pond vistor brought a date

[marla]

ARRRGGG came home from my Dad's today to find 2 HERON at the Lily/goldfish pond..the female in the water the male at the edge..have seen only the male the last few days..So now he has a mate.. I saw a few orange goldfish deep under the milk crate but the water is dark, don't know how many they may have gotten. THEY ARE NOT GOING TO MAKE THIS THEIR FISH'N GROUNDS
All the koi and other fish in the main pond are accounted for, there were feathers in the pond but the fish were just hanging out so not sure if they were over there or not. Re-tightend all nets on the 2 ponds and will be keeping a watchful eye.
I don't know how long they were at the pond today. The last few days it has just been a male and he always comes around 3-3:30 pm. Wow the female was quite a bit larger...if she would ...not have been in the pond (standing on the net which was then sunk in the water) I would have grabbed the camera and taken a picture, and then maybe the pellet gun to give them a little zing...probably would have missed.

 

[mouseams]

Marla, someone here on the forum told me about hanging CD's on fishing line. My husband put three together with fishing line and we hung them on poles around the pond. It does not seem to bother the frogs or fish and so far so good. I wish you luck and hope your fishies stay safe. We lost our three beautiful koi last year because I did not get the net up soon enough. We have three goldies that have survived two heron attacks. One lost an eye, one lost half of his tail we named them Ol' One-eye and Half Tail.

 

[marla]

I miss wrote my first post...it happened yesterday not today.....luckily the nets were on and she was standing on it and sunk in...so I don't think she got any fish...took till today for the fish to come out of hiding and they are still a bit skiddish, but I'm pretty sure they are all there..to many to count. They did not show up today but will be watching for them for some time.

 

[27goldfish]

Firecrackers work too. I did that for some ducks I had an issue with.

 

[CountryEscape]

So, those of you (me eventually) who have very friendly fish that come and eat out of your hands and always come to the surface when they see you come, I would assume that becomes a real treat for predators! So, if we have friendly fish, we need nets to keep out predators? Do they associate danger when the predator steps into the water? Just wondering ....

 

[shakaho]

I believe that everyone who has said that their fish come to "beg" from anyone and anything that comes to the pond are talking about koi. My goldfish have to see the food before they will come near anyone but me. They hide when they hear a strange voice but are "begging" at the sound of my voice even when they can't see me. They have a very strong instinct to dive for cover in response to a shadow overhead. Some of them clearly struggle with the conflict between food in my hand (good) and the hand overhead (bad) on a regular basis.

I have some fish that have been in an aquarium for months while waiting for my new ponds to get done. They get excited about seeing me through the glass, although they have no interest in anyone else. But if I look down at them they panic -- food or no food. My hand overhead is OK, but not my head.

Now I also have a tank of fancy goldfish. They have no fear of anything overhead. As a rule, the fancies are "tamer" than pond type goldfish. I suspect that tameness involves a loss of protective instincts.

If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend the article on tame foxes in the March 2011 National Geographic. A group of scientists in Russia who are studying domestication have bred foxes that are as tame as dogs and have observed a number of characteristics that go with tameness.

 

[fishin4cars]

Firecrackers work too. I did that for some ducks I had an issue with.

Works great with ducks, geese, and cats. No so great with Herons. At least it didn't for me.

So, those of you (me eventually) who have very friendly fish that come and eat out of your hands and always come to the surface when they see you come, I would assume that becomes a real treat for predators! So, if we have friendly fish, we need nets to keep out predators? Do they associate danger when the predator steps into the water? Just wondering ....

They do, but it only takes a flash of movement and being withing 2 1/2 - 3 FEET from that beak and they are Bird food. Two things that work, Covers,(LEGAL)and Shotguns(ILLEGAL) Your choice. lol

I believe that everyone who has said that their fish come to "beg" from anyone and anything that comes to the pond are talking about koi. My goldfish have to see the food before they will come near anyone but me. They hide when they hear a strange voice but are "begging" at the sound of my voice even when they can't see me. They have a very strong instinct to dive for cover in response to a shadow overhead. Some of them clearly struggle with the conflict between food in my hand (good) and the hand overhead (bad) on a regular basis.

I have some fish that have been in an aquarium for months while waiting for my new ponds to get done. They get excited about seeing me through the glass, although they have no interest in anyone else. But if I look down at them they panic -- food or no food. My hand overhead is OK, but not my head.

Now I also have a tank of fancy goldfish. They have no fear of anything overhead. As a rule, the fancies are "tamer" than pond type goldfish. I suspect that tameness involves a loss of protective instincts.

If you haven't read it, I strongly recommend the article on tame foxes in the March 2011 National Geographic. A group of scientists in Russia who are studying domestication have bred foxes that are as tame as dogs and have observed a number of characteristics that go with tameness.

Great read on the foxes, By the end of that article I wanted one so bad, Looked them up to see if available. VERY EXPENSIVE, I'll stay with KOI, Even high quality Koi can be got for less. But they are so cool!
Also, You refer to the gold fish "" As a rule, the fancies are "tamer" than pond type goldfish."" I'm guessing you are referring to Common Feeder Goldfish as Pond type Goldfish and fancy tailed and colored goldfish as fancy TAMER goldfish. I see my fancy goldfish almost immediately as I walk up to the Pond, the Koi come right behind them. If they spook the Goldfish do seem to hide faster. Koi seem to get into more of a comfort or scared state and react longer after such a attack or scare than Goldfish do. I do think you right though as they have been breed more and handled more the fancier one learn that humans are related to food, where common goldfish are held in much larger schools of fish they don't relate Humans as much with food and therefore act more as they would in the wild when something from overhead approaches.

 

[sissy]

hey he was trying to impress his girlfriend with the fancy food she was going to get .It's a shame it had to be at a fancy stand up pond bar

 

[Malak]

Get the Scarecrow Motion Water Sprayer. Less than $50 on Amazon right now.

 

[sissy]

lol I had 1 of those darn things and you want to know how many times I went down to the basement at night and got hit came back upstairs and had to change my pj's lol .Got it during the day a couple of times too .Think it got me more than anything it scared away .I had company 1 time forgot ,I have to admit we all got a big laugh any way .A couple of glasses of wine and all was forgiven .Need big warning signs to remind you that they are there .LOOK OUT DUMMY YOUR GONNA GET WET .

 

[Malak]

So it works at keeping "sissies" away? lmao

 

[addy1]

So it works at keeping "sissies" away? lmao

Laughing! yep sissy control (if that is possible)

 

[shakaho]

Fishin, "pond-type" goldfish refers to commons, comets, shubunkins, wakin, watonai, and (probably) jikin as well as other kinds still rare in this country. They are "pond" goldfish because they can thrive in a pond, year around, with any other kind of goldfish or with koi.

Fancy goldfish have a "twin" tail and a spinal deformity that makes the body short and deep. They include fantails, which have no other deformities and are "borderline" pond fish; those like orandas, that also have a fleshy growth called a wen on their heads; ryukins who are like a fantail but have a huge hump on their backs; fish lacking a dorsal fin like ranchus and lionheads; pearlscales that have scales with a little calcified bump in the middle of each scale, the bug-eyed telescopes that have vision problems and have trouble finding food, and the real monstrosities like bubble eyes and celestials. I had seen pictures of bubble eyes, but the first time I saw one in real life I almost lost my lunch.

Both pond goldfish and fancies can have either long or short fins. Long fins slow swimming speed, but are not otherwise a problem. The back deformity is what makes fancies so feeble. Fancies do well in ponds if the water is warm and they are with their own kind.

My pond fish totally relate me to food! But they also distinguish between me and other large moving objects that might be around the pond. The fancies don't make that distinction. While some people have trained pond-type goldfish to tolerate handling, many fancies (like many koi) actually like to be handled. Some people put their hand in the tank and their fancy goldfish will swim up and lie in the hand. That's what I mean by tamer.

You can see a lot of the different kinds of goldfish here.

 

[fishin4cars]

Thanks for the link, was well aware of the differences as I keep Ryukins, Pearlscales, a telescope and oranda plus Shubunkins and comets/ sarassas. Some of the ones in that link I have never seen and enjoy seeing the new developments. Just wasn't sure what kind of fish you were referring too when you said pond type as they are all pond raised as far as I know of.
In the Pond we have five shubunkin and two sarassa comets, They know me and will come straight up to the feeding area when I first step on the deck. I have a LARGE Black Comet that has gotten some orange in it over the years, it is the least likely to show up of all the goldfish. As for the Fancier breeds they always come straight to the top for food and attention. The more common goldfish, feeders and straight bodied fish do seem far more aware of their surroundings than the fancier ones but they still come up and are very sociable and interact with us when we are out at the feeding deck.

 

[sissy]

thats for sure got me more times then I think it scared anything away .And no it does not keep me away just makes more determined to get past it .lol geeze I hated that thing finally took it off and put it in the basement .I bet you it would be good for door to door salesmen:lol::regular_waving_emot:lol::lol:maybe when sons want to come over and borrow money I could put it out and give them a hint