kponder,

suggestions:
1. Owl decoy
2. Mono filament line strung across pond surface
3. Fang
4. alligator decoy
5. straight deep sides (at least three feet deep or deeper)

LP

A barking dog.......

Snap it's neck! I hate those mangy birds.

-Mike

Straight sides are to keep raccoons out. Herons will stand on the side and wait for the fish to swim within striking distance. The sides and depth have nothing to do with it. True, in a shallow pond or waterway they will wade, but not necessary for them to wade to eat fish when standing alongside will do.

Only one 100% sure way - a net. Anything less is a gamble with mixed results.

I use an owl decoy that I move around the pond every couple of days and two "scarecrows" (the motion sensitive water sprayers) But my newest predator is a water snake. He ate my bullfrogs and hopefully won't come back for my fish...I think when you're dealing with nature you almost just have to accept it's consequences. A man made pond is still a pond and subject to all the things that are trying to survive...I tell you this because for two years I have agonized over how to protect the fish I love. The answer?..You do the best you can without driving yourself crazy...good luck

Cindy has the right frame of mind, comettose has the fish protection method correct and mikemerk has my attitude. At least in my opinion. IMO.
So........
Snap his neck THEN put the net over the pond and alas don't worry be happy.

Here is a link that might be useful: My pond the way it was before the freeze.

Heeeee's baaaaaack! Aaaarrrrrggg!!
{{gwi:203752}}

Ewwwww! He looks like a blind date I had once...his name was Bob.

I have mixed feelings about these birds. They are beautiful and majestic. I would never dream of harming one. Plus its a felony in most states. But at the same time they hunt our pets and we can't have that.

You can't really blame them though, they are just doing what comes naturally. You put a bunch of brightly colored fish in a shallow closed pond and its like ringing the dinner bell for all sorts of animals. I have heard good things about motion sensitive sprinklers and the tension line across the pond. The birds hate anything touching their wings. A "bird" dog is a great help as well. decoys don't usually work.

another thought is to stock the pond with feeder goldfish and make it a heron pond!!! Honestly, if I didn't rely on these koi for income I would welcome herons and egrets in my yard. I would build a huge pond, make it 12" deep and stock it with hundreds of $0.10 feeder goldfish and wait for these amazing birds to pay me a visit.

Thanks for all your thoughts. I have come around to feeling like Horton; while I enjoy the goldfish and am somewaht attached to them, I think i'll just let nature take its course when it comes to the bird. (That includes chasing him off if I catch him!) Although I understand why some folks want or need them, I think nets, lines, scarecrows, or decoys would all detract from my own enjoyment of the pond, which is what its there for.
Thanks again!
~Kevin

turdhead said "another thought is to stock the pond with feeder goldfish and make it a heron pond!!! Honestly, if I didn't rely on these koi for income I would welcome herons and egrets in my yard. I would build a huge pond, make it 12" deep and stock it with hundreds of $0.10 feeder goldfish and wait for these amazing birds to pay me a visit.

That is a cruel attitude about having fish (unless they are koi) and not protecting them or providing a means where they can at least hide. Every creature values it's life. If you don't protect from harm every creature you buy because you don't value it's life then you have no business buying those creastures to be under your care. You just said you would deliberately build a 12" shallow pond so the 'cheap fish' would be taken on purpose, no place to hide, so you can watch a heron or egret eat them. Feeder goldfish deserve a better life than they are given. I guess all small, mutt koi are feeder koi right - so that same philosophy would be valid for them right?

I woke up this morning to find six of my precious kio gone, It brought tears to my eyes to lose them after two years . I am pretty sure it was a blue heron, and even though I have a decoy, I haven't been moving it around the pond to make it seem more real. I think I am going to try the alligator decoy, and a little tension line across the pond, I also realized I have no place for the fish to hide, so that's priority #1, Wish me luck!!!

I am new to this but I put a 6 foot floating snake in my pond...don't know about the animals but has scared several friends. It just floats all over since I have a waterfall. Will see how this works because we have only had the pond for about a month but was worried about all the wildlife we have. Good luck.
That is one big bird!

kponder, I feel your pain and I can relate to the same concerns you have with the pond and its enjoyment. However, I think you need to do something or big bird will pick you clean. I spotted my first Blue Heron in my backyard 2 weeks ago. First time in a year I've seen one. But it was inevitable since we are not far from a major canal. Lost 6 fish in the past few months - not sure who's the culprit but the heron seems likely. Just this morning one of my year old goldfish is missing.

I'm still experimenting, but the motion detector scarecrow seemed to be working until I got complacent and didn't turn it on last night. I would have to say out of all our options, that's the least detrimental esthetically. I love songbirds, so I prefer to stay away from owl decoys. Alligator decoys are quite obnoxious looking to me. Maybe a snake might work. The net is out of the question because of the birds and my welsh corgi, who if he got tangled up in it, would surely drown. Similar concerns with the filament line. One thing every fish pond must have is a place where the fish can go to hide. That way they aren't all fair game. If you don't have a cave built into your pond, there are easy ways to make one. Nature is both friend and foe - we are surely finding this out with a pond!

nancyd, I have two owl decoys and the birds don't seem to be affected by them at all...my feeders (which are not too far away from my pond) are always full of beautiful birds. The owl decoys are working for me. I move them around the pond every few days.

My fish hide in the green water. About 6" down. Perfectly safe. No heron can see anything further down. (nor anyone else...)

:) Mary
*grin*

'ol grey came back this morning and as I watched it, it was not happy to not be able to see past the water surface. My diy motion sensor water jet worked like a charm. The water surface was disturbed making it virtually impossible to see anything underneath it. Of course 'ol grey saw me watching it from inside the window and flew away after our 15sec game of stare. It was about 3-4' tall.

None of those artificial animals will do anything for several reasons.
1. Animals see a different spectrum of light than we do so the fake animals don't look like animals at all.
2. Alligators, crocodiles and other southern creatures don't live in certain parts of the country so even if they were real they would be ignored.
3. Most times they don't care if there is another animal there.

The monofilament line is really nice and so are stringin up all those junk CDs that you get especially if they are strung up so themove around in the breeze. They reflect many different colors of light and the birds just stay away.

kponder...

I would be thrilled to see the majestic Great Blue Heron in my pond. I will take him if you don't want him. :)

It's a shame that humans prefer to build these habitats and then strictly control them. Raccoons and squirrels like my yard for all the same reasons I like my yard. Herons like ponds for all the same reasons WE like ponds. We want to "bring nature to us" but when it comes we get really p*ssed off. That's too bad in my opinion. I understand the investment in the fish but everyone puts fish out full well KNOWING that they attract wildlife that will eat them. It's in their nature. People create a habitat and the animal takes advantage of it. Seems a small trade for the suburban sprawl that we have promoted that has taken much larger portions of THEIR habitat from them. Just my .02 fwiw.

The Scarecrow, a pair of heron decoys or statues and net spread over the top frame of a gazebo all work for me. One Heron decoy is an invitation to compete for territory or mate. Two says you're too late, I'm taken. I never thought of using the scarecrow to disturb the water. The gazebo top is kind of pretty but is only 10 feet squared. Sandy

We upgraded from 3 preformed ponds too one 11x21.5ft liner pond 2 weeks ago, as we were digging the hole every night 2 Herons flew over right above the top of our tree near the pond-as if they knew what we were doing. We are in South Jersey.
I figured we'd be ok , we have outdoor cats & dogs in and out-running around but figured wrong! woke up Sunday morning and 2 of our bigger fish were missing along with 6 smaller fish and also 2 dozen minnows we kept in a small preformed pond for fishing bait were gone. At first I thought coon or cat but didnt find a trace of the fish, normally you might find a head, tail etc.lying around the yard collecting flies...so we assumed it was the heron. Sunday night my dad gave me a 3ft statue of a pelican it is blueish gray- didnt miss any fish Monday morning..Monday night we put line around the pond...our neighbor called at 6am Tuesday morning too tell us a Heron was sitting on the Peak of our roof but by the time we went out he was gone...my other neighbor gave us an owl decoy and we put that up Tuesday night, Wednesday night he flew right above our tree line on the side yard but not directly over our pond..like before when we were building it...we have not lost anymore fish- Thank god, but have used PVC tube and chimney blocks to insure the fish have enough places too hide. Every night I move the pelican & owl around- I dont know what is keeping him at a distance but hope that he stays there...
Heron never bothered the preformed ponds they flew over high up all the time.
Could it be because the liner pond looks more natural than the preformed that has attracted the bird this time?

Who knows how predators find our ponds but they will eventually no matter what we do. The trick is to plan for them and provide cover for the fish.

I have an electric fence (DH converted Fido Shock to copper refrigerator tubing and bamboo) and a large styrofoam floating island planter that has evergreen plants and stays in the pond all year.

I have not lost fish to predation since.

I also have 70% of the pond covered with plants which helps keep the water clear too. Some don't go all the way dormant and provide cover in winter as does the floating island. The plants have covered it so you can't see the styrofoam.

Anacharis on the bottom creates hiding places too.