Water Gardening: My decoy heron just arrived, 1 by cathy166

cathy166 wrote:
We have lost fish to raccoons and herons. The decoy was not much help. In addition raccoons are vicious critters and destroy the pond plants as well as the fish. It is my understanding that flashing lights deter raccoons.

Last year we netted the pond with deer netting to protect the fish. When it was clear that raccoons had paid an unsuccessful visit, we battened down the hatches and put chicken wire on top. We had several more raccoon visits. They became so angry they left their poop around the pond, but they never succeeded at ruining the plants and fish. By fall with autumn leaves on top, we were no longer able to enjoy the pond, and had become so frustrated we came up with the solution: We made an indoor pond and brought our finned friends inside with the pond plants. They had a very comfortable winter and so did we. They have become so enjoyable indoors that we don't have the heart to send them outside.

Here are a few happy fish.

Our pond is fishless this summer, but we've been able to keep the herons out of the house.