Heron's are pretty smart. It will come back. When is the question. My pond gets hit once or twice a year but the heron only takes 1 or 2 big ones each time. There have been many posts here about how to make sure they can't get your fish. Netting is probably the most secure.

They always seem to take my most colorful koi and fancy goldfish. Ten feet away from me on the other side of the pond and he just acts like I am not even there. I have used netting, PVC frames, Scarecrow water cannon and decoys. The pair of decoys seems to keep it at bay. They are territorial and don't approach nesting pairs. They only get together and party at migratory meeeting places. The netting works if it is put up right, The water cannon works on some, not others. He climbed through the PVC frames like they were monkey bars. I think it would be illegal to use a shock fence. Sandy

Do you think if my pond is 4ft deep that I have to worry about these herons?

Good grief! (I laugthed when I read about the electric fence lol!I did visit a fish hatchery once and thats what they did ) Maybe alot of shrubs around the edges and sharp rocks?? I dont know, stuff to look forward to I guess~

Hi
That is the one problem that I have never found a good solution . If wading birds such as herons deeper water will stop them then you get diving birds such as Anhingas and Ospreys lol
I switched to tropical fish while I still feed a large array of water birds the fish breed faster than they can eat lol. Netting is the only positive solution.
Have you had any raccoons ,fish eating turtles , or neighborhood kids yet?? Even more destructive, they find nets a challenge . gary

I don't think 10 feet is enough since we can't teach the fishies to stay on the bottom long enough. Sandy

If there is no place for the heron to stand in the pond that is less than 2 ft deep the chances of having a problem go way down. I have three ponds on my property with one being only two ft deep at its deepest point. That pond the heron get any fish that I put in it but in the other two ponds in 17 years the heron have not gotten one fish. And yes the heron know the other two ponds have fish in them as I have seen their footprints around the ponds but they don't know how to get them.
Mike

Two more things:
1) don't train them to eat out of your hand. I don't think fish are smart enough to tell a person from a heron. ;)
2) have things in the water for the fish to hide under - water lily leaves in the summer, but this early some floating things or underwater pipes. At least then, if the heron shows up, the little guys can get out of view.

Good luck!

:) Mary

My only suggestions is make a net your # 1 priority instead of last resort or get used to losing your fish. I have found nothing but a net to stop them. They will return almost daily once they have discovered your pond. I even had electric fence and watched the Heron duck under the top strand and step over the bottom strand and never miss a step. He still comes around very frequently to walk round and round and drool. I wouldn't be without a net at any time.

My first and last attack was last April. I saw the damn bird. He got one small fancy and another with flowing fins. Believe it or not, I didn't like the small fancy on cuz it swam slow and funny, which. Probably why it got taken. My fish are still scared and very cautious. However, I have no solution, sorry.

Unfortunately, one person's heron solution is another person's demise. Some things work sometimes and not others. For example, a scare owl one heron that had been frequenting my pond out but than another showed up and ignored it entirely. Last summer I strong up fishing line along my pond edges and basically made what looke like a big spider web. It worked. But again, I've heard of herons getting in between fishing line so who knows? Your gonna have to try several different things to find which works and ultimately you may be stuck having to just put up a net -- its really the only solution that works every time.

Herons are wading birds so they cannot fish in deep water. In such cases they lurk around the edges hoping a fish comes by to grab. I have removed all of the shelves and the water is 3' deep. I do not hand feed the fish so they stay somewhat shy of shadows on the water. This practice has saved many a fish.

We are lucky to not get too many big birds as they travel from the river channels around our area. However, we have had attacks and losses ourselves and we came up with a pretty neat solution. Since the dog barely does anything to protect the backyard, we installed a sort of "panic room" for the fish to hide in when being attacked. Our panic room consists of a large travertine marble slab perched on the pond shelf on one side, and cinderblocks on the other. Not only does it allow for a really sturdy (and large) space for the fish to hide in, but it gives you more space to add border plantings and lily flats so that in warmer seasons you do get natural covering. It's worked really well for us and we haven't had a single fatality related to birds since. Now...you can't really train your fish to go in the panic room when attacked...but prolonged exposure to the tunnel will put some retention in their brain that "this is a calm place".

So if you do have enough room, give it a shot. You may not see your fish all the time (they tend to like their solitude) but when they do finally grace your presence, they won't be dead!

Happy Ponding & Good Luck!

Mike from CA

Yes, the heron will come back. I'm sure he already has. We saw 2 last year. They don't give up. I've tried everything and netting is the only thing that has worked. The panic room is still a good idea - we have a large tunnel - but it didn't prevent the fish loss. Herons are extremely patient and he'll get his fish if he waits long enough. If you have a dog or small children about, be very cautious of using a deep pond with no steps or shelves. Once something falls in, they will not be able to get out. I'd rather suffer a fish loss than lose my pet or a child.

Don't be afraid of netting. Ours is not that obtrusive. We have driven stakes around the perimeter of our pond in 10 foot intervals and stretch black netting around them. We leave an opening at the bottom of about 6 inches for the birds and frogs, and my dog, should he fall in. The only issue is the dragonflies, but even they eventually figure out to fly low to get out. At our lowest point, we lost about 14 fish due to herons. Since netting the pond, zero.

Thanks to everyone for your responses.I like the panic room idea.I have a "two piece" pond .Large one flows into smaller on and returns to large on.However ,a large piece of screen blew into the large pond last spring(BF said "it looks horrible,get it out") and algea quickly covered it.The fish loved it and hid under it for whatever reason(there was no heron then),so I left it there.The heron ate ALL the fish in the small side and none in the large side .I'm guessing the the screen saved them.I'm also gonna try the fishing line idea as I don't really want anything to permanent as I need to clean my bottom filter often.
I love this site !!You all are so very helpful and I have learned so much.It is also one of the most active ones in gardenweb.Thanks again!!