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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
 United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
 Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:13:46 AM
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He has had one of my big fish this time, I have just been down to the pond and he has hooked out a foot long koi and just left it on the grass beside the pond he hadnt even bothered to eat it it had a stab wound in it and it was dead, but it must have happened fast as I had gone down earlier and he wasnt there then! I am beside myself wondering how I can stop him clearing out my pond, it is stocked with many expensive and beautiful koi and their babies, he seems to eat the babies, I have a good cover of weed but he still gets them, any more suggestions?
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alethea
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
1526 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:23:50 AM
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We have the same prob here so would also be interested to hear of any suggestions!
The ducks were even eating the tiny baby koi the other day!!  
Alethea
Aristotle Arabians  |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:31:39 AM
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My yard landlord has a very large pond (could be a small swimming pool!) and he has had to resort to covering it with a net. After spending LOTS of money on fish, he decided enough was enough and a couple of years ago put a net over it. It does detract from the look of the pond but then you also get used to seeing it. He also has lots of reeds and floating lily pads but the Heron still got all his fish. He even bought some foot long ones like yours Lynda thinking that they would be too big but those were taken as well. They were £60 EACH!!!!!
Vera and Dennis |
    
Hampshire |
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beagle
Bronze Member
United Kingdom
92 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:39:36 AM
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| Is the Heron an endangered species? he will be if he carrys on.Shotgun comes to mind.My soon to be son-in-law suggests if my Beaky did not work to lay plaiting thread from one side to the other you can attach each end to a tent peg or similar to tighten across the pond in a criss cross fashion at a low level so it is not so obtrusive as netting.Failing that leave a packet of PAXO at the pond he might get your drift!Lydilou. |
susan carman |
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unicorn leather
Bronze Member
England
229 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:42:51 AM
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We cover our pond with a net too, luckily it's only a small pond, the frogs lay their spawn on top of it and we have to try to extract it from the netting!
Failing that, the next time the Heron turns up, I'll shoot a warning shot over it's head.
Oz :)
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Traditional Working Saddler |
Edited by - unicorn leather on 09 Apr 2007 09:43:35 AM |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:47:34 AM
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I should have said that the netting used is very fine dark green. It is also very low level so it really isn't that obtrusive.
Don't know if I should admit this but he has shot them in the past, but there's always another one to take its place.
Vera and Dennis |
Hampshire |
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unicorn leather
Bronze Member
England
229 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 09:53:59 AM
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But then he can just reload his gun!
I wouldn't hesitate to shoot the damn thing if it didn't take my warning shot!
Oz :) |
Traditional Working Saddler |
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Vera
Membership Moderator
United Kingdom
8652 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 10:03:42 AM
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Yes but he can't lay in wait all day, every day!
Vera and Dennis |
Hampshire |
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 10:05:11 AM
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| If you don't want to use a net you can put a wire round the pond, Herons need to actually get into the water to takethe fish, they b******s have had some of my koi too! if you put in stakes about a foot high round the edge of the pond and string wire around the whole thing it should stop them, any wire will do but I think you can get small electric fence kits for this, I'd run the mains through it! |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 10:29:03 AM
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Lovely picture Rosy is he yours? I am off down to the garden centre to try and get some wire and pegs, because the irises and reeds, and other flowers around the pond are to high for the netting, or they get squshed. Vera My fish cost several hundred pounds each so I really get annoyed with him, he has never taken a large one before but he takes the babies when they get to about 3 to 4 inches long |
www.dreamfield-arabians.com |
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 10:34:06 AM
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Wish to horse was mine! he's Shahin, I have a mare by him and wish I could get her so clean!
good luck with the wire. |
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Roseanne
Moderator
United Kingdom
6708 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 10:51:34 AM
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Don't know how big your pool is but if not TOO big you could do what my sister does. She has a garden pool, big enough to have loads of fish in with two VAST koi, about 15 - 18 inches long and FAT.. She has had frames made, wooden with chicken wire on top and when they're not sitting out in the garden, the frames go over the top and are taken on and off quite easily, keeping the fish safe.
The herons are like foxes, they keep coming back to check whether there's any change and whether the larder door has been left open! |
Roseanne |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
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Deboniks
Platinum Member
England
3776 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 1:01:20 PM
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My dad used to have a pond and he had a life like bird of prey ornament that kept things away,or you could get an ornament of a cat?. Another idea is to run an electric wire around the pond to stop things getting in...good luck.
I have to ride over a very narrow bridge and always have to whistle before I do as the heron always flys up from under it,I'm sure he waits for us! |
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Pashon2001
Platinum Member
3575 Posts |
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crinks
Gold Member
England
650 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 3:42:50 PM
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| You can try what we tried at the ayrd to stop herons................... small stakes at each corner of pond with fishing line attached, thread a cd onto the line at intervals and then tie them off all around the pond, we found the herons hated it! |
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Lanabanana
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
2691 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 4:39:07 PM
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Agree with the others, netting is definitely the way to go. My Dad has a pond and used to have Koi, his netting is about 6 inches from the surface of the water.
Rosie, I have that picture on my wall as I have a Shahin offspring too, I also have a small drawing of him that I came across in a tack shop in the Midlands about 10 yrs ago |
     
Hampshire. |
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unicorn leather
Bronze Member
England
229 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 5:10:46 PM
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I have also heard that Herons are territorial and you can get a life size heron model to place next to your pond, I believe that if the rogue Heron sees it, then it won't land as it won't encroach on another's territory.How well it works though I don't know!
Oz :) |
Traditional Working Saddler |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 5:11:35 PM
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Here is my pond
complete with plastic heron, as you can see I have a few big ones as well as ordinary sized ones the one he speared this morning was a bigish one
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akitamom
Gold Member
England
903 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 5:36:44 PM
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| Stunning fish,we used to have koi but they are very time consuming.How long do you spend tending the pond. |
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LYNDILOU
Platinum Member
United Kingdom
13976 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 6:31:03 PM
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I dont do anything to it in the winter, the fish all go down to the bottom , its deep,but come spring they come to the top and want feeding, so I guess thats when the heron see's them we keep the water quality good and have a good filtration system, but its not really a koi pond Koi are supposed to be kept in special ponds without weed and plants) more an ornimental pond with a few water lillies, and some plants around the edge, in a few weeks time I doubt the heron will see them once the plants start to grow, but I went and bought some wire today and I have staked it out around the pond, now I will just see if it works Hey look there are some horses in the background
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 6:40:32 PM
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Oh - how lovely!! Don't have any help though about stopping the Herons!
We have a lot of Herons round here - ideal breeding country for them apparently! Back last Autumn I was out on Sly riding down our lane - have to cross a small bridge over the river - got 1/2 way across & a Heron took off from the river on the left of us - I felt its wing-tip brush my face - it was that close!!!! Sly just carried on - not bothered! They are VERY BIG birds at close quarters!!!
Judith |
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Roseanne
Moderator
United Kingdom
6708 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 6:52:24 PM
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| Although I can see how devastating Herons are to people like Lynda (fantastic pool and fish Lynda!!) I too have felt very lucky seeing them at such close quarters while hacking out. It's one thing I love about riding. If you're alone, you can get so much nearer wild animals cos they don't seem to mind the horse. Never had one brush my cheek though. Spooky! |
Roseanne |
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Judith S
Platinum Member
Wales
15686 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 7:04:47 PM
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Roseanne - you really don't want to be as close as I was! Sly amazingly wasn't bothered - he did flick a ear & did a couple of quicker strides but that was all! Suppose my lot are used to phesants!! We border onto farmland owned by a local estate - they release hugh number of birds every year for their shoots - we end up with a lot living here - over the boundry! My neds are all used to them scuttling in the hedgerows on the lanes & flapping etc as we ride past! Makes for pretty flap-proof nedds!
Judith |
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rosyw
Platinum Member
England
3756 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 9:04:16 PM
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Lynda, Really hope the wire does the trick, you have some lovely koi.
Denise, nice to find another Shahin offspring, somewhere on one of the PC;s I've got a piccie of him when he was Res. Nat. Champ in Sweden.
Rosie
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Roseanne
Moderator
United Kingdom
6708 Posts |
Posted - 09 Apr 2007 : 9:04:49 PM
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There's an estate near me called Cornbury Park (very close to Blenheim) where they breed pheasants to kill and because they're released from sheds they don't have any sense of survival.
My daughter and I once counted 58 squashed birds on the A44 from Chipping Norton to Woodstock, past Cornbury. they just saunter onto the road and get splattered.
It made me really aware of the 'breed to shoot' mentality. Not my style I'm afraid; but then we're back onto the fox hunting question.
My neighbouring farmer has had a set of triplet lambs taken by a hungry vixen last week. Put them out with their mum after 48 hours bonding in the shed, and they were gone the next morning.
My brother in law found half a newborn lamb left by a fox in his tractor shed last night.
Mother nature.... |
Roseanne |
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