Thread: 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

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.

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.

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

Originally Posted by Martin59

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.

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

New Unwelcome Visitor!

Since covering the pond I have a new unwelcome visitor!

Every single night this has happened. He walks over pipwork and leaves a deposit (which I have to hose off every morning) and has done so for the past 10+ consecutive night's since the covers went on. He's also now started trying to get through the cat flap which wakes us up in the middle of the night.

The polycarb is already bowing from the large span, one step in the wrong place between the 2 opening sheets and there's a good chance he'll fall through and drown.

We've never seen any foxes here until the past couple of Months. At my old house I tried the ultrasonic scarers but they only helped temporarily until the foxes started ignoring them.

Any ideas?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s51MBMHM2-M

Originally Posted by KiOgon

We had occasional fox visitors and after much time and expense on fencing and prevention I can honestly say there is only one answer which is not popular with a lot of people but the solution is a piece of lead at high velocity.

IME your fish are going to be get very ill very quickly with the filthy animals urine and feaces in the pond.

I'm sure Virkon helps keep the water cleaner but honestly you can't let the fox near your Koi, it will kill them, either by catching them or bacteria/parasites/viruses from their shyte.

Well there has been a couple of occasions, including today, when washing off the poo has caused some of the murky water to drip between the polycarb sheets into the pond.

They are defacating on the covers every night, and its not just this fox, there are at least 2, if not 3 different ones doing it and one morning I woke to find 2 lots of poo on the pond covers, and another lot on a brand new £50 garden furnture cover along with a hole in it!

Can't find any product that has good reviews, or one that will target foxes but not cats. The water sprayers could be ideal for both foxes and herons but not really suitable during winter when there's a risk of freezing.

other than fencing, best advice is let a dog 'mark' your garden, foxes know the scent and it might act as a deterrant.

we used to get them down the allotment, but one of the guys left his lurcher there for a few nights, and we never saw any foxes again.
i used to think lurchers were quite soft and sociable, until ben got hold of a rabbit one time...

Next door has a dog, doesn't seem to deter them at all. The other neighbours who's garden backs onto the other side of the stream have 2 dogs, but I see today they are having a fence installed on their side of the stream, so I suspect they are having the same issues.

And also being a stream we were getting huge rats in the garden - That has stopped since the foxes turned up but I think I prefer the rats!

I removed our back fence to make a feature of the stream (and extend the garden by 6 foot). The stream runs behind everyone's garden so I extended the side fences over the stream, but there's a gap under the fences where the foxes can get under by walking in the stream.

Reviews of independent fox deterrent products are generally bad, but I was reading if you take a multi-pronged approach they can be very effective, so £50 later I'm now waiting on delivery of some ultrasonic alarms and a tub of citronella granules.

not thought this suggestion through what about a electric fence on your side of the stream and just inside your garden low voltage 12 volt battery.
or is that just a shocker of a reply

keith