Posted by Jason B. on December 21, 2006 at 21:04:35:
In Reply to: Heron protection? posted byChad on December 14, 2006 at 22:16:38:
It sounds like your bottom pond design would be better suited to wildlife than prized fish.
You could rebuild the pond. Koi seem to like depth in their pond to keep them safe from predators since they eat the plant cover and stir up muck at the bottom to hide. And since Koi like big ponds and lots of space, your pond should be moderately deep (24" or deeper) and wide (I would think 5 feet or more to the center), and either quality should discourage heron.
Goldfish definitely seem to like hiding under floating plant leaves and in "caves". I've found cinder blocks, stones, driftwood and such give them lots of places to hide, and perhaps adding them will help them survive heron attacks.
My pond is under an oak tree, which provides some shade from the air so I suspect lots of heron miss it. I am one block from Lake Travis and heron do occasionally stop by, and I have spent some fascinating time watching them.
I suspect the koi are too big to eat (12+ inches and we just added them), but sometimes a goldfish goes missing (I suspect raccoons, but can't prove it), so heron are possible, although I've never seen a heron catch one.
I have lots of plant cover around the edges of the pond. Parrot's feather, fairy moss, and to a lesser extent some last minute lillie pads provide cover around the edge, where I have occasionally watched a heron fishing. I also included tall horsetails and dwarf cattails to protect small waterways around the edge of the pond for mosquito fish, tadpoles, frogs and young goldfish.
I would put small fish in your bottom pond and perhaps make it a bog with mosquito fish and maybe a few goldfish and just enjoy the pond and all the wildlife it attracts. I find this option more attractive than water decoys and nets. You might want to add an alligator and/or heron statue to your pond and see how it goes. A pink yard flamingo might be equally effective, I don't really know.
If it is pond is shallow, perhaps you could add a shoreline for birds, amphibians and other wildlife to wade into the water to drink, bathe, breed or as the case may be, hunt.
If I had more than one pond, I certainly would make one a low maintenance wildlife pond, without fancy fish. I think it enriches a yard. My thoughts, hope it helps.
Happy Holidays!