Blue Heron

[clark kent]

Something got three of my goldies out of my pond about a month ago. I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and I figured it must have been a hawk or an owl.

Well, tonight, I was sitting out on the porch at the pond, and a HUGE bird landed just beyond the pond. I did not have time to try to get a picture, but I know it was a blue heron. AFAIK these birds are practically unheard of here. In my seventy years here, I've NEVER seen one of these birds here. Quite a sight!

I guess there's no doubt now what got my fish. Probably not a lot I can do to deter it from coming after the rest of my goldies. Is there?

 

[j.w]

Something got three of my goldies out of my pond about a month ago. I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina, and I figured it must have been a hawk or an owl.

Well, tonight, I was sitting out on the porch at the pond, and a HUGE bird landed just beyond the pond. I did not have time to try to get a picture, but I know it was a blue heron. AFAIK these birds are practically unheard of here. In my seventy years here, I've NEVER seen one of these birds here. Quite a sight!

I guess there's no doubt now what got my fish. Probably not a lot I can do to deter it from coming after the rest of my goldies. Is there?

A net is all that I found works great! It's a wide weave net that I have up on 5 ft stakes so I can get in there to work if I choose to.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

Where in Western NC are you? Great Blues' range extends to every county. Around here, we see them regularly at the Kerr Scott reservoir and on the New River. Fortunately I've only seen one on two occasions right on my property & they didn't hang around long enough to find an easy meal. We have a LOT of tree cover, so when they make the occasional fly over I don't think our pond stands out as a good hunting ground. If one has snagged a meal at your place, I'm afraid putting up a net (at least for a while) might be the only way to get him to move on.