This means WAR!

[capewind]

I am even trying to think of what we can offer for a "deal" to them ... My thoughts are they may agree to give up the goldfish, simply because that is the size range that is being eaten at present, but want to get the koi too ... The one koi has a clear wound ... I am thinking at the very least to go back next door and dump a couple cups of Start Right Plus in the pond for the aloe for the wound ... As of last week, our son is now mowing their yard, and hubby learned this morning that if the offer on their house goes through, they dont intend to close until October ... plus hubby also will be charging them for removing the deer ... The koi are really not anything special, just pond grade fish, but they have survived to a nice large size, hate seeing them become heron food, or stabbed by the damn heron ...

 

[addy1]

If nothing else put them in your qt until the new owners move in, then put back in the pond with telling them about the heron.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

The new owners may not even be interested in keeping the fish.

 

[capewind]

I cant actually STEAL them, or RESCUE them without the owner's permission, but I was just having a thought that I need to address, regardless of what the neighbor decides to do ... Both QT's have been drained ... been slowly cleaning the filter media ... washing it well in hot water, then adding a bit of bleach, soaking for a few minutes and rinsing WELL, then laying out to dry before putting it away ... IF the owner would let us take these fish, they would go into the 750 gallon simply for being larger, and has better filtration on it ... BUT, I need to figure out the best way to disinfect the 750 itself ... the last fish in there were the ebay babies, who came with anchor worms ... The anchor worms were treated, but I would feel best about figuring out how to thoroughly clean the pond before putting ANYTHING in there ... I wasnt planning on getting any new fish anytime soon, God knows we have PLENTY, so cleaning the QTs was low on the things to do list ...

 

[capewind]

The neighbor told hubby last week that the main pump was shut off as they are losing a lot of water ... We could see today it is still losing water, as you can see a wet line on the rocks ... it hasnt been hot enough to lose 2" of water in a week (since hubby was last over there) and a wet line wouldnt stay more than a day or two ... really hoping the heron put a hole in the liner, and that everyone will get pissed off and want the pond torn out ... shit, I would tell hubby to offer to remove it free in exchange for the fish ... we could use all the rocks here, and it wouldnt take long at all to do, hell even offer to throw down a couple yards of loam and seed it too, I dont care ... we are in the trade, it would only be a half day project to remove and redo the whole area for grass ... As soon as those lilies die back, those fish will have no way to hide from the heron. He has proved to be persistent, he isnt going to give up the free meals next door ...

 

[bettasngoldfish]

any updates?

 

[capewind]

He was back this morning .. first time since I last said he was here ... Hubby sat watching him this morning ... it was the first time he was observed with the string I have around the ponds ...

So he arrived to his favorite tree about 5:30 am ... stayed there for about 15-20 minutes, then flew down into the backyard where he WALKED over to the lower pond, looked at the string ... paced the long backside a few times ... walked over to the bridge, walked back and forth a few times ON the bridge, just staring at the fish, and then WALKED up the stairs (4 30-36" wide rocks) and walked around the main pond ... He just kept staring at the string ... hubby said he could tell he was thinking ... but never attempted to put his head through the string ... after about half an hour of watching, hubby chased him off ... When I went out there this morning, I was amazed at all the tracks from his feet ... it looked like 100 birds had walked around, the tracks were everywhere ... So it looks like string might work ... Im not going to trust the YARN I have up now, but beef it up, and get some lines going OVER the ponds ...

 

[capewind]

Oh, and my lovely neighbors want to still take it day by day ... idiots!!!

 

[bettasngoldfish]

wow, I hope the string continues to work at keeping him out. cant believe how persistent he is :grumble:

I hope the neighbors don't wait until it's too late...

 

[capewind]

As long as he cant get our fish, he can hang out all he wants ... just going to beef it up with string and fishing line, and more posts ...

As for the neighbor, I am starting to not like them at all ... I think their day by day means they will enjoy watching the fish on their weekends here (til the house is sold), and when there are no more fish, oh well ... had a neighbor like this in the past ,.. used to let the dogs run loose ... when one would get killed in the road, they'd just go to the shelter and get another ...

 

[callingcolleen1]

The string and twine works good for me now for the past two years. Good to hear it is keeping the shape beak of that heron away from your pond.

Your neighbors suck, hope they move away soon and you get nicer fish people who are more attentive to the pond!

 

[capewind]

So far, so good with the heron.

As for the neighbors, my fondness for them continues to grow ... hubby went over and took care of the deer strewn across the yard, and they couldnt even say thank you while they were down this weekend ... When they come back next weekend, they'll find a BILL in the door.

 

[callingcolleen1]

I am lucky, neighbors only on one side and they are nice, but no neighbors at all on the other side of me cause they were all flood damaged with sewer backup, and none are fixed yet, and most will most likely be torn down.... so only me and the neighbor who's house faces my pond, are left on the whole block!

Nobody else here left on my side of the block left to complain about!

 

[capewind]

That sounds messy ...

We have over 3 acres, so none of our neighbors are that close ... the neighbor who used to own the house was a bit weird (she was a liberal shrink, and he was just a nut), but they were "nice" ... Every oppurtunity SHE made cookies for the kids ... and they were both in favor of hiring the kids for odd jobs ... The neighbor on the other side, well, the cranky old man died and his kids only come down a few weekends a year, so it is quiet there ... the house across the street, we love him ... He has LOTS of personality to put it mildly

 

[HARO]

An idle mind, they say, is the Devil's playground. I made the mistake of letting my mind go idle, and came up with an idea. How would a paintball marker (gun) work on herons? I'm not familiar with these, but I understand that the paintballs are relatively harmless, even though they sting a bit. Would a nice yellow 'SPLAT' be enough to deter Big Bird? It seems a more humane method than a 410. There must be members on here who have and use these markers. Any ideas?
John