Blue Heron blues

I was out topping of the water garden yesterday afternoon when my old nemesis showed for the first time this spring the koi eating heron. I have tried many things in the past to keep him away, the decoy does not work, sprinklers do not work. Does anybody have any grilling tips for Blue Heron? I know that it is legal to shoot wildlife that is doing damage to my property does a larger koi justify taking the thing out?

 

May look ugly but could you lay chicken wire ocer the top?

 

.22 round to the head is a permanent solution....

 

Yep had to use netting over my M.I.L's Koi pond.

 

I seem to only have a problem in the spring. If the heron gets my wife's favorite the 12" fantail, I think she would kill the bird barehanded with great anger and vengeance. The netting is going to be a giant pain because of the different levels and I don't like looking at an ugly net over the water.

 

My parents have a koi pond - the price of some of those fish make me cringe. They also had a problem and had to cover their pond with a net similar to what people cover their strawberry plants with.

I have one down on my pond (it's just a pond, nothing fancy) and it knows when I am out after it. I was told it is illegal to shoot them - but when they are killing duck eggs, it's game on.

 

How about yote cut outs or decoys

 

I am no sniper I am thinking 12 gauge with 4 or 6 shot.

 

lol, you could use top flight netting.

 

The netting is a complete PITA, it is however also effective and legal so.....

Same thing here with the spring time thing IDK.... I did learn one can clean the pond empty in no time

 

Lost a fish last spring to one. The rest have been suffering from shellshock since. Usually they came up to the top when I stood over the pond, waiting for food. Now they just stay under a rock until the food gets to them.

We did have some plastic netting over the pond but it was too ugly.

 

I'm not sure how big a pond you have or are talking about, but what I did was I built a pergola over my pond...gives the fish a place out of the sun, and has cut back the loss from herons.

 

I had my mom put up fishing line along the perimeter of her koi pond and going across the pond in a few spots. (small pond) It has deterred the herons and the ducks. First she asked if she could borrow a gun. LOL

 

You could always go to the local pound and adopt a dog and tie it at the pond, lol.

 

I did stock up on canned soft catfood in hopes I could get War Kitten the barn cat to hang around the pond. I thought about the fish line idea as well. I won't have treated lumber around the pond, heck dyed mulch is off the list as well so no pagota.

 

If you can hide snap mouse/rat traps around heron-attractive spots on your pond, do that too. After a few smashed toes, the bird might hunt elsewhere. I used mouse traps to deter the neighbor's cat from burying tootsie rolls in my flowers.

 

As a member of the Silver Shovel Society I invite you to join. Membership is free. Our motto, the 3 S's, shoot, shovel, and shut up.

 

Score today was blue heron 4 koi 1. The big fantail was not harmed, the 2 koi that hatched in the pond 2 years ago gone and 2 other mature but ugly koi gone the bird got them. Time to handle it country style.

 

Those rubber frogs with in bedded fish hooks that bass fisher men use are very effective.

Just toss them in your pond and let nature take its course, they will only swallow one.

 

My grandfather used to shoot them out of the trees with a .22. They decimated the catfish population in his back pond. Just fish carcasses all over the dam.


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