Koi watch: Tips On How To Prevent Herons From Stealing Your Koi
Writing by Admin on Sunday, 26 of April , 2009 at 2:20 am
Herons are majestic and beautiful birds, but have one big flaw: they are predators that love to eat the Koi. So that’s why for Koi owners, taking care of their fish means they must be on alert at all times… never leaving their pond unattended! Keep in mind that koi care involves protecting your pets from all its enemies/predators.
These are deceptive birds: when you first notice them lurking around your garden, they might seem harmless. Standing around 2 to 3 feet tall, they have very large wingspan, with a graceful appearance. But don’t get fooled by those looks, for what you’re looking at are predators on the prowl, ready to snatch up your koi!
When you look at your pond and you’ve noticed that you’re lacking some koi, big chance is that the heron is the culprit. When you notice some large gaping holes in the sides of your koi, this is an indicator that a heron have attempted to catch your koi, but just didn’t have the necessary grip to get it successfully. Other cases include koi lying on the lawn located a few feet away from the pond, and this is a result of the heron dropping the fish after it has scooped it out of the pond.
So, given these facts, there are some necessary precautions/measures that you can do to avoid these unwanted incidents. These “detours”, however, will only work for a small amount of time.
1) Plastic herons - You can place a fake, plastic heron in your garden. The purpose of this is to detour another heron from landing on the spot. This may work for parts of the season, but may prove ineffective when the mating season begins, as they may land near the plastic heron when they’re looking for their mate.
2) Making noise - If you catch a heron about to go for your koi, make as much noise as you can and physically frighten it the best you can. You can shout, throw things at it, or whatever it is that can scare it. Remember: the more frightened it is, the lesser chance there is for its return any time soon.
3) Changing your routine - You can constantly change your routine. These birds are smart enough to know you’re presence. Visit your pond as frequent as you can so as to increase your chance of catching the herons in the act of stealing your koi. If you’re unable to do it, you can ask or enlist someone to visit your pond instead. Giving permission to older and trustworthy children to visit your pond is another good idea, which can add presence to your pond.
4) Creating a hiding place in the pond for your fish - Another great idea is by creating a hiding place for your koi in the pond. You may notice that after a heron attacks a pond, it may seem that the bird has gotten all its prey, but you’ll see that your koi will start to appear from strange hiding places once the scare stops.
By providing a hiding place for your koi to protect them from attacks, you’ll reduce significantly the amount of koi that the heron will catch (and don’t worry if your koi are hiding from you, as they’ll know and trust you that you will not do them any kind of harm!).
5) Do not restock your pond immediately - In koi watch, do not restock your pond right away after a heron attack. Take a little time before restocking your pond, and this will force the heron to search for new grounds for feeding.
Category: Pets
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