Novel Ways of Covering Fish Ponds?

[Tara H]

Hi all.

Our fish pond is at our vacation house, so we are not always here. While we do put up a net to catch the leaves in the fall, it's a real ordeal, makes it impossible to enjoy the pond, and because of the way we have to install it, plenty of predators could still get in.

We have a Ring camera that has been helpful in scaring away a heron and a cat who were scoping out the area. We have a fake heron, but that works best when you can move it frequently.

The floating octagonal things seem to be a lot of work for not very much pay off.

I've been trying to brainstorm creative ways of deterring predators while we are gone. This will probably sound crazy, but do you think floating inner tubes on top of the fish pond will deter predators?

Any other creative ways of deterring predators or covering a pond?

I'm attaching a couple of pictures of my pond.

Thanks!!

 

[Hound Heaven]

Maybe some shade sails? Aerial predators don't like ducking beneath them to hunt or to escape. And maybe some solar motion lights would help deter the land based critters.
Pretty spot you have there

 

[cas]

Pretty pond

 

[j.w]

All that would work for me was wide weave fisherman's netting attached to a short wire fence around the bottom. Not sure where you live but if it gets hot and snakes or anything small enough that can squeeze through will be visiting your pond regularly. Since you're not there all the time you won't know and can't use traps or put out deterrent potions etc. Maybe electric fencing too?

 

[Jhn]

Tall posts in the four corners from the pond, (tall enough for you to walk under without ducking) stretching a black wide weave net as @j.w mentioned over the top and sides running cable up near the tops of the posts Around the perimeter. Then clip the net to the cable with some type of carabiner or hook, so you can open it like a curtain when you are home. This is what I did around my pond which is probably three time the size of yours.

Really anything else is an effort in futility imo.

 

[jonpeterson]

Hi all.

Our fish pond is at our vacation house, so we are not always here. While we do put up a net to catch the leaves in the fall, it's a real ordeal, makes it impossible to enjoy the pond, and because of the way we have to install it, plenty of predators could still get in.

We have a Ring camera that has been helpful in scaring away a heron and a cat who were scoping out the area. We have a fake heron, but that works best when you can move it frequently.

The floating octagonal things seem to be a lot of work for not very much pay off.

I've been trying to brainstorm creative ways of deterring predators while we are gone. This will probably sound crazy, but do you think floating inner tubes on top of the fish pond will deter predators?

Any other creative ways of deterring predators or covering a pond?

I'm attaching a couple of pictures of my pond.

Thanks!!

Floating inner tubes might help a bit, but you can also try adding motion-activated sprinklers to scare off predators - fingers crossed the predator is not looking for some fresh water to drink from. A netting that is also easy to put up and take down will work - this mesh tarp works well but any netting will do as long as it's durable and easy to secure.

 

[jimbo]

Tall posts in the four corners from the pond, (tall enough for you to walk under without ducking) stretching a black wide weave net as @j.w mentioned over the top and sides running cable up near the tops of the posts Around the perimeter. Then clip the net to the cable with some type of carabiner or hook, so you can open it like a curtain when you are home. This is what I did around my pond which is probably three time the size of yours.

Really anything else is an effort in futility imo.

The net is a good idea, and I’ve used it on my pond very effectively. However, when I first put it up, I didn’t stretch it very tight and the heron actually landed on the net and was pulling fish through the net as it sunk into the pond water! I learned my lesson and tightened it up and haven’t seen a heron for a couple of years

 

[j.w]

The net is a good idea, and I’ve used it on my pond very effectively. However, when I first put it up, I didn’t stretch it very tight and the heron actually landed on the net and was pulling fish through the net as it sunk into the pond water! I learned my lesson and tightened it up and haven’t seen a heron for a couple of years

Wow I have never had herons that come to my net covered pond actually land on it. Maybe because my net is about 4 ft above the pond? They walk up to the net that is attached to a short metal fence and put there foot up on the side of the net but never climb up it.

 

[Hound Heaven]

Our yard is lined with large trees so a net is necessary. I temporarily erect a popup tent and stretch some small, nylon garden netting over the frame. I started the process yesterday. I leave the sides open for a while to allow the hummers and bees to get used to it.

 

[j.w]

Our yard is lined with large trees so a net is necessary. I temporarily erect a popup tent and stretch some small, nylon garden netting over the frame. I started the process yesterday. I leave the sides open for a while to allow the hummers and bees to get used to it.
View attachment 165575

No herons in Tennessee? Lucky you!

 

[Hound Heaven]

Plenty of herons here, but I think we're too close to the trees and my pop up with shadecloth probably freaks them out.

 

[GBBUDD]

I have similar to @Jhn but I only have one post . But I have a large peak . A chimney. And a distribution pole. But instead or running a net overhead I ran cables. But I would recomend ropes over cables. Then I hung a golf net to the back of the pond vertical to keep the heron out. The cables also support some solar string lighting which is a tad hokey by day but at night the soft glow is perfect