New to forum and desperate

[criscojohn]

Hi! I'm new to this forum and desperately seeking help for my pond. I've been ponding for 6 years now and am pretty competent on most aspects of ponding. My pond has koi, goldfish and some green frogs, with the occasional bullfrog that gets relocated to a wild pond several miles away. My question is about GREAT BLUE HERONS using my pond as a buffet. This has been going on for 2-3 years now. I've used strands of fishing line around the perimeter (it figured out how to get through them). I've added vertical lines to the fishing lines (ditto on getting through). I've used strands of twine instead of fishing line (ditto on getting through, and now the pond is starting to look like S**T). I've made a fence of bird netting and heavier deer netting, with all possible entry points tied closed. (Then it flew in and landed on the 1'wide ledge that was exposed). I covered the top of the pond with more deer netting, tied all possible entry points and now the pond really really looked terrible. My husband and I took it all down and discovered how nice the pond looked without the fortress built around it, so we decided to try the blue heron decoy. I went out and faithfully moved the decoy around every day, sometimes twice a day. It worked for about 2 weeks, and today, the heron was feeding IN my pond while the decoy was cheering it on. We're back to building a fence around the pond again, but before we do, DOES ANYONE HAVE ANY IDEAS OR SUGGESTIONS THAT MIGHT WORK TO GET RID OF A HERON? I'm at my wits' end with this thing. Any help would be GREATLY APPRECIATED!!!! (Sorry about all the caps and exclamation marks--I'm that desperate)
Thanks,
Chris

 

[koiguy1969]

YOU CANNOT USE A DECOY THIS TIME OF YEAR... IT IS MATING SEASON...THE DECOY WILL DRAW IN PERSPECTIVE MATES!!! remington helps anytime..LOL

 

[criscojohn]

Now I have the decoy laying on the ground simulating a dead heron! Maybe it'll get the hint. I have several neighbors who would like to add a heron to their trophy room. However, the dang things are federally protected under the migratory bird act.

 

[koiguy1969]

i thought about doing the dead heron thing too; i just lost about a dozen fish in 2 weeks to a heron. (8 were koi) 3 or 4 the first raid atleast 6 or 7 on the last. nothing preditory is considered protected in my yard anymore.

 

[criscojohn]

Sorry to hear about your losses. It can be very frustrating. Well, unless anybody comes up with anything new, I guess we're off to build another fortress around the pond.

 

[Merlin]

However, the dang things are federally protected under the migratory bird act.

Its only a problem if you get caught...

Hear they taste better than duck, so please report back to us on it.

 

[criscojohn]

I found one of those scarecrow things that shoots a stream of water--it's triggered by an electric eye. It's an old one we had in the garage for the deer (no, it didn't work for them) and thought we'd try it for the heron before we build the fence again. Unfortunately, I can't actually turn it off because the switch is broken. I don't know if it's working for the heron, but I sure get soaked each time I go out to the pond. It seems sensitive enough with a large area that triggers it. I'll let everyone know how it works out. If not, there may be a birdie barbecue in the near future. . .

 

[mister2driver]

Those spray things should do the job, the sudden noise should help.
A fake floating alligator head can scare them too. These are all I learn from an instrustor.

 

[Robyn]

I found these three alligators that looked real enough that I do not consider them eyesores:

http://www.lochnesswatergardens.com/Floating_Alligator_Decoy_p/93000.htm is a segmented full alligator. If you only weight the center segment with a single line... it should swim convincingly!

http://www.toysplash.com/productinf...ine=googlebase&cvsfa=732&cvsfe=2&cvsfp=121484 is a rather cute gator head with baby sitting atop.

http://stores.channeladvisor.com/Aris-treasures/items/item.aspx?itemid=387000 is segmented as well. At only a foot long, I am not sure it would deter a heron. It would look great to go with the head I mentioned above!

 

[MassKoi]

I just ordered the alligator from Aris. It's a Jointed Swimming Crocodile Floats in pool or pond. Crocodile is long 12" long. Crocodile is segmented into three sections. This guy is incredibly realistic looking, great color, great scales and great TEETH! \/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Do you think a Heron fishing in Massachusetts knows what an alligator is.........

Thanks for the links.......Hope it works !!!!

 

[koiguy1969]

they know an alligator when they see one.. its one of few natural preditors of the heron, they see them when they migrate south.

 

[Robyn]

Glad I could help!

The only thing I wonder about is wether a 12" gator would be seen as a deterent... or dinner!

Please tell us how it goes.

My recently aquired pond has pretty large koi (over a foot long) so I am hoping they are big enough to look unappetizing to predators!

 

[koiguy1969]

a heron just got 8 of my koi between 10" and 14", larger ones a heron will spear and toss onto your lawn to get at the smaller ones.. the 12" gator may get the heron wondering if "moms" around tho!!!

 

[Robyn]

Ugh! Thanks... something new to have nightmares over!

I am actually thinking of getting one of the segmented floaters, one of the rock sitters, and the gator head... just because they look kinda cool! LOL

I also like Ari's rattlesnake:

And the frog floaters are pretty cute too!

 

[MassKoi]

The first picture is the one that I ordered. That rattlesnake looks to real :icon_eek:. It might keep predators and eveyone else away from the pond.