Today a heron visited our pond!
Yes! I was walking past a window when I saw a 4 foot tall heron standing at our lily pond! Now there aren’t large koi in that pond. There are some small goldfish, which I don’t think is even worth a heron’s time.
If you have ever seen a heron at your pond then you know the surge of panic that went through me!
These birds are so lovely, however, they are far less lovely when I know they are going to eat my koi!
Here is the heron at the lily pond today. Best picture I could get considering I was shouting, in my robe and needed to grab a picture before scaring him away.
What happened to the koi predator protection plan?
Right!? I’ll tell you what happened…although we have had our blue man up everyday, we had not pulled out our smart plugin so it could not easily be turned on. We had our protection mats on the koi pond and had not taken them off yet so that likely helped. The HERON ALARM SYSTEM completely went off – okay, that was me (who just got out of the shower and was in a robe) screaming through the house to anyone who would listen that there was a heron at the pond. We quickly decided to jump out at him from 3 different doors and yell like banshees so that he would think we were a houseful of lunatics and hopefully not want to come back. He flew off but chances are very high, despite us being lunatics, that he will return.
Did the heron get any fish?
No, the heron did not get any of the koi or goldfish.
Here is the heron walking through the yard considering what to do.
Never hurt the heron!
These beautiful birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) and are therefore given federal protection.
According to Danielle D’Auria in “Help an Injured Heron – Safely!” in Maine.gov, December 21, 2018, “A great blue heron’s most powerful defense is its beak. It can and will strike at you with it. They will often go after moving objects, such as your eye. ”
So, do not approach one of these birds!
When do heron show up?
They tend to eat during the day and return to the nest at dusk. In my experience, they come more often on cloudy days, in the early morning, or just about dinner time. However, they will show up for a snack any time!
Here he is flying away after we scared him off. These guys do not scare as easily as a little bird!
Koi predator protection plan for heron.
You’ve got to have a plan. There are many choices when it comes to heron deterrent plans. The point is, make a plan and work the plan! This is what I do and what I have found works to keep heron at bay.
- The fish must have more than one place to hide. There are multiple ways of achieving this, just make sure they have a cave, and places to hide. Water lilies are great for this but less helpful before they have grown out for the year.
- A heron deterrent like an inflatable air dancer (tube man) or stringing fishing line around the edges of a pond needs to be in place.
I know that an inflatable tube man is not the look you or I are going for! Hear me out! I plug ours into the Enbrighten Smart plug so that the moment I want to gaze out at the pond without seeing the air dancer, or when I want to eat on the deck and enjoy the pond, I simply turn it off with a touch on my smart phone. The plug is not specifically for outdoor use, so I have it plugged in to an outlet under the deck where it is protected and put it away for the winter. It doen’st even have to be this brand plug! There are many smart plugs that you can even control from Alexa or Google Home.
If I forgot to turn it on before I left and I can still turn it on from anywhere!
3. If I feel the pond needs even more protection I string up fishing line around the edges of the pond and even over the top. Heron can’t see the line. They prefer to walk up to a pond and their legs hit the line. Apparently, this scares the crap out of them. I don’t like how the fishing line looks. I prefer using the blue man (the air dancer) because I can easily turn him off when I don’t want to see him.
What about this other stuff I have heard keep heron away?
How about a fake heron decoy?
Look, there are a lot of things that sound like they make sense – but in real live pond life they just don’t work.
How about a heron decoy? Well, it makes sense because herons like to hunt alone, so if they see someone else in their territory they should stay away, right? Well, the problem is, you don’t know when the heron is feeling a little frisky…
Had I not totally panicked and ran screaming out to my pond, perhaps I could have gotten a picture of one frisky heron who sidled right up to our heron decoy (they actually look exactly like real heron in case you are wondering, just a little smaller). Yes, this fellow thought he could say some sweet things to our decoy heron and get him a little action. The decoy actually ATTRACTED the 1st ever heron to our pond. So no, I am not a fan of decoy heron. I also think it takes maybe 5 seconds for a real heron to realize it’s not real. These guys are smart.
How about a motion activated sprinkler?
I think these are referred to as a scarecrow. Here is what I know. The first time the motion-activated sprinkler goes off if may startle the heron. He/she/they may even fly away. The second time the thing goes off the heron will not give a crap. They are waterproof and not timid little birds that startle at everything.
99% of the time, when one of these is activated it is a person who gets sprayed. They are a great idea, they just don’t hold up.
Having trouble with raccoons? Read about what you can do for Raccoons in the pond.
References
*Hoy, M.D. 2017. Herons and Egrets. Wildlife Damage
Management Technical Series. USDA, APHIS, WS National
Wildlife Research Center. Fort Collins, Colorado. 12p