Save Your Koi and Gold Fish from Greatest Predator, the Heron

Herons are beautiful and graceful birds. We all like to see them standing beside a small stream, hunting for food. We do not, however, like to see them standing beside our newly built garden fish pond, hunting our prized and very expensive specimen Koi.

Because herons are a protected species, we have to come up with methods of dissuading the birds from landing in our garden in the first place, and secondly, from picking off our fish one by one until they are gone.

1. Herons are intelligent birds. They know when they are on to a good thing, and if they are successful in catching and eating a fish from your pond, they will return again sometime in future for more.

2. Herons land on the ground next to the pond as they fly in, and then walk to the waters edge to feed. If we prevent them from landing in the first place, then we will win the battle. A dog that spends most of it's time in the garden is effective, as is a scarecrow - so long as it is regularly moved. Once the heron realises that the 'human' shape is no more than a dummy, you will have lost the game.

3. Make the water's edge uncomfortable for the grey heron to stand on and to fish in. We can do this in a number of ways:

* Grow plants around the edge of the pond which have sharp-edged leaves and thorns, examples are pampas grass, and the passion thorn/Easter thorn plant.

* Dig out the edges of your pond to make the sides steep and deep. A heron wades to feed. Prevent him from wading.

* Cover the edges of your pond with grids, and then completely fill the grids with pot plants - to allow no standing space. The grids will also allow the fish a place to hide when they see movement from above.

* Place sharp stones, for example broken flint all around the water's edge and into the water to about 12 inches deep. If you wouldn't walk on it – chances are that neither will the heron.

4. Make use of bird scarers:
 
* Movement activated bird scarers can be effective. Ones which produce a sudden noise are used all over the countryside to scare flocks of crows and pigeons from the crops. They are not popular with the neighbors, however, even on farms -  so the likely hood is that you will fall out with your neighbors. There are also neighbor friendly motion bird scarers - those that spray water, and those that inflate balloons, such as used on fish farms.
5. Because grey herons are territorial and solitary birds, it has been thought for a long time that decoys will keep them way from a garden. In reality - they seem to work as attractants - especially for aggressive male specimens trying to protect their territory.

6. Protect your fish by providing shelter for them. Nature has made the average fish with very good eyesight - designed for the purpose of spotting danger from overhead. Koi also have the natural instinct which makes them dive for cover when shadows cross over the water they are in. Ways of providing shelter:

* Give them tunnels to swim in, ceramic open ended tunnels, large empty plant pots submerged on their sides, large pots with water plants in them, spaced apart to allow the fish to swim in between them, slabs of slate supported by pillars, but with surface totally covered by plant pots to prevent the heron from using it as a platform.

* Plant foliage provides cover - for example lotus and water-lily, overhanging bushes and grasses

* Build a waterfall in your backyard pond. A waterfall provides shelter in the form of overhanging rocks, disturbed water, which helps confuse the predator, plus if the fall takes place a little way away from the wall, a quite place is formed behind the curtain of water in which the fish can hide. Pond garden kits can be very useful in helping you to create this type of natural protection.
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