This means WAR!

[capewind]

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.

I need something I am confident that will hold up for the main pond, as it is not easy to get around two sides of it. This is an older picture, but will explain how close to the house and patio it is ... An umbrella does NOT help with this guy one bit. If you look at the old picture, where the marigolds are sitting on the patio, I have a patio table umbrella sitting right there ... again, if you look at the old picture, on the left of the picture, where the rocks get cut out of the photo, that is the spot he keeps coming back to. The other pond will be much easier to cover, and will definately check out home depot for that pond.

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.

This heron has some guts coming to the main pond ... the family room over looks it, and there is plenty of noise inside. Supposedly they dont like noise, but I am not buying it. TV is going and have had a few people in and out. I now have a bowl of gravel sitting inside the familyroom slider to throw near him next time he comes back ... Havent seen him since the last time I posted he was back. Just had a delivery arrive, and was back and forth from the driveway to the gate to look at the ponds and watch the trees he has been perching in ... thinking of maybe putting some of hubby's halloween props out there. Set the rattling coffin hubby built next to the pond ... let's see how he likes that (it's a life size toe pinch coffin, running off a wiper motor and car battery, that spins a cam shaft, to make the boards rattle) ...

 

[capewind]

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.

Good luck to anyone telling me that I cant protect my pets. Since it is a federal law, I wont allow hubby or son to kill him BUT I will use what ever other measures we can come up with, whether anyone likes it or not. We have 3.3 acreas of land, in an area where most people have lots only 6000-8000 square feet. They (the wildlife) can have over 2 acres of our land (combo of heavy woods and wetlands), but what is inside the fence is OFF LIMITS. If the coyotes (who I even feed via compost) and deer can respect the fence, this bird will learn too.

 

[mrsclem]

My deer do not respect my fence. We put up the 7' deer fence and they went thru and over it. They walk right up to our deck. Many have felt the airgun pellets but they keep coming back. We have fawns out right now so have found that a low pump shot to one of them keeps the whole family out for awhile. Haven't seen our heron but guessing since the screen room went back up, he has given up.

 

[capewind]

Maybe the first year or two, we only had electric fencing up, and THAT they would pop right over to come up to eat out of the hay storage shed, but then we did a more solid fence. Most of the fence is only 4' tall ... small stretch where the garden used to be is only 3', and another small area is 6' ... None of the fencing is anything fancy (yet) ... wire fence with a top board, and the 6' section is some old chainlink ... the deer will come up to the fence, but in the 10-12 yrs the backyard has been enclosed, not once have they come over the fence.

Havent seen the heron for a little while now, but not thinking he is gone for good yet... Little nervous right now, as I need to shoot out for a few minutes to give a kid a ride ... sigh ... was hoping hubby would get home before I had to go ...

 

[capewind]

This is really getting old ... gone maybe 20-25 minutes and get back to the $^*((@% standing on the liner of the baby pond ...

 

[capewind]

So I read that heron do not like putting their heads through things ... options are limited for tonight, so got some stakes in the ground, ran around both ponds stringing yarn, and tore an old pillow case into strips to hang on the string (like we did for the horses to see their boundries) ... IF this bird is still determined to put its head through, came up with another idea ... still have the electric charger AND spool of wire from the horses ... it wont harm him, but it will give it a jolt to think about!!! As I type, the movie The War of the Roses is coming to mind .... friggin little bird brain is not getting any more here ... one way or another ... this buffet is CLOSED ... the faster it realizes it, the happier IT will be ....

 

[addy1]

I put up a wide weave netting hanging 3-4 feet over the pond, the bird can't get its head through, I can walk into the water with needing to remove it. And best thing to me not that visible, black wide weave hanging high.

The herons fav place to snack in my pond was the five foot deep area, it would fish from the side since it could not wade in.

I started out with deer netting, just did not like the look of it,also found some dead small birds floating, went to chicken wire, same thing did not like the look and hard to remove to work on the pond. Ended up with the fishing net, that I like, i.e. don't mind, easy to remove. It does not trap the frogs, small birds, dragon flies, etc.

 

[capewind]

I dont really care too much about how bad it looks, but need to do it in a manner where hubby can still work around both ponds too. The lily/baby pond especially needs work around the edges. We are still raising the grade around it, and can only add so much dirt at a time, or it wont settle properly, and in the end, the steep sides I wanted will collapse if we rush it.

This is what I did for a temp fix for tonight after getting back and seeing the damn bird standing on the liner of the lily/baby pond ... You can see the new waterfall behind the temp bridge .. I think getting that running is what attracted it ... can hear more water movement than before:-(

 

[addy1]

I went through a reel of fishing line during the first attacks, the darn bird went through it, tripped went head first into the pond, it was so darn funny!

 

[capewind]

I was joking with a friend earlier that I hoped it got tangled and fell in, but then I realized it could do major damage to the liner. The baby pond is at a stage where it wouldnt be too hard to replace the liner, but with the money we recently spent on the ponds, and the fact that we had 5 pallets of pavers and wall block delivered today (still just another dent in the project), spending even more on a liner would hurt!!!

 

[Dave 54]

Oh Dear what are you going to do about this preditor?....We think that they are a protected species so shooting is out .
As is a crossbow, and a shotgun ..
You could use wire all around the pond at hip hight to the heron, but thats lots of wire.
We have a high powered catapult in our arsenel against the preditor to aim at and near miss each time.
I know you can buy decoy koi which float at the surface allopwing for the rest of your koi to go low plus you can even get aligator decoys .

rgrds

Dave

 

[addy1]

They don't hurt the liner falling in, they hurt it when trying to stab a fish, their beak is tough and sharp.

 

[j.w]

I've got a short wire fence around mine w/ extra wire tied in between and shrubs and some short trees here and there. Lots of stuff jangling in the wind and the MAIN MOTHER that appears to work the best is the water proof radio I put out on the front deck under cover that faces right at the pond. I set it loud to talk radio when I'm not sitting out there. It is hooked to a timer to blast on at dawn and go off at sundown. I'm telling ya it's been years now since any of those darn birds have darkened my pond! My neighbors are far enough away to where the noise does not bother them. I think since it's on talk radio the different voices and such make the birds think there are people around. I just hope it is really working and they don't appear one day but so far so good.

 

[davepratt]

i recommend getting a dog i have two of them myself and no critters have the nerve to venture over to my pond if the did they would be the ones on the menu not the fish lol

 

[capewind]

They don't hurt the liner falling in, they hurt it when trying to stab a fish, their beak is tough and sharp.

I was thinking that sharp beak would cause damage thrashing around too ... it is going to be a long night worrying ... doubt it will come back tonight, but thinking morning .. son has to be at work for 6 am, and then hubby needs to get an early start too, so I can sleep til 7 safely (not that I ever manage to sleep that late) ...