I thought this might happen sooner or later, given my rural location. My son photographed a blue heron scoping out my pond a couple of days ago. I posted three pictures at http://tinyurl.com/5vtng. Look at the last three photos, named Heron1,2 & 3.

The question now is what can I do to discourage the heron and still keep fish and maintain the esthetics of my pond. It looks like my 4 koi have stayed deep enough to stay out of his reach, so far. I have laid some chicken wire fencing over part of the pond for now but need a permanent solution. Should I put up a low electric fence so that he gets shocked when he approaches the edge?

I suspect he will keep returning, now that he knows the fish are there.

Scott M.
Ottawa, Ontario

Scott M. wrote:

I thought this might happen sooner or later, given my rural location.
My son photographed a blue heron scoping out my pond a couple of days
ago. I posted three pictures at http://tinyurl.com/5vtng. Look at the
last three photos, named Heron1,2 & 3.

The question now is what can I do to discourage the heron and still
keep fish and maintain the esthetics of my pond. It looks like my 4
koi have stayed deep enough to stay out of his reach, so far. I have
laid some chicken wire fencing over part of the pond for now but need
a permanent solution. Should I put up a low electric fence so that he
gets shocked when he approaches the edge?

I suspect he will keep returning, now that he knows the fish are there.

Scott M.
Ottawa, Ontario



You can try the electric fence, get a fake heron or try the fishing line method around the pond. He definitly will return in my large pond 1/3+ acre I never had great blues in 3 years now this year I have seen 3 different bird at it but never 2 at the same time. I use kids and the dogs to chase them off.

Bob

Tips for herons, egrets and other fishing birds:
- bird netting over the pond, usually the quickest method
- put in an pond shock fence, lays out over the water at the edge
- a motion activated sprinkler
(go to froogle.com to find these products and different vendors
and prices)
- Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond time ;-)

good luck!
kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

He is one bold bird. I love the setting of your pond, its so rustic looking.
Beautiful!!
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

Hi,

Thanks for your comments. My pond is in front of a very old 2 story barn.
The first floor of the barn is set into the ground. At 20 x 15 feet, it
makes a great storage shed and is indeed a beautiful and rustic building. I
have the filter set up inside the barn.

Scott

"Pinkpggy" wrote in message
...
He is one bold bird. I love the setting of your pond, its so rustic
looking.
Beautiful!!
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

I'll look into finding a fake heron and I don't know what the fishing line
method is, but I assume it is to string trip wires around the pond using
invisible fishing line to **** him off. Troube is, I like to sit by the pond
and maintain it also, so I don't want to trap myself.

Scott


"Bob Koerber" wrote in message
...
Scott M. wrote:

I thought this might happen sooner or later, given my rural location.
My son photographed a blue heron scoping out my pond a couple of days
ago. I posted three pictures at http://tinyurl.com/5vtng. Look at the
last three photos, named Heron1,2 & 3.

The question now is what can I do to discourage the heron and still
keep fish and maintain the esthetics of my pond. It looks like my 4
koi have stayed deep enough to stay out of his reach, so far. I have
laid some chicken wire fencing over part of the pond for now but need
a permanent solution. Should I put up a low electric fence so that he
gets shocked when he approaches the edge?

I suspect he will keep returning, now that he knows the fish are there.

Scott M.
Ottawa, Ontario



You can try the electric fence, get a fake heron or try the fishing line
method around the pond. He definitly will return in my large pond 1/3+ acre
I never had great blues in 3 years now this year I have seen 3 different
bird at it but never 2 at the same time. I use kids and the dogs to chase
them off.

Bob

I'll look them up. Thanks. I would never kill the bird. They are so
beautiful. In my neighbourhood we have plenty of deer, black bear,
porcupines, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and other assorted
critters. I had been suspecting raccoons of getting into the pond and
knocking over rocks and plants, but now I know about the heron. The raccoon
goes for easier meals in my garbage cans.

Scott



"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
Tips for herons, egrets and other fishing birds:
- bird netting over the pond, usually the quickest method
- put in an pond shock fence, lays out over the water at the edge
- a motion activated sprinkler
(go to froogle.com to find these products and different vendors
and prices)
- Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond time ;-)

good luck!
kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Herons don't tip over plants, that the raccoons, imo. If neither has
captured a meal at your pond, repelling will be much easier. I use a motion
sprinkler on both my ponds, started using one when a raccoon made a huge
mess out of mine. It didn't catch any, but scratches were evident on my
biggest fish sides and shredding of the tail when it got away. The
sprinkler was hooked up before its return (assuming it did return) and I've
never had a problem since.

I had the motion sprinkler on a water timer so only had to worry about it
if I got up really early or went out really late (a rare thing on both
counts). Then last summer a neighbor called to tell me a big bird was on my
roof. This was around noon, so now it is on 24/7 and we're all trained
(from wet experience) to turn it off and on (notes on the door in and out
help) as we come and go.

Your pond is very pretty, amazing how that heron blends right in, except
around the swimming pool, may need a sprinkler there while the kids are
swimming if it is as ambitious as my raccoon that thought it could catch a
24" butterfly koi. ;o)

http://www.km01.com/index.html has them for $53.95 out of Oregon, no sales
tax, and very fast shipping (at least to Washington). ;o) ~ jan

On Thu, 12 Aug 2004 13:03:43 -0400, "Scott M." wrote:

I'll look them up. Thanks. I would never kill the bird. They are so
beautiful. In my neighbourhood we have plenty of deer, black bear,
porcupines, rabbits, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks and other assorted
critters. I had been suspecting raccoons of getting into the pond and
knocking over rocks and plants, but now I know about the heron. The raccoon
goes for easier meals in my garbage cans.

Scott



"Ka30P" wrote in message
...
Tips for herons, egrets and other fishing birds:
- bird netting over the pond, usually the quickest method
- put in an pond shock fence, lays out over the water at the edge
- a motion activated sprinkler
(go to froogle.com to find these products and different vendors
and prices)
- Migratory Bird Act forbids lethal methods,
heavy fines and jail time take away from pond time ;-)

good luck!
kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html


~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~

Hey Scott...Great photography! Just wonderin how you were able to get so
close without spookin him. http://photos.yahoo.com/jeepin9557 Dave
"Scott M." wrote in message
...
Hi,

Thanks for your comments. My pond is in front of a very old 2 story barn.
The first floor of the barn is set into the ground. At 20 x 15 feet, it
makes a great storage shed and is indeed a beautiful and rustic building.
I
have the filter set up inside the barn.

Scott

"Pinkpggy" wrote in message
...
He is one bold bird. I love the setting of your pond, its so rustic
looking.
Beautiful!!
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

Hey Scott...Great photography! Just wonderin how you were able to get so
close without spookin him. http://photos.yahoo.com/jeepin9557 Dave
"Scott M." wrote in message
...
Hi,

Thanks for your comments. My pond is in front of a very old 2 story barn.
The first floor of the barn is set into the ground. At 20 x 15 feet, it
makes a great storage shed and is indeed a beautiful and rustic building.
I
have the filter set up inside the barn.

Scott

"Pinkpggy" wrote in message
...
He is one bold bird. I love the setting of your pond, its so rustic
looking.
Beautiful!!
Jan
"Our Pond" Page
http://hometown.aol.com/pinkpggy/index.html

"Scott M." wrote in message
...
I thought this might happen sooner or later, given my rural location. My son
photographed a blue heron scoping out my pond a couple of days ago. I posted
three pictures at http://tinyurl.com/5vtng. Look at the last three photos,
named Heron1,2 & 3.

The question now is what can I do to discourage the heron and still keep
fish and maintain the esthetics of my pond. It looks like my 4 koi have
stayed deep enough to stay out of his reach, so far. I have laid some
chicken wire fencing over part of the pond for now but need a permanent
solution. Should I put up a low electric fence so that he gets shocked when
he approaches the edge?

I suspect he will keep returning, now that he knows the fish are there.
--------------------------------------------
They will keep coming back. More and more will come. We went through that
for several years. Finally in disgust we bought those black bird-nets and
covered the ponds. Before the herons we were losing our koi and goldfish to
water snakes, mud turtles, bullfrogs and herons. In our case it was either
net the ponds or turn them over to the predators and not keep fish. If you
have herons you will probably also see frogs and snakes.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried
before."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Scott M." wrote in message
...
I thought this might happen sooner or later, given my rural location. My son
photographed a blue heron scoping out my pond a couple of days ago. I posted
three pictures at http://tinyurl.com/5vtng. Look at the last three photos,
named Heron1,2 & 3.

The question now is what can I do to discourage the heron and still keep
fish and maintain the esthetics of my pond. It looks like my 4 koi have
stayed deep enough to stay out of his reach, so far. I have laid some
chicken wire fencing over part of the pond for now but need a permanent
solution. Should I put up a low electric fence so that he gets shocked when
he approaches the edge?

I suspect he will keep returning, now that he knows the fish are there.
--------------------------------------------
They will keep coming back. More and more will come. We went through that
for several years. Finally in disgust we bought those black bird-nets and
covered the ponds. Before the herons we were losing our koi and goldfish to
water snakes, mud turtles, bullfrogs and herons. In our case it was either
net the ponds or turn them over to the predators and not keep fish. If you
have herons you will probably also see frogs and snakes.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried
before."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Scott M." wrote in message
...
I'll look into finding a fake heron and I don't know what the fishing line
method is, but I assume it is to string trip wires around the pond using
invisible fishing line to **** him off. Troube is, I like to sit by the
pond
and maintain it also, so I don't want to trap myself.
====================================
Keep in mind these triplines will not keep the other predators away, such as
snakes and bullfrogs.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried
before."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Scott M." wrote in message
...
I'll look into finding a fake heron and I don't know what the fishing line
method is, but I assume it is to string trip wires around the pond using
invisible fishing line to **** him off. Troube is, I like to sit by the
pond
and maintain it also, so I don't want to trap myself.
====================================
Keep in mind these triplines will not keep the other predators away, such as
snakes and bullfrogs.
--
Carol.... the frugal ponder...
"If you must choose between two evils, pick the one you've never tried
before."
~~~~~~{@
"They laugh because I'm different, I laugh because they're all the same."
http://www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scott wrote Should I put up a low electric fence so that he gets shocked when
he approaches the edge?

Take a look at this new version of the electric shock option.
http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=electric+pond+fence

It is fairly new and so far I haven't run into anyone who has used it. Might
not be as instrusive as netting. But I'm wondering how easy it would be to
install.

If you do try it, let us know how you like it.


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html