Just wondering if you guys have any problems with Herons?
We have in the past but it hasn't been this year (touch wood).

We have an oxygen pump with 2 air stones at each end of the pond which makes the fish harder to see and they tend to lurk at the bottom anyway. As a pre-emptive strike we bought some of this: http://www.netfloat.co.uk/

Doesn't look too bad but it's a pain when trying to use a net to remove leaves and bits of grass. What deterrents do you guys use?

Shotgun?  LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

I have a simple net stretched across, supported by a couple of lats. Seems to work ok. I remove it when at home during the day. Always fit at night in time for the Heron's 4-5am breakfast run! Have surprised him on the lawn before now - his VTO is a sight to see! 10MY (Sept 09) TD4 HSE Auto in Stornoway Grey (Now Gone)

08 FL2 TD4 SE Manual in Rimini Red (Now Gone)

I have to net our pond when the heron is about, he often, we are on their flight path as two reservoirs are close by, they fly over early am and again at dusk, sometimes calling in for a snack. They usually spear the fish just behind the gill covers,they will keep coming back till the pond is empty and are allergic to lead, but they are a protected species and the penalties are severe.

There are various different methods to stop them, as your pond is in the ground, stretch some fishing line around the pond about 9 inches above the ground on some bamboo canes pushed into the ground, also criss cross it over the pond, the heron apparently does not like anything rubbing it's legs, the heron also likes to wade, the fishing wire will suppress this.

Agreed, normally a Heron likes to land outside of the pond and walk in so anything to stop it getting in to wade, failing that nail a photo of Chicken George nearby it'll scare anything.

lovely birds I breed them on our riverbanks and release them to go 'hunting'  At work
At home

"I can't always believe facts I read on the web" - Charles Dickens

winner by default of the tractor vs caravan race

chicken george wrote:

lovely birds I breed them on our riverbanks and release them to go 'hunting'

Taste like chicken

Ghyllie oo! Shiney!
____________________________________________
55 Nissan Navara SE Black - My Toy.
08 Freelander 2 XS Santorini Black - Her Majesty's Toy.

http://www.henrykrank.com/index.php?main_p...ts_id=2964

stick a couple of these in proximity to the edge of the pond, they use a fishing line trip wire, a few trips and bangs and it will not be coming back in a hurry ! ( also v,good for two legged nuisances and absolutely legal, - unlike taking pot shots at heron ) 2009 GS Auto Zermatt Silver - Sold June 21 after 10 years of ownership

2016 Subaru Outback SE 2.0 diesel SE Premium Lineartronic Sold 2024 after 8 years and 80k miles . Best Car I ever owned !

2023 Toyota Hilux invincible X 2.8 Auto .

We used to have a Koi pond - quite large, landscaped, nice. The fish we reared were tame, fed from hand etc, and my late wife knew them all by name. We also had an influx of Heron. First the odd one, just passing up the valley, so I thought, wire the perimeter of the pond. It took a while and seemed to work. The Koi grew - quite big fish - and so did the pond's popularity with the local Heronry (some 15 miles away). Further defences - netting, things that went bang, more perimeter wire. Ended up at one point with no fewer than 5 of the grey ba...rds skulking around the pond! Returning from work one day, a few summers ago, went down to see the "family" (Koi) only to find most of them missing and, on close inspection, small piles of scales and bits of fin on the pond bank. Set up a watch in an attempt to find / catch the culprit only, eventually to see an Otter disappearing over the bank towards the stream having wiped out the remaining fish. Wildlife - bah! The pond is now full of water-lily, weed and bugs, predators are a thing of the past and the dragonflies are quite beautiful. Incidentally, our local aquatic specialists said ' you never get more than one Heron working the same area unless you are in an estuary or have a lake' - we only had a pond, so much for expert opinion....

Just thought I'd dig up this old topic as the Heron has been and devoured most of our fish! It decided to eat the smaller fish so we are left with a large gold koi, a large sturgeon and a small but very dark fish (can't recall the type now). This happened at some point since the weekend, then at approx. 6pm tonight, I clocked the f r on the lawn in front of the pond! He made off empty handed when I went out.

The large koi is more at risk of being speared if anything due to its size and I just pray the heron doesn't get the koi or the sturgeon. Its about 6 years now since we had the sturgeon and he's a good size at around 20" in length and has survived many heron visits. The one thing (touch wood) in the sturgeons favour is that he only comes up to the edges after dark. During the day, he lurks at the bottom and being very dark is not so easy to see.

Fed up of buying fish that just get eaten and deterrents that either don't work or are a pain in the backside when pond cleaning needs doing. If the sturgeon survives the latest onslaught, I think another sturgeon would be a better investment than brightly coloured fish. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

The hunter Becomes the hunted  Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I have had a visit also it may even be the same one as I ain't far from you but it only takes the expensive fish so I stopped buying them just the the fish breed among themselves

Just been checking out some blue doitsu koi online which would be harder to see and green tench which lurk at the bottom out of sight. I'll meander down to Wharf Aquatics over the weekend. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey

You cant beat a lead injection,not that i would of coarse!

Not sure what's the point of having fish that lurk at the bottom out of sight?

Luckily, our pond is only 2ft deep at the deep end but it has a very large surface area. This means the sturgeon can still be seen by us but for a heron flying over its not so easy. LL.B (Hons) - University of Derby
LOT (Lord of Time) - University of Gallifrey