Startled this mornin'

[koiguy1969]

So this morning at about 5:20.. I'm minding my own business and sitting on the deck by the steps, leisurely enjoying my cup of Folgers classic roast.(you know its the best part of wakin' up).I've got my head turned to admire the sky, and its early morning colors,as the sun creeps its way onto the horizon. As i turn my head back to savor another sip of joe, what is coming straight at me, about 10 - 15 feet away. a GREAT BIG great blue heron. backflapping his wings to land, and comin' in fast. and i left miss daisy inside, cocked and ready to go. but on the kitchen counter. his feet touched ground no more than 7 feet from me. only to immediately bounce back up at return to flight in retreat and escape. i think we may both have doo-dooed ourselves simultaniously....Any how, i thought i might share this amusing little annecdote with my fellow forum members.........thanx for reading!!

 

[x-Adam-x]

"you know its the best part of wakin' up" lol

"i think we may both have doodooed ourselves simultaniously..." lmao

 

[koiguy1969]

glad you enjoyed the short!.....................think i might just go brew a pot , and see if it'll be the best part of my afternoon!!!!

 

[koikeepr]

Oof! That's what happened to me last fall. I was calmly outside and from my extreme peripheral I see something big in a tree. I figured it was just a hawk. And then when I looked up there was a massive GPH in the tree above my pond. Needless to say 4 fish disappeared....

I hope you chased that sucker away before he made sushi of your fish!

 

[koiguy1969]

koikeepr...he never touched down,(reread) GBHs like to land away from the water and sneak up on the pond... you know they will sit or stand in strike pose for 20 minutes or more.

 

[D&RW]

I've about resigned myself to Dr. Dave's formula for preservation of our koi friends, i.e. netting and lethal force. my neighbor bought a scarecrow and awoke this morning to find a GBH standing in his pond chowing down. Don't know if he had the Scarecrow set up right or not, but I think so. I know I had mine set up right but still lost two fish two days ago.

Dr. Dave says he thinks the scarecrow is useless. I'm not so certain that it's entirely useless, but my advice would be not to depend on it. I think if a person is going to have their pond uncovered for a period of time, the idea would be to move the scarecrow around daily. This ups the chance for the surprise factor to work. I also think there's a role for the new gardenpond guard 2. I think it's an adjunct, might help but don't depend on it.

The ONLY near sure thing is a net and if possible lethal means. Now my challenge to all of you is to design a net application that is quick and easy to put on and off. I've heard of the PVC pipes, and seen the domes in the catalogues. I suppose if they made a dome big enough it might work for me but it'd be huge and hard to maneuver.

So, what I'm working on is a roller. Imagine a 20 ft. piece of 2 in ABS pipe. at each end are reducers to hold a 1 in pipe that extends out each side. The extended pieces will set in two stands. One of the extended pieces will have a crank on it. The net will be rolled up on the 2 inch pipe. Two string/ropes will be tied to the ends. To deploy the net you'll just pull the two ropes across the pond and attach them to hooks on the other side. To retract it just reverse the process.

 

[ZmanArt007]

Nice idea D&RW. Let us know how it turns out.

 

[D&RW]

Here are some pictures of the start of the pond netting device. Right now it's just cobbled together, but it gives a bit of an idea of what I have in mind.
Note on one side is the 4 in. ABS pipe. On the other side is 1 in. common conduit. What I think I may ultimately use on that other side is a standard chain link fencing pole in green.

 

[D&RW]

Nice idea D&RW. Let us know how it turns out.

thanks. will do

 

[koikeepr]

Your pond landscaping is really filling in nicely, D&RW. Very nice job.

 

[PS3]

crazy thing if u where still inisde he would have got the fish
thank god u where out there

 

[koiguy1969]

PS3,no sir...if i was inside he would have been stung by miss daisy!!!! HEY D&RW how did my simple annecdote become a forum for your photo shoots?................lol

 

[DrCase]

When you see them that close they are really big
Sitting on a deer stand along a ditch i have had them fly by at eye level
a few feet away ...it gets your attention

 

[DrDave]

How far did you have to lead them?
Hunters will get this...

 

[koiguy1969]

this one definately dwarfs the decoy!!!