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REQ: advice
Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated. TIA Rez --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
advice
"Rez" wrote in message ... Hello there, I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated. You'll need to go deep, and provide a hide out from fish. You'll also want to avoid shelves the birds have no where to stand. This will of course make marginal plants diffcult to keep. I have sloped sides, and wish I had more shelves for plants. On a side note...my pond has remained unat....on second thought...I am not going to temp fate and discuss what has or has not happened to my pond with respect to heron. I can't risk it. BV. |
advice
One way to approach a wildlife pond is to think about feeding the predators too. Stocking fish for herons, kingfishers and various mammals. They can be fascinating to watch. Every December a kingfisher visits my pond and has his share of fish. I heard of a bird watching lady who wanted to put in a pond just to attract herons. But some folks get attached to their fish and it hurts to see their pets snarfed up. Netting is a very effective deterrent but for wildlife it can be dangerous. Like BV says depth and straight sides helps keep herons at bay, though some very determined herons will actually float along on the water like a duck and strike. A chimney flue at the bottom of the pond gives fish a place to hide once the intial strike occurs. But as Ingrid says, herons are very patient. Having bird brains they have little trouble with boredom and are prepared to hang about waiting for the fish to come out again. An electric fido shock fence will keep mammals away. But also all the wildlife you hope to attract. A motion activated sprinkler works for many ponders. But again also works on wildlife too. So I'll go back to my original suggestion and have you include the predators as invited wildlife and don't get too attached to your fish. kathy :-) A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A |
REQ: advice
"Rez" writes:
Hello there, I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I was the same way. I've really gotten used to the bird netting. You might give it a week or so, its a small investment. |
advice
"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message ... "Rez" wrote in message ... Hello there, I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated. You'll need to go deep, and provide a hide out from fish. You'll also want to avoid shelves the birds have no where to stand. This will of course make marginal plants diffcult to keep. I have sloped sides, and wish I had more shelves for plants. On a side note...my pond has remained unat....on second thought...I am not going to temp fate and discuss what has or has not happened to my pond with respect to heron. I can't risk it. BV. Thanks for the reply & advice :) I hear what your saying, and don't blame you on the silence ;) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
advice
"Ka30P" wrote in message ... One way to approach a wildlife pond is to think about feeding the predators too. Stocking fish for herons, kingfishers and various mammals. They can be fascinating to watch. Every December a kingfisher visits my pond and has his share of fish. I heard of a bird watching lady who wanted to put in a pond just to attract herons. But some folks get attached to their fish and it hurts to see their pets snarfed up. Netting is a very effective deterrent but for wildlife it can be dangerous. Like BV says depth and straight sides helps keep herons at bay, though some very determined herons will actually float along on the water like a duck and strike. A chimney flue at the bottom of the pond gives fish a place to hide once the intial strike occurs. But as Ingrid says, herons are very patient. Having bird brains they have little trouble with boredom and are prepared to hang about waiting for the fish to come out again. An electric fido shock fence will keep mammals away. But also all the wildlife you hope to attract. A motion activated sprinkler works for many ponders. But again also works on wildlife too. So I'll go back to my original suggestion and have you include the predators as invited wildlife and don't get too attached to your fish. kathy :-) A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A That's something I hadn't thought of, fits well with my idea of a 'natural' environment too. I had thought of stocking with native fish (if that is even possible - or legal). While dreaming of my pond I had visions of sticklebacks, newts, dragonfly Larvae & such, like I remember as a kid. I know that some wildlife itself is a problem for a 'natural' pond, dragonfly nymphs predating on small fish etc, but would this really work? Am I allowed to stock native fish & Newts? I suppose frogs will move in of their own accord, but where (if I am allowed) would I find sticklebacks & such nowadays? I'm guessing you were referring to stocking goldfish or similar to feed wildlife? If this is so, how much/often do the fish get taken, couldnt it get costly? Ok now I sound like a skinflint AND I'm rambling. Thanks for the advice ;) --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
REQ: advice
"Andrew Burgess" wrote in message ... "Rez" writes: Hello there, I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I was the same way. I've really gotten used to the bird netting. You might give it a week or so, its a small investment. Hi, Thanks for the reply :) From what I have been told it seems a complete net may be the only way to avoid the problem completely, but doesn't it spoil the whole thing? I want to be able to sit on my patio & look at the pond, and the image of a nsaty net or mesh screen seems to destroy the 'natural' thing. I see I'm going to have to be prepared to either not have fish, lose the ones I have from time to time or have an ugly net. Thanks again for your reply. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
advice
Hi Rez,
There is a wonderful pond set up in England, it is fishless, in fact it gave me my idea for my fishless pond, here is a link http://www.mybitoftheplanet.com/ He gets the most wonderful assortment of amphibian and insect life. All the critters will prey on one another but Mother Nature usually works it out and it all comes out in the wash. This newsgroup uk.rec.gardening will probably be able to tell you where you can gather or purchase sticklebacks. I would go with those fish over goldfish. You'll still get visiting predators but sticklebacks have less of a chance than getting eaten than goldfish. Plus there is always the worry of goldfish getting into natural waterways (big floods washing through backyard ponds, kingfishers carrying off fish and dropping them, herons wading in ponds and picking up sticky fish eggs). I adopted native treefrog eggs into my pond from a friend's pond. All insect life showed up on its own. We don't have salamanders in great numbers around here. I'd like some toads and am looking for local ones to adopt. I decided not to put any fish in this pond as I have another pond with goldfish in it. Rez wrote That's something I hadn't thought of, fits well with my idea of a 'natural' environment too. I had thought of stocking with native fish (if that is even possible - or legal). While dreaming of my pond I had visions of sticklebacks, newts, dragonfly Larvae & such, like I remember as a kid. I know that some wildlife itself is a problem for a 'natural' pond, dragonfly nymphs predating on small fish etc, but would this really work? Am I allowed to stock native fish & Newts? I suppose frogs will move in of their own accord, but where (if I am allowed) would I find sticklebacks & such nowadays? I'm guessing you were referring to stocking goldfish or similar to feed wildlife? If this is so, how much/often do the fish get taken, couldnt it get costly? Ok now I sound like a skinflint AND I'm rambling. Thanks for the advice ;) kathy :-) A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A |
REQ: advice
you simply have to try the black, fine bird netting first to realize how it
disappears in a very short time. in fact, the sun has to be just right to make it stand out at all. I have my netting taut, so it isnt hanging in folds all over tho. http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/changes/changes.htm the netting is in all those pictures. http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2003/8-2003B.htm the netting is somewhat more visible, but when I sit by my pond I look thru to see my fish and pond, not the netting. I dont net just for predators, I net to keep birds and everything else out of there and to keep my fish IN. Ingrid "Rez" wrote: From what I have been told it seems a complete net may be the only way to avoid the problem completely, but doesn't it spoil the whole thing? I want to be able to sit on my patio & look at the pond, and the image of a nsaty net or mesh screen seems to destroy the 'natural' thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
advice
"Rez" wrote in message
... Hello there, I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated. TIA Rez I've heard that a heron decoy will keep other herons away for a while, or a fake fox. A net is as close to a sure thing as you're going to get. And if your pond isn't too big, it only takes a few minutes to take it off if you're going to be spending the day in they yard. I didn't want to do it, but my favorite koi became a meal, and I will not let that happen again. -- "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." - H.P. Lovecraft |
advice
Thanks for the link, it looks a great pond. Thanks also for the advice about
the gardening group, I will sub to them later & check it out. I will keep you posted as to how it develops. Thanks again for your time :) "Ka30P" wrote in message ... Hi Rez, There is a wonderful pond set up in England, it is fishless, in fact it gave me my idea for my fishless pond, here is a link http://www.mybitoftheplanet.com/ He gets the most wonderful assortment of amphibian and insect life. All the critters will prey on one another but Mother Nature usually works it out and it all comes out in the wash. This newsgroup uk.rec.gardening will probably be able to tell you where you can gather or purchase sticklebacks. I would go with those fish over goldfish. You'll still get visiting predators but sticklebacks have less of a chance than getting eaten than goldfish. Plus there is always the worry of goldfish getting into natural waterways (big floods washing through backyard ponds, kingfishers carrying off fish and dropping them, herons wading in ponds and picking up sticky fish eggs). I adopted native treefrog eggs into my pond from a friend's pond. All insect life showed up on its own. We don't have salamanders in great numbers around here. I'd like some toads and am looking for local ones to adopt. I decided not to put any fish in this pond as I have another pond with goldfish in it. Rez wrote That's something I hadn't thought of, fits well with my idea of a 'natural' environment too. I had thought of stocking with native fish (if that is even possible - or legal). While dreaming of my pond I had visions of sticklebacks, newts, dragonfly Larvae & such, like I remember as a kid. I know that some wildlife itself is a problem for a 'natural' pond, dragonfly nymphs predating on small fish etc, but would this really work? Am I allowed to stock native fish & Newts? I suppose frogs will move in of their own accord, but where (if I am allowed) would I find sticklebacks & such nowadays? I'm guessing you were referring to stocking goldfish or similar to feed wildlife? If this is so, how much/often do the fish get taken, couldnt it get costly? Ok now I sound like a skinflint AND I'm rambling. Thanks for the advice ;) kathy :-) A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
REQ: advice
Wow, you're right, I can't see any netting on those pictures, that surprises
me. previous ponds (belonging to friends etc) I've seen have all had hideous green net over them, or in some cases a wire grate of some description. Yours however looks fine, very nice. Thanks for posting the links, much appreciated. wrote in message ... you simply have to try the black, fine bird netting first to realize how it disappears in a very short time. in fact, the sun has to be just right to make it stand out at all. I have my netting taut, so it isnt hanging in folds all over tho. http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/changes/changes.htm the netting is in all those pictures. http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2003/8-2003B.htm the netting is somewhat more visible, but when I sit by my pond I look thru to see my fish and pond, not the netting. I dont net just for predators, I net to keep birds and everything else out of there and to keep my fish IN. Ingrid "Rez" wrote: From what I have been told it seems a complete net may be the only way to avoid the problem completely, but doesn't it spoil the whole thing? I want to be able to sit on my patio & look at the pond, and the image of a nsaty net or mesh screen seems to destroy the 'natural' thing. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
advice
"Gib" wrote in message ... "Rez" wrote in message ... Hello there, I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond. I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated. TIA Rez I've heard that a heron decoy will keep other herons away for a while, or a fake fox. A net is as close to a sure thing as you're going to get. And if your pond isn't too big, it only takes a few minutes to take it off if you're going to be spending the day in they yard. I didn't want to do it, but my favorite koi became a meal, and I will not let that happen again. -- "Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane." - H.P. Lovecraft I've seen those heron decoys in garden centers, but never seen fox decoys, I will have to look out for them. A friend of mine gave me an owl statue for the garden & says that maybe it will help when I get the pond set up. So far it seems to be keeping the birds from the garden, which isn't what I wanted, so I doubt that will stay there ;) For the size of my garden, the biggest I can go for a pond is 287 x 185 x 61 cm with a capacity of 1725 litres (I think). I think this may be a bit too big to be taking nets off & putting them back on etc. Thanks for your advice, all noted & appreciated. --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.686 / Virus Database: 447 - Release Date: 14/05/04 |
advice
nope. Ingrid
" I've heard that a heron decoy will keep other herons away for a while, ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List http://puregold.aquaria.net/ www.drsolo.com Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the endorsements or recommendations I make. |
advice
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