How to keep birds away from fish pond?

Question

What can I do to keep birds away from my fish pond?

Charlene Wagner Juoni · Answer

I would get one of the fake owl figures that you can get at home improvement or local hardware stores and set it on a post near the pond. It has helped to keep birds out of my garden and orchard.

Ann Bennett · Answer

String some clear fishing line across pond about 10 feet high in a triangular pattern.

Janet Pizaro · Answer

Buy a roll of mesh fabric and lay over the pond.

Diane Fraser · Answer

Will try this thanks

Dig8726689 · Answer

I have tried all of these, non of them work. I swear the blue heron knew when I went to get fish. He was there with in 1/2 hour after I put them in. Now I had a large pond 30/30. I have heard in a ting formed pond a fishing net across it does work, but hard to see fish.

Lynne · Answer

Fill it with piranha.  😊

Gabrielle Falk · Answer

I have a fish pond in the front garden, and I put chicken wire over it. Might not sound too glamorous, but it goes with the country style cottage garden.  I also bought some rubber snakes and put them on top of the wire. Moved them around a little bit so the birds wouldn't figure out what I'd done. If you can perhaps find out what sort of other bird, or animal would frighten away the birds (pretend of course). Or you might be able to find something like I have used in the past, which is a metal cut out (painted black) of a pussy cat, with great big eyes and put it near the pond.  I'm sure in the USA they'd have something similar - maybe in a nursery or a novelty gift shop.  All worth a try. Make sure you don't have anything that the heron or other birds can sit on and just chose which fish they want. Do owls frighten other birds? Again at maybe a novelty shop.  I've also seen contraptions that make a sort of 'whizzing' noise when there is a breeze.  They are on a stick and you can just put in the garden. Lots of luck.

Gabrielle Falk · Answer

Disappearing fish? No, it's not a magic act. There's a good chance you have a predator visiting your pond. This is one aspect of water gardening that we have the least control over, but we're not completely helpless.

Keep herons from eating your pond fish
One of the most common predators of our fish is the beautiful, but dreaded by pond keepers, Great Blue Heron (shown above). There are different species of herons scattered around the country, but the most seen around the pond is the Great Blue Heron. This bird is found in most of the contiguous United States. The Great Blue can stand over 4 feet tall with a wingspan of nearly 6 feet. They feed primarily on fish and frogs, which is what makes a residential pond worth a visit.

Great Blue Heron in goldfish pond

A customer I downloaded this info. from google) sent us this photo that shows a 'fake heron' at the edge of a fish pond. A real heron, seen in standing in the water, ate all the goldfish that were in the pond as the fake heron 'stood watch.'
One common suggestion for heron control is to use a decoy (a fake heron standing next to the pond.) The concept behind this is that the birds are territorial so they will not feed on another heron's turf. It seems that herons are smarter than we give them credit for. They soon discover the fraud and feed without hesitation.
We have found some effective methods against herons to be leaf netting and the ScareCrow.

Leaf netting may detract from the beauty of a pond, but so can disappearing fish. If you plan on using leaf netting in the fall anyway, why not just leave it over the pond until spring?

The ScareCrow is a motion-activated sprinkler that attaches to your garden hose. When a heron, or anything else, crosses its path, it emits a burst of water, frightening away the would-be predator. These same two methods should be effective for some other predatory birds such as cranes. However, the ScareCrow may not deter birds that swoop down to feed such as owls and kingfishers. An artificial fish can look like an easy target to a preying bird. But when the attack is made, the bird is unable to eat the intended meal and may retreat to find a tasty meal elsewhere. (good luck-still think my idea of chicken wire and 'pretend' snakes is a good one as it worked.

Ola · Answer

I have tried most things to keep the herons away, and the only thing that has kept them from eating all my Koi and Goldfish is a fishing net covering the whole pond. I have tried a water spraying 'scare crow' it scared my dogs and cats but not the heron. I have a very life like decoy heron in the pond, but it has no effect either. I have a full size bronze crocodile and bronze turtles also to no effect.

Cyndee · Answer

GET A FAKE HERON! They wont bother him..

Carol · Answer

Get a crane statute and move it daily. We ended up putting chicken wire over the pond  our problem a very bold raccoon and a skunk family.

Diane Fraser · Answer

Thanks for that,im in australia no racoons or skunks but we've  had a laugh thats unreal thankyou Di

Diane Fraser · Answer

Will try a fake bird first thankyou all

Cathy Wallar · Answer

I heard that someone saved some boxes of tinsel at Christmas time to have for the other months like hanging on fruit trees, garden time to keep birds out. maybe try some hanging around your pond.

Bob McNulty · Answer

I just moved to a new home that has a pond, really quite beautiful but the effort and time and cost to keep this thing healthy enough for fish that will be eaten by giant birds is very hard to justify. It’s nice to look at but so is a wad of $20s

How to keep birds away from fish pond?

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How to keep birds away from fish pond?

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