blue haron left me koiless

[gccutter]

its been a mild winter here in west virginia ive kept a heater on my pond all winter . between that and warm days my fish have stayed pretty active . the pond is 20 to 24 inches deep 20ft long 15 ft wide 6 2gal water lillies in dorment stage. last sat feb 9 2013 it was about 54deg out my fish were pretty active the day before . sat morn i went outside at 8:30 am a large blue haron took off . it happened agin the fallowing morning. its not came back that i know of. now 6 days latter ive seen 12 to 15 small commits and 2 small koi ive not seen 13 out of15 5 to 8 inch koi . im hoping that theres some still there just hidding . any one have any imput? and before anyone says the pond was to small for that many fish. plans were made for spring to inlarge the pond 2 ft deeper and a second pond flowing into the first. ps im feeling crushed at this point. and i have added a haron decoy.

 

[adavisus]

When ponds don't have much in the way of obstacles to keep herons out, or plants and foliage for fish to hide safely beneath, a koi pond is a very popular sushi bar for any heron passing by

 

[gccutter]

had some over grown bog plants and had sunk 3 lotus pots 10 gal . but had started my spring cleaning . looking forward to a great summer.

 

[Ruben Miranda]

Hello
Sorry to here that
They are a beautiful bird but you just want to shoot them when they get our fish.
Once they find your pond there is no doubt it will be back.
So get some wire or something up to protect what you have left.
The fish could be scared and hiding
Ruben

 

[gardengimp]

I had a heron come for sushi, broke our hearts. Two weeks later we spotted two of our adult goldfish, they had been hiding. Now I have garden fencing around the pond edge and deer netting stretched two feet over the pond. Heron has been back, but no stool for him at the sushi bar.

 

[addy1]

The heron comes here constantly, I keep netting up over the pond about 4 feet up during the summer. Chicken wire fence between the bog and the pond, the plants hide it well. Only pull the netting during the winter. Our pond is 5 foot deep, just shallow where I walk out. Our brightly colored fish attract the birds. I won't start shooting them, they are just doing what is natural to them. It is illegal to kill them, you kill one another will come. I just figured out the best way to protect the pond.

 

[sissy]

wow sorry to hear that .Geeze they are every where lately .

 

[j.w]

gccutter
Hope you can protect your pond from that critter. I've tried everything and so far my radio coming on using a timer seems to be working great,along w/ a fence, plants/bushes around the edge of the pond,wind chimes floating plant rings,gator and hiding places in the pond for the fish,oh and stalker cats. Sheesh!!!

 

[ToniJ]

I read a story similar to yours about the heron reappearing even after a decoy was put out..the guy eventually layed the decoy heron on its side and the real one got the point..just a suggestion...good luck and so sorry for your loss..I lost all of my big beautiful fish last year to my own ignorance.. starting over this year sadly

 

[capewind]

Welcome to the group! Wish you had found us under better circumstances, but no one here is going to be nasty to you for your pond being too small. Your pond really isnt all that small, at 4000+ gallons, I do hope you continue to enjoy the hobby and go forward with digging the pond deeper as you had already planned. I also hope many of your fish are simply hiding. Many folks have lost fish to preditors. It doesnt make the loss any easier, but you are not alone. Many of us dont see the threat until after it happens to us. We had a scare a week or two ago. Had seven sea gulls perched on our roof and front yard. The fact that our pond is 4-5' deep means nothing to a sea gull. So far, so good here, but I havent stopped thinking about them. They havent been back, but I would be lying if I said I wasnt now worried about them.