This means WAR!

[capewind]

Aside from posting some baby pictures, have been super busy and not able to visit the forum much lately. As some may remember, the main pond's pump went down a few weeks back, which required totally replumbing the pond (due to changes that were either planned or in progress). Hubby got enough pumps going to keep the water conditions safe for the fish, although ugly. With the full sun exposure, and the UV disconnected, the pond quickly turned green... So he finally got the new plumbing done, and over the last week, the pond has gone from green, to clearly being able to see the bottom of the pond at 5' again, not beautiful crystal clear water yet, but it should only be a matter of a few more days for that ...

As the water cleared, I noticed one of my koi were missing ... The pretty white ginrin with the black and yellow dots ... No body floating, and no one stuck to the intakes ... At first, the water wasnt still visible to the depths, and he was one of the more skittish fish, so was thinking, no body, he must be hiding. Well, a couple days ago, the visibility was clear enough to see he was NOT in the pond. Searched around the pond looking for a body. While he wasnt a known jumper, we do have a few that will jump out of the water for a flying insect (no loses to this activity) ... So then changed to searching for tracks of a predator. Nope, no paw tracks or plant disturbances ...

Meanwhile, this morning, had a problem with the skippy filter on the lily/baby pond ... Dont have a top grate in yet, so need to make sure the media doesnt plug up the discharges into the pond and cause the skippy to overflow ... It was overflowing this morning (no risk of draining the pond) ... SOOO, I look out the slider to check on it (it was fine, it doesnt plug often) to see a HERON maybe 8' away from me at the edge of the main pond trying to take flight.

SOB we have been found:-(

As I am writing this, the friggin thing just came back!!!

Here's a picture I got an hour or so ago.



So pissed off right now!!! It is taking everything in me not to grab my gun (cant fire in a residental area) ... son has a M4-GBB (Gas Blow Back) but is out of CO2. Son just went to grab the bow, and cant even use that, as all he has left is mechanical heads!!! (Mechanical heads, the blades open on impact, and are too big to use on a "bird") ... Feeling so helpless. What good are all these weapons if I cant kill a stupid bird???

So I am stilling here twiddling my thumbs watching for it (to chase it off) ... Have some items to make access more difficult, but cant (wont) leave the ponds unsupervised, to go get missing items ... Son has to leave for work, and have a delivery due, so cant leave anyways ... Need to wait for hubby to finish with work to do anything ...

I know Herons are an ongoing problem, and came on to go through old posts to find things that work (term used loosely I know) ... If anyone can save me some reading, it would be greatly appreciated. Looking for tricks that work the best that can be implemented today. I dont care too much if it is ugly.

Neither pond have any shelves, water depth of the lily pond is 3' throughout with near verticle sides and main pond has steep sides to 4-5' ....

back again ,,, grabbed this picture from inside ... son is going to try to at least maime it with the bow when it comes down ... It is sitting about 60' up in the top of a pine tree, maybe 100' from the pond ...

 

[Carolyn22]

Wow. Really sorry to hear this. I know once a heron finds your pond, it is only a matter of time before they will clean you out. Let us know what you do to deter this bird.

 

[JohnHuff]

Hello!
Please don't maim it or kill it! He doesn't know any better, he's just trying to eat. And he might be protected under law too.

I would suggest:
1) Strawman
2) Netting
3) Motion sensor sprinker:
http://www.amazon.com/Contech-CRO101-Scarecrow-Activated-Sprinkler/dp/B000071NUS

 

[capewind]

So far, he hasnt shown any interests in the lily/baby pond .. maybe them being so small and with coverage from the lilies, he doesnt realize there are fish there. His target seems to only be the main pond, which ironically is against the house and patio ... Son told me to stay inside and away from the slider as the damn bird is just sitting up in that tree waiting for the coast to be clear ...

So he decided to take a nap ...



Son snuck out, and threw a rock up at the tree to disturb him and he flew off ... he has to be at work in a half hour ...

Now he is back again in the next tree ... just sitting there watching.





I am going to seriously lose my mind today!!! I feel like a stalker just sitting in the middle of the floor watching the damn thing!

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Sorry you lost a fish :frown:

I keep a net on my pond at all times. For two reasons-One being I have found animals that have drown because they couldn't get out of the water. And two because I lost a few fish who I suspect became dinner to either a neighborhood cat or another critter.

The net doesn't look great and can be a pain to have to deal with but it does give me peace of mind.

 

[capewind]

Hello!
Please don't maim it or kill it! He doesn't know any better, he's just trying to eat. And he might be protected under law too.

I would suggest:
1) Strawman
2) Netting
3) Motion sensor sprinker:
http://www.amazon.com/Contech-CRO101-Scarecrow-Activated-Sprinkler/dp/B000071NUS

OMG! I was so pissed off, I didnt think of the LAW ... friggin things are federally protected against HUNTING ... now I need to research the law ... well, guess when hubby gets home, we'll be getting CO2 while we are out ... the MP can be sprayed around it ... maybe that will help it to decide to dine elsewhere.

 

[Mmathis]

This summer, we had our first GBH sightings at the pond. It's like your world suddenly turns inside out!

No advice, except netting. From what I've read about them, once they FIND you, you're forever in their memory!

 

[capewind]

Other than over the winter, we lost some GF/Shubunkins to "something" when they were in the unfinished bog, nothing else has realized we had the ponds ... Plan to fully net the ponds now, but it will take a few days to get netting delivered (going to order avian netting). Our little sandbar of a community doesnt offer anything more than basic 9x12' deer netting ... Need to rig something to cover the short time ... Was thinking of stealing hubby's silt fencing, but he doesnt have enough, and that stuff is $100 for a 50' roll (comes with stakes) ...

 

[JohnHuff]

I don't know how big your pond is, but we got our netting at Home Depot pretty cheap. You can get sheets or rolls. We bought a roll of 7' x 100' for about $14. What I've done is build a frame out of PVC pipes and then zip tied the netting to the frames. The frames just lay on top of the pond and it's worked pretty well so far. Next year, we plan to build a much higher and bigger frame so we can sit around the pond inside the netting to enjoy the fish!

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I don't know how big your pond is, but we got our netting at Home Depot pretty cheap. You can get sheets or rolls. We bought a roll of 7' x 100' for about $14. What I've done is build a frame out of PVC pipes and then zip tied the netting to the frames. The frames just lay on top of the pond and it's worked pretty well so far. Next year, we plan to build a much higher and bigger frame so we can sit around the pond inside the netting to enjoy the fish!

Sounds interesting....Can you post a picture of the net with frame on your pond? Just curious to see what it looks like.

 

[capewind]

Been doing some research and Herons are not a diving bird, and watching this bugger come and go, it needs room to fly away ... from the ground, it has difficulty clearing the trees, With netting the ponds, the net needs to be high enough that if they land on it, that they cant still "spear" the fish. While they may not get to eat the fish, they can still kill or injure them through the net. I dont know how true it is, but I am reading that they wade in 18"-2' of water ... the most shallow parts of our ponds are at 3', so hoping that means he cant stand in either one ... so that brings me to side access only ... I cant TELL the fish, hey, unless we are out there, to stay atleast 2' down if you go near the edges of the pond LOL ... The lily pond is a basic rectangle, and easy access, so pvc is an easy fix and can piece meal netting to fit ... The main pond is kidney shape. with very limited access from two sides (against the house and patio) ... I need to go over options with hubby when he gets home, but for the main pond, was thinking of setting 4 posts, with 5/4" decking boards to frame it at the top, and then drop avian netting over it, so we can secure netting to the ground ... The surface area of both ponds are about 11/12' x 18/20' each ...

 

[capewind]

This is going to be a LONG day ... back again!!!

 

[JohnHuff]

capewind, the netting from HomeDepot is fine enough that his bill won't go through it. Can you put up some scarecrows? A beach umbrella or some patio furniture might be enough to scare him off.

NSFW - Um, I just Googled blow up dolls and you can get one for under $20. You can zip tie a few on some patio furniture to make it look like you have a party going on. It might scare away the heron, but then you might scare your neighbors and maybe get a visit from the local police too.

 

[JohnHuff]

Mine is really basic, just 2 flat frames with some small side frames, but check these out!

https://www.google.com/search?q=pvc...OOgigLbqYGoDg&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=924&bih=493

Sounds interesting....Can you post a picture of the net with frame on your pond? Just curious to see what it looks like.

 

[mrsclem]

I had a customer come to buy fish last week that had birds clean out his pond. DNR had told him he could not put up netting as it might injure protected birds (eagles, hawks, herons). They threatened him with a $10,000 fine if a bird got caught. Pond is in back yard, what happens in your back yard, stays in your back yard. Guess they wouldn't like my air pump rifle!
I have pvc pipe posts around my pond. Some 2" and some 4". I hang netting over it so it is a screened in room for the fish and I can lift it up to work. Not too pretty but the heron can't get in. The deer do manage to get in to get a drink.