2007-07-18 07:51:08 · 8 answers · asked by peter r 2 in Pets ➔ Fish
This is bad because even if you find a way to stop providing free meals to the heron, your fish will be so spooked they'll be afraid of you, too...
I think the best long-term solution would be making your pond another foot deeper (at least three feet deep, total), and eliminating stepped sides that would provide shallower places for a heron to stand. If the pond is too deep for easy fishing, your heron will find another place to poach fish.
Short-term, I have heard those sensors that will turn the sprinkler or hose on when an animal passes by them work pretty well, but I have also heard of people forgetting to turn them off when they go out to visit their pond, and they end up getting sprayed, too! I think the best solution is going to be a net over the pond - not very attractive but probably easier to manage than either the automatic sprayer or reconfiguring your pond. Be sure you add lots of cover, in the form of both lily pads and little "caves" (made of rocks, bricks, terracotta pots on their sides, etc.) for your fish to hide under.
I wish you luck - hope this helps!
2007-07-18 11:05:31 · answer #1 · answered by Poopy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You can try one of those plastic owls, but my experience with one by my garden-didn't help. Not sure if it will with herons. I remember reading on a forum years back, someone rigged up some kind of sensor with the hose-when a heron got too close, it sprayed them with water lol. I would probably look into some kind of mesh or fencing to put over the pond.
2007-07-18 07:56:16 · answer #2 · answered by tikitiki 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a net for it. Or maybe get a dog or a cat to keep the heron away, but the cat might eat the fish too.
2007-07-18 07:54:03 · answer #3 · answered by CNJRTOM 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I put a net over my pond to stop the herons. They took two of my greatest Dragon Koi.
2007-07-18 08:30:17 · answer #4 · answered by whymewhynow 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They make heron decoys, you could buy one and place by the pond to scare off the real ones...Also, make sure you have enough plant cover for the fish to hide.
2007-07-18 10:20:22 · answer #5 · answered by Jennifer A 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Get a stuffed bird of prey and mount it near the fish pond, it should scare away the other birds looking for a free fish dinner.
Maybe an owl or a falcon.
2007-07-18 07:54:35 · answer #6 · answered by Willy 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Fix a trip-wire round the pond,about 6 inches high. I hear they wont step over it. Or get a decoy Heron,then they wont come down at all.
2007-07-18 07:54:24 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
maybe some scarecrow type things?
2007-07-18 07:54:15 · answer #8 · answered by Chris86 dotdotdot 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋