Okay I need help ASAP
A Blue Herron decided as he flew by that he liked my pond and could get a free lunch,, Never had this happen to me before in my area which is Ohio, but anyway he wiped out my pond ate all 10 fish. I know that they are territorial how do I get rid of this pest before I re-stock the pond, I am not going to keep suppling his lunch . Any ideas please.
JoAnn
Blue Herron
How big is the pond? We use a plastic Blue Heron life sized mounted up high to keep away Blues. It will not keep away other Herons though.
Wow. I have heard that you can put up a plastic bird but I have also heard some folks say that during mating season that might just lure them in ! I think a net is the quick fix and I have read about some folks suspending wire above the pond but I know all that is a hassle. Good Luck
Well all the fish are gone and I have to start over, I have heard that fake ones might help, I have two ponds one is 1200 gallons and one is very small 160 gallons this is the one that caused the problem. I guess the small one was just easy pickins LOL.
JoAnn
Sound like your small pond is shallow and he just waded in and had a buffet. At the minimum - maybe some rock structures for the fish to hide would help.
So sorry.
Well the neighbor came over today to ask if I was missing any fish, well the pesky Blue Herron has been busy, he has wiped out three ponds in the last week. He has to be living around hear somewhere to attack three different ponds.
JoAnn
I feel for ya JoAnn. He was here last year. I have not seen him this year but sure do have a lot of geese flying over. If it isn't the birds, it's the raccoon and opossum! Is there any way to put some sort of pergola or arbor or something over it?
Hey Badseed, How's it going, Well today I went and bought two fake Herrons to see if that stops the Pest. I am about to receive some very nice Butterfly Koi and sure wouldn't want them to be lunch.
has anyone tried the sprinkler with the motion detector? Last year the heron (?) left us alone, this year he comes by to have a red comet buffet. I was thinking the sprinkler would make a good fathers day gift, if anyone has had good results.
I bought a blow up snake from the garden center . I tied fishing line around it and weights so it would not blow out of my pond. Every few days I moved it around so the birds( heron, hawks etc) would not figure out ir was fake. IT WORKED !!! THe UPS man even honked his horn instead of getting out of his trunk to deliver me a package. It fooled him. !! I also have a plastic owl that I hang from a plant hanger that is a stake in the ground and I also move it around. I have a floating alligator that also is in the pond. Have not seen any herons lately !! GOOD LUCK !!!
Oh how wonderful that you scared the UPS man LOL. It appears that you are trying everything. Well I put 6 new fish in the pond we will see what happens, they are still there after 5 days.
JoAnn
We have a new pond - about 4 weeks old. A blue heron nests right across the river from us and so far he hasn't stopped at the pond. We've done two things to discourage him. 1 we got a heron decoy and we move in once or twice a day so the real heron won't decide it's a fake. 2 my dh used fishing line to fan out over the shallow part of the pond. An extension agent told him that the heron will see the line and not try to fish there for fear of getting his neck caught. We have 10 koi and lots of minnows to protect and so far it's working.....fingers crossed.
sugarfoot, Boy I am glad that it is working for you that's alot of fish congrats.
So far no more have been eaten this time the fake Herron must be doing his job also.
JoAnn