I have had run ins with Herons for the past several years. Anyone that has a backyard pond will get a visit from these very large and beautiful birds usually to the detriment of the fish in their pond, sooner or later. The Heron is only doing what Nature has equipped it to do and that is to catch fish either to feed its young or to feed itself to stay alive. They are huge or at least they have a huge wing span of close to six feet and they also stand around four and half feet tall.

After several visits over the years, it became a contest between me and the Herons. In my case to prevent them from eating my fish and in their case, the ever ongoing challenge of feeding babies and themselves. I devised a method of fences around four of my ponds each powered by an electric doggie shocker. I even had to put crosswires up over the top of the pond as they would land on anything that stood out of the water such as a turtle sunning spot, a fish fountain and even an urn bubbler, in an effort to get close to the fish. The fifth pond is very small, only 350 gallons and I completely covered it with a wire mesh hinged cover.

I also invested in a four camera video system that each are activated by movement. The problem with this system which is still very much in place today is that any movement activates it. The wind blowing the branches or even a fountain splashing the water and it turns on and runs for two minutes meaning that there is a lot of wasted footage. Even if I suspect there has been a visit, I have to run through a lot of images just to check. Luckily it is all digital so it is no big deal to re-format and use the same storage card over and over.

One of my friends who also happens to be the President of the Austin Pond Society, lives about a mile from me as the Heron flies so we usually compare notes or send text messages if either of us gets a visit. We had a meeting just last evening and the subject of Herons came up. We both commented on the fact that neither of us had seen or been visited by the Heron(s) for several months. Just goes to show that you should never talk about anything that you don’t want to happen. It’s just tempting fate.

I recently rebuilt the goldfish pond and took down all of the fencing around and over that pond. I had intended to leave it down in the mistaken belief that the pond was now sufficiently deep enough that the Heron would not attempt to jump into it as it had on previous occasions. I have that on video also from a couple of years back which dispels the theory that the Heron likes to walk into the water. One of the earlier videos shows the Heron jumping into the water after very carefully slipping between the wire fences around that pond and then standing and fishing after getting in. The pond was much shallower then only around two feet deep. After I finished the most recent rebuilding, the pond is now almost four feet deep in some places and well over three feet for the rest.

The only thing I can think of is that this is probably the same Heron returning after several months or so away and remembering that it was able to jump into this pond before I rebuilt it. The water is still a little cloudy and I can’t see the bottom but maybe the Heron can. If it had come last week, it certainly would not have seen the bottom as I had a severe case of algae bloom which totally turned the water green. I’m hoping that it is probably a little too deep for comfort and it will not try it again. Interesting that even though it was stumbling around in the water, it still managed to catch a fish. Natural instinct, I guess.

Two of the ponds which are also the largest, one at 5000 gallons and the other at 6000 gallons have very large Koi in them some more than 24 inches long and weighing in at well over twenty pounds. The Heron would probably not bother with them for two reasons. One they are too heavy for the Heron to lift out of the water and secondly, they are too big for the Heron to swallow. That leaves the two goldfish ponds one of which still has the wire fences around and over it and also a “Scarecrow” which is activated by movement and sends a strong jet of water across an area in front of it, enough to scare the birds and animals. I have a second “Scarecrow” which I will re-install back onto the rebuilt pond and hope that it will keep the Heron from trying to repeat this mornings little adventure. I really don’t want to put the fences back up and will only do so as a last resort.

I hate to lose fish, any fish even the goldfish of which I probably have well over one hundred. I also have around sixty large Koi and with the exception of the very biggest of them all who I have named “Big Bertha” none of the others have names or numbers. They are not like dogs and cats that you can make a fuss over or give them lots of love and get a lot back in return. After all, they are cold blooded and have no feelings to reciprocate. A fish is a fish is a fish…

This is the latest video

This is one of the earlier videos