How to protect against owls?

[Cardinal]

Hi all,

I'm a relative newbie to fish ponds. In the fall we bought a house that already had two existing ponds in the front yard. They are each a little over 200 gallons and the top one waterfalls into the lower. Like everyone, it was a very harsh winter, and when the top pond finally thawed and I started spring clean out of debris I realized that the top pond was missing some gold fish. Actually a big portion of the population is missing. One of the fish was at least a couple years old, pretty white and orange fancy gold fish. Well I figured that we just lost part of the population due to the deep freeze, and we also had a filter tube burst during a deep freeze.

However, today I was finally thinking back to the winter. One night I woke up and glanced out the window to realize that our motion detector flood lights were on. They shine right on the ponds and front yard. Well I looked out the window and on a fence rail, waist high, next to the pond, sat a large brown owl. It looked right up to me and flew away. It was right in front of the top pond.

So my question is how common is it that owls start feeding on pond fish? Because the water lily's aren't blooming in that pond, there is very little coverage. Where as the bottom pond has rock caves and other plants. Also what can I do about owls? Are there any kind of deterrents? Or should I just add in different kinds of plants?

Thank you ahead of time for any advice!

 

[talal101]

ironically, using a fake owl statue will deter real owls from coming...something about them being territorial....its kinda like putting a blue heron to get rid of real herons. I believe the owl will also work to scare away crows and ravens.

oh and WELCOME TO THE POND FORUM!!

 

[j.w]

I gave up trying all the gadgets and gizmos and finally resorted to a raised up net on poles. Now I suppose an owl w/ bad eyesight might not see the fine weave of the net but so far so good.

 

[Cardinal]

Okay, hopefully this isn't a stupid question but where does one buy a fake owl? Is there anything else that helps? I looked closely at my fish today and realized that some new additions are missing. I added in some fancy goldfish this past weekend, and it looks like they are all gone. I suppose one or two might be hiding, but I think its unlikely. So frustrating.

As for the nets, I don't really have the ability to do a raised net, but I could fashion some type of netting on top of the actual ponds. What type of netting works, and where can I buy it?

Thanks for all the help!

 

[j.w]

First of all how do you know that it's just the owl getting your fish? It could be a Heron also coming to visit during the day when you aren't around. You could try the owl but if you lose more fish w/ the owl up there then you still won't know for sure if it was the owl or not unless you see him in action or put a camera up there. I just bought my net from a fishing net supplier. I had to sew mine together w/ heavy duty fish line cuz my pond was wider than 6ft across.
http://www.memphisnet.net/product/75/netting_multi_277

Thread below on how I did my netting:

https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/heron-netting-101.13205/

 

[Cardinal]

Thank you! I will definitely take a look.

I suppose I dont technically know if its just an owl, however I have never, ever, seen heron around my house or our area. We live an older subdivision right outside dc. While I don't know much about heron habitat, there is no open space around us. Hopefully the netting would solve either problem though, if there are heron I don't know about.

 

[talal101]

Thank you! I will definitely take a look.

I suppose I dont technically know if its just an owl, however I have never, ever, seen heron around my house or our area. We live an older subdivision right outside dc. While I don't know much about heron habitat, there is no open space around us. Hopefully the netting would solve either problem though, if there are heron I don't know about.

You could buy the fake owl from wal mart, they are I believe around $20. But as J.W has said, a net across the top is probably your best bet. You could also make a mini cave where they will sleep at night. My last pond had a stupid shell ornament bubbler with a mini cave under and all 10 goldfish hid inside that tiny cave at night lol.

 

[adavisus]

It's usual for fish to hide for a week or two when they are introduced to a pond

The owl is probably tackling mice, rats, rabbits going for water

Quit panicking, enjoy one of the more spectacular occasional visitors to an oasis...

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[talal101]

It's usual for fish to hide for a week or two when they are introduced to a pond

The owl is probably tackling mice, rats, rabbits going for water

Quit panicking, enjoy one of the more spectacular occasional visitors to an oasis...

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

Although it is true that the owls are very spectacular and are more likely going for rats, mice...etc. The OP has a very valid concern when her/his fish are going missing. Its not fair to dismiss their concerns like that.

 

[adavisus]

Yes it is. I've had owls hunting in my gardens for many years. They take mammals that go to the ponds to drink

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[talal101]

Yes it is. I've had owls hunting in my gardens for many years. They take mammals that go to the ponds to drink

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

Im sorry, I feel like my post was a bit sharp and I apologize for that. I was only trying to say that the OP has a valid concern, I did not intend to come off so harsh.

 

[adavisus]

When new fish are missing, its easy to jump to conclusions. It is a safe bet that they are hiding, shy, and down deep

It would be a shame if a good guy like an owl not only gets the blame for doing what it does well, chasing varmints and ends up with a broken wing colliding and tangled in a net

From a logic point of view, owls rely on hearing to hunt after dark. Fish don't make any noise. Fish are in water and an owls vision will make them ineffective at hunting as in poor light they cannot figure refraction to strike accurate, especially fish that are down deep...

Regards, andy
http://swglist.wordpress.com/
http://www.pinterest.com/adavisus/pondering/

 

[addy1]

I have had my net over my pond for 3 years now, no owl has ever tangled in the net. My main problem is herons, we are in their flight path. Without the net they stop by every day and have a snack.
Mine is hung high like jw's

 

[Cardinal]

Thank you for all the thoughts and opinions. I definitely agree about the new fish maybe hiding, however, the fact that quite of few other comets are missing is what has me more suspicious. I agree with one of the posters that an owl has more difficulty without light, however, our flood lights are providing a great opportunity. They turn the front yard into day light basically.

I think I am going to try the more natural approach first, getting some floating plants and creating caves in the pond. That seems to be serving the lower pond well. If that doesn't work, then we'll try nets. All of our plants were established by previous owners, so I guess I need to find out where you buy pond plants

 

[addy1]

Go here, it is a hour from us, they have a great selection of plants. Just north of baltimore

http://www.valleyviewfarms.com/