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  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    They've found my Pond - Unwanted Visitors!

    Knew this would happen one day considering the number of lakes not far away. Fortunately I had just turned the CCTV monitor on seconds before it arrived and managed to run down stairs and scare it off.

    Note how he eyeballs the plastic heron for a minute before deciding to just go ahead anyway:

    https://youtu.be/pWOtYoH7boE




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  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Jussai Djstiles999's Avatar
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    What a pain, at least he didn’t take anything and you know he’s visiting so can try to heron proof things?
    13,243 gallons, Filtreau HF30’s K1 capacity of 1,400l, Bakki Shower, BHM and understanding wife

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  5. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Djstiles999 View Post
    What a pain, at least he didn’t take anything and you know he’s visiting so can try to heron proof things?
    Absolutely a pain, and something new to keep me permanently stressed out!

    Wasn't taking any chances, I cut the hobby short for this year and covered the pond immediately after work.

    If there's one chore I hate, its removing covers in the spring and spending hours cleaning and prepping them so they are ready to just drop straight on when the cold weather hits. Every year I'm tempted to just leave them and sort it out in Autumn. Glad I didn't because I managed to get the pond fully covered in the 1 hour of remaining daylight after work last night (the dirt you can see is dust).

    Undecided what to do when they come back off again in Spring. Was thinking about a decoy Owl which is said to work better than decoy Herons, or possibly some kind of frequency device or noise emitting sensor. I really don't want to be netting the pond or running fishing wire everywhere if I can help it. Having the pergola (or the decoy Heron) clearly didn't help.

    Last edited by RS2OOO; 24-10-2024 at 04:00 PM.

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  7. #4
    You can buy one, but making your own Heron scarer as I did is far more effective (more sensitive, better built, more robust and actually cheaper).
    Set up a couple (or more if needed) exterior standalone PIR sensors (Toolstation, etc) covering the pond.
    Rather than linking them to lights, link them in parallel to a solenoid valve and carefully positioned pulse sprinkler fed by mains pressure.
    When a heron (or any other larger animal) enters the field of the PIRs they trigger the sprinkler, which has its arc set to cover the pond area.
    The "Phhtt, phhtt, phtt" and pulsing water jet across the pond sends them into the air immediately (at least it did in the late 90s when I had koi small enough to need such a device).
    The amount of mains water that gets into the pond is actually very small, so no worries about Chlorine/Choramine.
    Just remember to switch it off when you walk up to the pond to admire your fish........

    Here's an old photo of one of the sensors covering my 1990s pond....p19.jpg
    My DIY ponds from 1988 until present day.
    All can be found here:
    https://www.ukzero.com/pond.htm

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  9. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion davethefish1's Avatar
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    lucky escape there mate.

    I've seen one flying past my pond before, but the pond is very close to the house, with not much room to land.
    but i always have the net covers on if i'm not in the garden.
    i'd be gutted if any of my pets got eaten by a heron.

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  11. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Nanasai Naoki Atsumi's Avatar
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    Heron attacks measures in koi ponds

    In Japan, it is common to stretch strings or ropes as a measure against herons.
    It is said that making them more visible by reflecting light is more effective than covering ponds with nets, as it discourages herons from landing on them.

    If you have suffered a similar injury overseas, please use this as a reference!

    I apologize if it is prohibited by the laws of your country.
    It is not only a protection measure, but there are also cases where the herons themselves are caught in strings and have to be captured.

  12. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Alburglar's Avatar
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    Lucky to spot him before he did any damage!

    Well, I had always wondered if pergola and plastic herons worked...
    2660 Gallons. 4" Bottom Drain and Skimmer. Draco Solum 16 Drum. Anoxic Filtration. Air lift returns.

  13. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Alburglar's Avatar
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    For Spring, Seen those motion activated water squirters? They look the most convincing. The motion, noise and the squirting combined seems like a convincing deterrent. Just need it on an smart plug so you can turn the damn thing off via a phone app or Alexa.
    2660 Gallons. 4" Bottom Drain and Skimmer. Draco Solum 16 Drum. Anoxic Filtration. Air lift returns.

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  15. #9
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Hi Steve, I have a similar pond to you the walls being 3 ft high.
    A few yrs ago I watched a heron land in the garden then hop onto the wall,I was out in a shot and chased it away.

    I now have black netting between the pergola posts about 2.5 ft high so no heron can get on the wall.
    You cant see the netting till you get right up to it and works well for me.

    I have recently put trellis on the back wall between the posts which looks good.
    John

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  17. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Gosai Martin59's Avatar
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    I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago but my deterrent was on it straight away
    Not bad for a 17 year old cat.

    https://youtu.be/wkfZw0RchAM?si=pKLgVcSSTS8diDa3

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  19. #11
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin59 View Post
    I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago but my deterrent was on it straight away
    Not bad for a 17 year old cat.

    https://youtu.be/wkfZw0RchAM?si=pKLgVcSSTS8diDa3
    That's brilliant.

    In the hour before it arrived we had 3 cats in the garden. At the time it arrived 1 of our cats was sitting out the front and the other had not long come indoors.

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  21. #12
    Extreme Koi Member Rank = Supreme Champion john1's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Martin59 View Post
    I had the same problem a couple of weeks ago but my deterrent was on it straight away
    Not bad for a 17 year old cat.

    https://youtu.be/wkfZw0RchAM?si=pKLgVcSSTS8diDa3
    No messing about there Martin.
    John

  22. #13
    I cover my pond with nets with no exceptions throughout the year - if I just take nets off to bowl fish, I cover the net back straightaway after, I’m so paranoid. Neighbour next door has the same netted pond solution - herons are regularly spotted either on his or my garage roof!

    In winter I even cover the pond (over plastic temp cover) with metal mesh - for otters prevention - something far more devastating that hero

 

 

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