A hungry heron can quickly clear your pond of fish. What solutions can be recommended for this age-old pondkeeper problem?
Herons - they like fish, more importantly they like to eat YOUR fish. I had a chap call a few months ago, a Heron had taken three of his Koi Carp, he was almost inconsolable on the telephone, there’s nothing quite like listening to an older man sob uncontrollably to hammer home the amount of damage a pesky heron can do.
So what’s the (humane) solution?
There are many deterrent devices on the market; this is potentially a lucrative stream of income for the manufacturers given that Herons are a significant problem to pond keepers and so there is lots of choice! There are water blasters, harmless electric fences, ultrasonic sound devices and even full size replica herons! I had a customer call whose cat was getting soaked by the blaster! Another customer who found that Herons were (let’s just say) ‘befriending the model.’ I’ve heard all kinds of funny ‘stand off’ moments over the years, customer’s eye balling the herons like the good ‘ol Wild West shoot outs.
The best solution in my opinion is the PondXpert Pond Protectors, given that a Herons usual behaviour is to swoop down and walk to the edge of the pond where they can wait for an opportune moment to snatch breakfast. These protection rings are ideal for stopping that. These rings interlock together and float around the parameter of your pond. They are relatively cheap and do a great job at protecting your fish, they look rather nice too. The Heron can neither stand on them nor poke its beak through them – problem gone! We have another blog post, Pest Deterrents - How To Protect Your Fish From Predators, which goes into greater detail on the variety of products available.