Herons

[richg]

I want to put some line criss cross over my pond to protect it from herons.

What do you suggest i use ? would fishing line be ok if so what breaking strain should i use

or is there something else that would be better.

rich

 

[DirtMechanic]

Do you have Koi? Something else?

 

[Sean Regan]

Herons are very resourceful, they know about lines on the many ponds they visit and can step over them.
I've never been bothered with herons, as my pool is 5ft deep with sheer sides and a perimeter of big uneven rocks, which would not give these ungainly birds a sure footing. They can swim if necessary but don't lke to get their bums wet and would have difficulty taking off in an emergency if their feet were not on the bottom of a shallow pool.

Your best bet is some black fine small mesh netting stretched tight across the whole pool. Garden centres with fish sell it. When you look out of the window, you won't notice it.

 

[SQWIB]

I had a few visit over the years, my mom had to put netting over her pond, I wont put netting up, its not worth having a pond that I have to look through netting.
The problem with netting is they will still poke at the fish anyway causing harm.

 

[Sean Regan]

Net?

What net?

I used to cover my pool in the winter with float-on heavy duty bubblewrap. But haven't for the last two winters, the fish haven't suffered for it.

I use this net to keep the falling wisteria leaves off the pool. The following year I found I didn't need the wire to support it, keeping it taught was enough to keep it well clear of the water.
From our lounge window it becomes invisible.

 

[SQWIB]

What about plants?

 

[richg]

What about plants?

I have 25% of the pond covered in water lilies + a few plants around the edges,i have just put some plastic pads in the water all around the edges so that the heron hasn't got anything stable to stand on.
Time will tell.

 

[Sean Regan]

What about plants?

No plants in koi pools, they'd just eat them.

 

[SQWIB]

I dont have any problems with my Koi eating the plants. Not yet anyway, lol
What I did in my Koi pond was to make hiding spaces, a portion of the pond has milk crates with all the sides cut out, on top of this I put my potted plants to hide the milk crates, so far it has been working out.

 

[Sean Regan]

I dont have any problems with my Koi eating the plants. Not yet anyway, lol
What I did in my Koi pond was to make hiding spaces, a portion of the pond has milk crates with all the sides cut out, on top of this I put my potted plants to hide the milk crates, so far it has been working out.

You need to be careful what you put into a koi pool. Everything needs to have smooth surfaces, no rough edges. Koi are susceptible to skn flukes (either real or imagined) and if the can find a rough surface they can "flash" against it. As an example someone I knew had a fibreglass lined pool. A lot of his fish developed sores. He found there was a tiny area of the pool where the gelcoat wasn't applied properly and there were some fibres exposed. The fish had found it and had been rubbing against it

 

[SQWIB]

You are 100% correct. Notice the torch in front of the milk crates? That was used to melt the sawn edges to make smooth.

 

[Sean Regan]

You are 100% correct. Notice the torch in front of the milk crates? That was used to melt the sawn edges to make smooth.

I should have said mine was more of a general comment, not really a criticism, someone might have seen what you've done and decide to do the same, not being aware of the precautions you've taken.

 

[SQWIB]

I did not take it as a criticism, I actually thought to myself, this guy knows what he's talking about.
But glad you pointed out the possibility of it being unsafe.

 

[byardbob54]

We used a fake floating alligator in our pond to deter raccoons even though we don't have the real thing around here. The owner of one of the local garden centers that sells koi reccommended using one. We had pond netting tucked under heavy rocks around the perimeter of the pond and covering the top but the raccoons just ripped right through it to get to the fish. Several times we found the rocks at the bottom of the pond in the morning with the net pulled out as well. Our gator "Alli" was for the raccoons but it seems to have worked for herons as well. Its just a floating head but it looks like a real gator. Our neighbor down the street had a heron clean out the majority of his fish but we haven't had any visits. Fingers crossed. Here's a good article on them "The Complete Alligator Decoy Guide". Hope this helps save someone some fish.