Great Blue Heron

R

rjl420

AC Members
May 13, 2002
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Temecula, CA
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Well, it's getting to be that time again, at least in S. Cali. These birds are mostly migratory, I tend to have run-ins every spring and fall. well, with spring here I have been blessed with the pressence of one or more GBHs. what do you guys do to combat them? I know TJ and myself use fishing line to create a grid line above the water line, but do any of you have any other suggestions?

also wanted to post this so that others that are new to the hobby can get a heads up on the notorious GBH.


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hi, i have a pond too, down in san diego. a heron took about 30 of my koi so i dug out my pond deeper so now its about 4 feet deep or so and it still took a couple and it took my 7 inch tancho showa. right now i have netting all around the the pond, i hung it from the patio roof thats over it but it feels like im a cage when im in there. how did you set up the fishing line? i attempted to make a grid over my whole backyard. went out and brought like 3000 feet of fishing line and came home and my backyard was about 100 feet by 40 feet so i just returned it when i came home and measured the yard. -john
 
Hey blitzen25bm,

Where in SD are you? I live in temecula and work on friars road RIGHT next to the Q. have you ever been to the fallbrook koi farm? that's where I usually buy all of my koi.

First of all I feel your pain, I've lost countless koi to the GBH. over the course of my ~15 years with ponds, I've completely restocked my pond 3 times (4 - if you count the time I left the hose on overnight :eek: ). since adding the fishing line little over 2 years ago, I have only seen the GBH from afar on rooftops or on the fenceline, but never in or near the pond.

I used fishing line run from fence to fence, left to right. then ran more from the roof of my house to my fence (which is on top of a slope) at about 5' intervals. the line from the roof to the house is higher than the other and lifts the otherset of fishing line up about 2' creating what looks almost like a wireframe dome over my yard. it isn't perfect, and there are gaps, but these predators usually wont enter an area that it feels it won't be able to escape quickly if needed. and with wing spans of up to 15 feet, the approximattly 5'X5' grid forces the heron to have to squeeze into gaps.

as a last resort, I do run fishing line at the water surface as well. I create a grid that sections the pond into smaller sections. I say last resort because supposedly once these birds are in the water, they will not step over obticles. This allows the fish in the pond to get away from the bird while it is "trapped" in an area that fish aren't occupying. luckily I haven't had to test my theory yet.

HTH
 
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One other option is to run fishing line at varying heights and angles in the GBHs flight path. the problem with that, is that these birds are very smart and can quickly figure out ways around the line. that's why IMHO devices that are supposed to "scare" the birds away are unaffective, the birds figure out how to get around them in the case of the sound blasters (not the sound cards ;) ) or figure out that the statues/figures/aluminum foil creations aren't any threat.
 
fake herons have to be cunningly placed...they wont have no effect otherwise, but when placed correctly they are extremely effective. herons have a feeding territory, and unless the fake is in their feeding spot, it aint gonna bother them. find out where they are taking your fish from (near enough the exact spot, within afew feet) and place it there.

hope this helps.
 
to tell the ruth id love to see a heron by my pond, call me mad! but thats natural, they've found a nice spot, and i wouild be proud if one chose my pond! but i'll b releasing my dog tyke if they wanna lay their beaks on my fish....lol. his aggressive for a little guy...
 
I spent four winters losing all my prize koi before I figured it out. I staked a net over the water this winter and didn't lose any. I saw 'him' or 'her' do a flyby yesterday.

Last summer, I started losing them despite heavy cover from floating plants. I'm afraid I may have to leave the net on year-round, unless I can come up with something more aesthetically pleasing :(
 
Originally posted by thom336
to tell the ruth id love to see a heron by my pond, call me mad! but thats natural, they've found a nice spot, and i wouild be proud if one chose my pond! but i'll b releasing my dog tyke if they wanna lay their beaks on my fish....lol. his aggressive for a little guy...
Click to expand...

You're MAD!!!

:D
 
cheers. lol.

anyway, i have heard that canes placed around the pond, say two or three ft away, and a foot or so apart, can stop herons as it blocks their landing. i dont think it would be too aesthetically pleasing thou.

you could try setting up a shotgun to fire blanks at random intervals as it would scare the herons away with the sound, but not many people seem to go with this method.

i could think of another way to use the shotgun to get rid of the herons, but that idea aint popular either... ;)
 
HTH,

i live like a mile or so east of the 94/805 merge. are you talking about california koi farm? i haven't been there. i gotten a few from Koi Koi in el cajon. maybe i would be able to net my whole backyard with fishing line, so 5 feet apart is good? i was thinking 5 inches or so and i would have never been able to do that. trees are also in the way. planning on building a wooden frame and then using "bird block" netting or fishing line to over the pond. sucks about leaving the water on and killing your fish i lost an entire pond before too by doing a quick careless water change. i've seen a heron in the yard but i also wonder if maybe there is a raccoon or something. anyone here try heron scarers? the fake fish you tie into your pond for decoys? the japanese friendship garden in balboa park uses the sprinkler scarers but how do you walk in front of your pond with that? ill go see what i can do on my day off tomorrow. any pics or specs of your pond.? mine was built quickly because i thought a deeper pond will save my fish but so far it helped but its not perfect. so its just a rectangle about 10 feet by 6 feet. 3 feet into the ground and about 1 and a half over ground. john
 
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