary measure(effective, but a high
ugliness factor), so I will need to give some careful thought to the
options for a more permanent solution.
BTW, I'm surprised that, today, the fish are beginning to come back up
to the top to check me out when I approach and to eat again. That's
encouraging!

Sean - over the years my fish have developed some interesting colors
and finnage. I don't have any black ones, but several mottled
white/orange ones, yellow/gold ones, some totally white, some intense,
deep orange. As far as fins go, again, lots of variety. One has very
short fins (looks like he has a crew-cut - so I call him "Butch")
while others have very long, flowing tails and fins, like "Rapunzel"
and "Lady Godiva." Some of them have tails that are considerably
longer than their bodies. The young ones are usually black but they
dont stay that color after they get big enough to defend themselves.

Gary

Does anyone know how many fish and how big a fish herons will eat? We
have a 1/2 acre pond ,20 years old that we stocked with bluegills and
bass. For years we could catch as many as we wanted at any time. This
year I have fished twice for an hour or so, and have caught nothing but
2 4-5" bullheads. We have never caught a bullhead in 20 years. We have
herons at the pond several times a day. Where have all the
bluegills/bass gone? I have never seen a dead fish inthe pond. The deep
end is 10-12 feet. There seems to be more algae than normal. The bottom
is all marl. Thanks for any thoughts you might have. We are inMichigan.
Steve

A couple thoughts -
How was your last winter? Fish could have died and been consumed by the
bullheads since dead critters are part of their diet.
Could you, or someone else, overfished the pond?

Herons usually hunt in the shallows by stalking and stealth. In addition to
fish they take frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, newts and large aquatic insects
out of a pond. If they are feeding a nest full of young they will be catching
more than they, themselves, need.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

We live in extreme Southern Michigan and had a very moderate winter.
Until this year we have never seen a bullhead in the pond. Our bluegills
were as large as 9-10 inches and our bass were 14-15 inches.
As far as overfishing, I doubt we have taken 25 fish out over 20 years.
I love to see the herons come and they can have whatever they need, I
just can't imagine they need the larger fish. As I said, we are seeing
more algae this year, so I am checking into that.

Bullheads like murky water and thrive
in it.
They are considered a game fish
(not sure why, they don't look very tasty ;-)
I'm curious, where did the bullheads come from?
Does the pond have an inlet from a creek or stream?
In Oregon (right next door to us) I read an article about 'bucket biologists'.
People who decide to 'stock' their favorite lake with an exotic or illegal fish
for all sorts of different reasons. They dump in the fish and 10-20 years later
the lake has a huge problem with the introduced fish changing the ecological
balance.

Another option for you is to contact your fish and wildlife office. It is in
their best interest to keep all lakes in the state healthy. They might have
reasons for you and suggestion about the algae bloom. Not sure about the
bullheads since they are listed as a game fish.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Our pond is right at the edge of a 50 acre wetland. There is no stream
inlet or outlet. When we had the pond dug the excavator said it was
spring fed and you see two areas at the bottom that remained clear for
years. The pond filled in a couple days and the level varies very
little, even in the dry summer months. We bought the bluegills and bass
from a fish hatchery and put in no bullheads. And didn't see any for 20
years or more.

Fish eggs can be transported via animals or birds.
The eggs 'stick' to the fur or scaled feet of the critters and end up falling
off in a new pond or water source. The eggs can also travel attached to
vegetation which in turn is transported in animal coats or in their paws or
feet.
Ornamental ponders are always accidently sending off fish eggs in plants
exchanges. Clams, mussels, insect larvae, tube worms, snails, leeches and
amphibian eggs have also traveled via this method.
This is probably what happened with your pond.
A wildlife fish biologist could probably tell you if bullheads would out
compete your bluegill and bass for food resources in your pond. I did find that
small fish make up a small part of the bullhead diet. They make good use of
varied food sources
which makes them successful in turbid ponds. And two other significant facts
One, they have few predators.:
Black bullheads have large, sharp spines at the front of their dorsal (top)
and pectoral (side) fins. When bothered, they lock them in a straight-out
position making them very hard to swallow. These spines and the fishes'
preference for eating mostly at night make black bullheads an uncommon prey for
other fish.
and as for algae and lack of clarity in your water right now,
It is a hardy fish that tolerates turbid (muddy) water, warm temperatures,
and low oxygen concentrations. The black bullhead can tolerate conditions many
other types of fish cannot.
Your pond's natural predilection is to fill in. It is mother nature's way of
providing for fertile fields. Your pond has been following this path for 20
years now and its becoming more of a habitat that bullheads enjoy. It may be
time to do some more excavating.

A really good book dealhe book on maintenance and renewal of older ponds. Some
starting as 'old' as ten years into the ponds life. Your pond at 20 years may
be a candidate for this.




Our pond is right at the edge of a 50 acre wetland. There is no stream
inlet or outlet. When we had the pond dug the excavator said it was
spring fed and you see two areas at the bottom that remained clear for
years. The pond filled in a couple days and the level varies very
little, even in the dry summer months. We bought the bluegills and bass
from a fish hatchery and put in no bullheads. And didn't see any for 20
years or more.
kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

Edit alert!!
I was supposed to write
A really good book to read is:
EARTH PONDS SOURCE BOOK
by
Tim Matson.
It has a section that deals with maintenance and renewal of older ponds. Some
starting as 'old' as ten years into the ponds life. Your pond at 20 years may
be a candidate for this.

Sorry about that!


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A