Pond goddess, I like it!

Glenda, my heron isn't so bold, probably because as soon as we see him, we run out there yelling and waving our arms.
I have a pile of rocks I'm keeping outside the door for when I can get a clear shot, but it's been tough since he flies away as soon as he catches wind of me. My point being is to deter him from coming back, not to injure him..(much) Maybe if he catches a rock in his wing he won't be in a hurry to come back.

BB, I know it probably hasn't come to your attention since this is all so new to you, but those rocks in your pond is the perfect landing place for him to stand on and grab anything that happens to swim by. Everyone alway said that they land in your yard and just walk up to your pond so that is why the fish line strung around your pond will trip them up and discourage them. I found that didn't work for me, because he was actually landing in the shallow edges of my pond to do his fishing. I discovered this when I found his footprints in the algae on the shallow bottom of the pond. That is when I resorted to the net. And then later re-built my pond to make it bigger, deeper and better. I still use the net. I do like your pond angel. Glenda

Hey Glenda,
Well... I've always said it was a "wild life pond" not a "fish pond". As Tim the Enchanter might say: "It was hewn out of the living rock"!

The link below shows the pond from the deck. My back yard is *all* ledge and *very* sloping. The two rocks you mention are at the (very) shallow end and of the "immovable" variety. Well... not without heavy equipment! The bottom of the pond itself is a single, sloping slab of granite (say that three times fast!). That is causing a leaking problem because a vein in the shallow area is rotten stone (to the core) and opened up badly this winter.

Anyway... the point is, the pond was "designed" by the pond goddess herself! I just excavated it. Even if I wanted to make it less "heron friendly", I couldn't change the design much (without explosives!)

I hope I don't have to resort to netting because it would be a royal pain in the ...! We still have some major landscaping to do (not to mention inside and outside wall repair work). Even the scarecrow itself will have to be moved a few times this weekend to work on the wood retaining wall and finish off the top of the dry well (don't even ask!)

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:200761}}

IMO a net is the only thing that is 100% effective.

Stationary objects lose the fear factor after a while. Strings can be stepped over. Water cannon scarecrows don't always work and some birds don't care about water splashing them. Aligators don't move and some herons would have no idea what they are just sitting there. Strips of metalic materials might work because they move in the wind, but are more unsightly IMO than a black net.

Herons won't land in deep water but I've seen them land in the shallows as well as away from the water source and they walk up to it. I live in a major GBH area and see them doing all kinds of things in the wild and had one or two visit my pond and eat my fish. I used fencing (didn't work), fishing lines of various heights Ididn't work), water scarecrow (didn't work), and net (bingo) no kills.

I'm a new member, so first I'd like to say hi to everyone. Now for the real stuff; I was reading about the Blue Heron attacks. I had the same problem 2 yrs ago--most of my fish got eaten before my wife spotted it one morning. I got a Blue Heron decoy, and haven't had an attack since, but my neighbor, who refuses to get a decoy, is feeding them well. They emptied his pond last year and this year. I was told the secret is to move the decoy to a new location around the pond every few days. So far, it seems to work. One more thing: if I'm not mistaken, they are a federally protected species, so Pikecoe, if you use the new shotgun, better get a silencer for it and bury all evidence quickly:-).

I'm not too sure about the heron decoy from what I've heard on this site, other than you cottnpickr...everyone else seems to think they're not very helpful.

Other than the 2 attacks this morning, it never showed up again. Put a netting over the pond, so if he does come back it's not going to have any luck. Hoping he'll be trying to figure it out and I can catch him off guard with a pebble in his side.

I won't swear that it is the decoy that works, either. I just know that since I put it up, no more Herons (Knock on wood). I'm not removing it as long as the real ones stay away; and they sure have been visiting my neighbor--maybe I shouldn't want him to get one. Mine has sun-faded so badly that I'm not sure it looks like a Blue Heron now, but I'm wary of painting it; I'd probably wind up making it look like it has its mating colors on.

I don't plan to use the shotgun. But if I did I don't think there would be a problem. Where I live it's not unusual to hear a gunshot. We are surrounded by family for 150 acres. Only other neighbor has a huge piece of property totally grown up in trees. Haven't even seen them in the last 3 or 4 years. Next nearest neighbors that aren't family are several miles away. And the property on the other side of us is hundreds of acres that Cabelas now owns and is inhabited with Buffalo and Elk. And will be a hunting preserve. So one thing I don't have to worry about is nosy neighbors. Glenda

I think the Pond Goddess® should be marketed! :D

I like sparkly/shiny things, so the tinsel wouldn't bother me. It would probably bother the poor birds that come to drink and bathe at my creek, though.

Brenda

I found a great site . www.pondnets.com Nets for every season

Blue Herons are very territorial and when placed near your pond other Herons will avoid conflict and find a different pond to feast upon. Two caveats to the use of a decoy. First it must be regularly moved, since Herons are smart. Second, do not use it in Heron mating season-end of April-beginning of May, as it may look pretty good to a Blue heron searching for a mate.
Motion activated sprinkler scarecrows are also highly effective. The device senses motion and sprays a 3 second burst of water at the heron...just be careful to avoid getting sprayed yourself. Of course my lab triggers it just for fun.

Herons DO land on & DIVE into water
I had a couple of attacks and lost most of my Koi so I used 30
cd's mounted on cotton to surround my pond 5 metres square
together with a trip wire etc the cd's were pretty spinning in the wind but they did NOT deter the heron I had a colour camera watching the pond and set the recorder to 24 hours real time. next morning there was silver dust in the pond so I replayed the digital video recorder.early dusk the heron appeared walking up to the pond he then stood on the trip wire with both feet his head was touching the cd's he then flew onto the water 4 feet deep just like a swan he then dived like a Cormarant and got a fish. He came again and from a height of 5 feet he folded back his wings and dived vertically into the water just like a Gannet he surfaced with another fish, this diving continued for an hour. He then took off vertically into the air and went away.
The same day I bought a NET no more problems
Bob Yorkshire England

I too had blue herons in 2006 lost about 9 koi to it, we had to come up with something pretty quick, Hubby designed this, lit looks good, and herons hate it, not had any probs since, tho you would need an arbor or a frame pf some kind, it is suspended on chain and has a limited movement, fish feel safer too, how do I attach photos?

Lissa, you first have to store your photos on a website such as Photobucket. There are several of these sites, I'm familiar with Photobucket so I'll tell you how I post pics via them.
- I open Photobucket to my account. If I already have the gardenweb site open under one tab, I open a second tab for Photobucket.
- I click on Browse, which lets me go to the pictures on my computer. I choose the picture and then click on Upload.
- I go make a cup of tea while it's uploading (it has a speedy upload as well, but I like my cup of tea!). The photo shows up below the browse/upload section.
- I highlight the content of the second box under the photo and copy it. Then I go to the Garden web tab and paste it into my message in a certain format.

I'm replacing a few symbols for you here, otherwise my message will be looking for a picture and won't print the symbols. So, replace ^ by , and replace (paste your direct link info here) by your direct link info.

^img src=(paste your direct link info here) width=500~

Then I experiment with the number of the width until I like the size and pixel clarity.

We've been lucky lately with our heron(s). Last time we had a visit was last fall, and I quickly put the leaf net over. It may have visited this spring and early summer, but the only indication is that the fish get shy on and off. Usually we string fish line around. What we do is crisscross over the edge and over the shallow parts, so the heron walks into it both on the edge and in the shallow areas. Seems to work for us.

:) Mary

I had a heron try to get my fish 2 years in a row. The first year I put up a fake owl decoy and moved it around every couple days. It seemed to work for a while. Then the heron showed up again and got a couple of mid-sized koi. I didn't want to put up netting because I have a number of plants that grow up out of the water so I opted to run fishing line across my pond. Its less intrusive than the net (kind of looks like a big spider web) and so far has kept the heron out of the pond. He still bothers my neighbors pond though and he put up a heron decoy.

My inclination is to agree that unless you takes steps to physically block off access to the pond the heron is smart enogh to overcome scare tactics.

{{gwi:200765}}
hope this works

So after having my pond for 5 years now, I saw my first heron the other morning. At first, I thought nothing about it, and was excited that it would visit our pond, and went off to work. The next morning, I spotted the heron again around the pond. I noticed that most of our fish (about 20 in total) had seemed to disappear. We had about 7 adults, and about 10 babies from over the Summer. I knew immediately what had happened.

It is hard to tell the take-rate since many of the fish have hidden. Now and then I see glimpses of them, but certainly they are not coming to the surface anymore like they have for the past months.

I have read this thread and the many more on herons to try to get some advice. I do not want to put up netting, or any other type of barrier. So I'm guessing that I simply have to live with the course of nature.

Bur for now, I have put out a Havahart Spray Away - Motion Activated Water Repellent to see if this is any type of deterrent. I have had great success with this when something was eating all of the plants from the pond.

Does anyone have any thoughts on this approach, or have you tried this in the past? I realize the heron may eventually not care and attack anyway with the barrier of a netting. But it is worth a try for now.

Here is a link that might be useful: Havahart Spray Away

I too am now worried about a heron attack.. There is a large retention pond at the end of our developement and I saw a very very large heron there 2 days ago... I have a brand new pond as of this year with 7 beautiful Koi and don't want to lose any of them. I am really afraid that the rather large heron will come visit us and have been told by people that they only come around 5 or 6 in the morning.. I find that difficult to believe.. the one I saw was at that pond in the evening. And it is staying dark later in the mornings and am wondering if the time of dawn has anything to do with it.. I need to research the darn things and see what is up with them only coming in the morning thing and see if that is true. It makes me want to get up at 5 and sit out there and watch.. I am losing sleep worrying that he is out there stalking in the wee hours. Can anyone clarify the time issue..

Last week we had a Heron visit one of our ponds at 10am. He flew only a short distance into our horse pasture when he saw us, but hung around for about an hour afterwards. The next day he didn't show up until noon. I scared him away only for him to land in the pasture again. I walked toward him and he only flew another short distance and hung around until 1:30pm. I too thought they didn't come around until early morning or just before dark, but this visit proved otherwise. Our first pond is only 33" deep and has a shallow entrance. We had lost a 12" sarassa comet to a heron before we put a net over it.We had only had fish in that pond for a week before the Heron discovered it. But after netting the pond and buying a water scarecrow we didn't lose anymore fish. We have since dug a second pond last month which is 4 1/2 ft deep,with no shallow areas and just recently moved the fish to that one. The new pond is netted and will stay that way to protect the fish. There were frogs in the first pond, so I believe that is why the Heron was hanging around. I noticed that two large Leopard frogs were missing, so that is probably why he was there. There are still some smaller bull frogs in it, so I'm sure that he will be back. I don't think they have any certain times for there visits, unfortunately.

Herons will come at any hour of the day. I've seen them fishing in a nearby park pond in the middle of the afternoon. They also show up at dawn, and also at dusk. I know of one person who heard his motion activated water Scarecrow go off about 4:00 in the morning and got up to check it it. It was a heron. Another ponder took pictures of a heron standing on the roof of his neighbor's house watching the pond at dusk, just as the sun was going down. Once they set their beady little eyes on your fish, they are unpredictable and very determined.

Well for starters I just went and got a heron decoy.. They also had decor Koi that float on top.. I guess the deterant is that the heron pokes at the hard body and that action prompts the real fish to go hide while the heron keeps trying to spear the decoy. Hopefully he will get frustrated and give up and go away.. I might invest in one of those just in case it works.. I understand that the net is probably the only real insurance that the fish will be safe but I am not ready to go that route just yet. The water scarecrow isn't really an option because we have a few large ornamental grasses that are moving all the time with the breeze so hubby thinks that will set the motion detector off needlessly. So for now I will try the decoy I got. I will move that bugger around every hour if I have to..

I've seen those koi decoys before. They are very lifelike, and when placed near the waterfall or in water that ripples, it sort of bobs and looks like a real koi. The heron goes for the "sitting duck", and the real fish run for cover.

Personally, I wouldn't trust the decoy heron. I've heard of too many failures, but it might work for a while until they figure out its fake. I do think they look nice standing by the pond, though. Very realistic looking.

Kimbra8, if you have the Scarecrow water cannon, it won't go off with just the movement of the grass. It also requires body heat. I didn't put mine up this year and have lucked out with the heron. Maybe it is because I also have a pair of ornamental herons. It is my understanding that a single heron will not intrude on a nesting pair. I don't know what would happen after the nesting season is past. Someone posted a photo of a tree filled with them near sundown. I suspect that was taken during migration.
I find it delightful that in hot weather the squirrels, chipmunks and small birds trigger it to go off on purpose , much like the birds that have learned to open and close automatic doors in stores like Lowes.
I am going to net the pond again this year for fall leaves. There are a lot on the surface right now and I think they are holding the heat in the water. I haven't removed the gourami yet and they are swimming right in the midst of the leaves (At nighttime at least). They seem to be enjoying it.
Basilbird, every time I see your pond I love it more. If I did a painting of it people would think it totally imaginary. The contrast of the circular pond walls emerging from the mass of the natural rock, especially with the crack in the slab where you put the waterfall is truly artistic. You could pay someone thousands of dollars to try to do something similar and they would never get it as right as you have done. I hope you find some hydrolic sealer to close that leak. Sandy

Thanks, Sandy. I think it was there all the time, just waiting to be excavated! The current "leak state" is down about 5 inches but HOLDING level for a week now (no rain!). There is definite ground water "magic" going on. Whenever Dad cements the wall outside the pond, the drainage in the low end changes and the water level becomes more stable. Really weird! But I've got a huge piece of ledge at the end of my yard that water actually spurts out of during heavy rain!

I netted the pond for the first time Saturday. I'll post a pic when I get to work tomorrow. It's just to keep the leaves out. Last year I had 5 big goldfish and it was fairly easy to scoop out leaves. This year I have 4 big goldfish and at least 400 tiny ones! No way to scoop out leaves without catching little fishies! Hopefully the net will help. Also, it will be nice to have one on hand if the heron comes back. I lost one fish in May and the heron hung around for about a week but he hasn't been back all summer. Of course, the water wasn't clear all summer either ;-)

BasilB
who is working on a pond construction website. no... really I am!

We had a heron take 2 fish one month after installing our pond and last year he really decimated our fish. This year I actually had TWO herons visit. We had to use a net. The water cannon scarecrows did not work. We resisted a net for a long time, but they're not that bad. We use stakes placed about 10 feet apart and stretch black bird netting across it to about 4-5 inches from the top of the pond to allow frogs and insects access. It's the only thing that has worked for us. We've not lost one fish since last summer and he still visits.

I had a blue heron last year and decided to do some research. I found an excellent product called the "scare crow". It is basically a sprinkler that has a built in motion detector. Connect your garden hose to the scare crow, when the blue heron visits your pond the scare crow is activated by his motion and starts the sprinkler with a very quick spray of water back and forth one time to scare the heron away. It works very well and I am happy to say that I haven't lost any of my Koi. Hope this helps.

I LIVE IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NESTLED IN THE FOOTHILLS BUT NEAR A LARGE WETLANDS. I HAVE HAD A POND FOR SEVERAL YEARS WITH ABOUT 16 KOI AND 15 GOLD FISH. MY DOG AWAYS KEPT THEM SAFE. MY DOG HOWEVER RECENTLY PASSED AWAY AND THE BIG BLUE CAME AND DESTROYED 50% OF MY POND LIFE IN THREE DAYS. ANY ADVICE REGARDING THOSE LIGHT DETERANTS THAT EMITS A BRIGHT LIGHT WHICH IS SUPPOSE TO DETER THE HERON. DO THEY WORK?

I like the pond goddess and am going to try to make one myself

She is pretty cute

Looks maybe like a tomato cage base, or some such thing

Don't have a blue heron yet but some of those darn Canadian Geese where in the pond the other day Fish seem to be okay.
Whew!!

I use the scarecrow too. Check out this video I took this morning of a Great Blue Heron getting sprayed and scared away.. Nothing else has ever worked for me and I've tried everything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpHjb_VXsqo

Here is a link that might be useful: Great Blue Heron Hit by Water

Has anyone tried fishing line tied well above the ground? Our plant supplier in the area has 2 ponds with many koi. She attaches a couple of strands of fishing line to the house on one end, and the other end to a tree. So the fishing line is suspended some 15 - 20ft above the ground. She claims no fish loss since it has been in place. You would never know it's there. Guessing they donÂt like a blocked escape route??

Having battled a continuing heron problem for years, I have finally come up with a solution, at least for my pond. I simply placed a series of 8 ft long, 1/2" dia. white pvc poles at 10 ft intervals around the perimeter of the pond. 1/8" dia. holes were drilled thru the tubing at 12", 24", 36" and 48" above ground level . I then strung 25 lb. test flourescent orange nylon fishing line thru the holes, tying the line off at each hole to keep the line taut. The poles were set as close to the water line as possible. The poles were set in the ground by first driving 30", 3/8" dia. bamboo tomato stakes 12" into the ground. I then simply slipped the pvc tubes on over the stakes. The barrier is extremely effective (no invasions since installation) and because the the poles are placed 10 ft. apart and the lines are barely visible, is not really unsightly at all. At first the heron(s) would land about 15 feet away from the pond and walk up to the barrier. None tried to go thru it or fly over it and "drop in". After a few times trying to figure their problem out without success, they stopped coming altogether.

dbromsey, I'm having trouble picturing what this looks like. Do you have a photo you could post or a link to a picture?

To nancym1956: If you'll post your email address, I'll send you a diagram.

This is a "not to scale" diagram of the heron deterrent apparatus mentioned earlier on the forum.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heron Deterrent

I am in the process of building my pond and I was thinking of covering the entire area so that everything is pretty much covered about 8 feet above the ground and surrounded by 3/8" polypropylene mesh netting draped over a fence (the plan is for the pond to be part of an outdoor room). You would have to open a gate to get inside and I'm assuming most herons don't use gates. ;-)

At any rate my concern is a heron getting caught in the net and getting hurt. I know that they will dive into water, but will they dive into unknown bodies of water (since they would never have had a chance to get access to the pond after it is built and stocked with koi)? I am near a river and frequently see heron fly over in the AM. So I know they are around.

Any feedback welcome.

Thanks,
Don

Here is a link that might be useful: Currently in bloom in my greenhouse

My experience with herons is that they have superior eyesight and will be able to avoid getting hung up in your netting. Every heron I've ever dealt with WALKED into the pond...none ever landed in it from the air. In my opinion, your plan is a valid one.

I had my first (known) heron visit this spring. It was to be expected, as I live close to the Chesapeake Bay. The first visit, I saw it land from a window and ran outside to chase it away. As it was late April, I also stowed away my fake heron (maybe he was looking for a girlfriend). Nope, came home from work a week later, and he was in my pond. No fish missing, though, so he hadn't been there long. I strung fishing line over the pond, and haven't seen it since (and no fish losses). In June, I replaced the fake heron by the pond. I only have cheap goldfish, so if the heron does get one, I figure it's going to a worthy cause (feeding a lovely bird). Note that I also have many hiding places for the fish, including 4" PVC pipe tubes, plants, etc.

Will dogs keep the Heron away?

As a seasoned 'ponder' I want to share what is 'believe me' the ONLY way to protect your fish from a determined heron.... A net.. BUT .. It is possible to net your pond in an aesthetically pleasing manner! I purchased 5 ft tall solar powered tiki torches online thru Amazon & love them! I mounted them over 5 ft rebar for strength & stretched black pond netting overtop!! It looks great & allows easy feeding of my koi & my tall plants enough height to grow inside while keeping the heron 'salivating' from atop my pergola.. I anchor the net with rocks & my koi are safe & sound.. I love to watch him .. Sure he will tire of this frustration soon..The 5 ft. height of the net allows great view of the pond, platings & water features... Bugs still get inside to pollinate but birds stay out & drink at the waterfall. The tiki lights flicker nightly & life is good & heron-proof!! Love it! I have pics to share.

Ok My pond is covered my hubby made out of pipe bendable to shape of pond with netting.We have about a 6''' opening ,a heron was tryng to get in.I started to move my fake heron around the pond its working.I have it now on a stump, hes sitting up pretty high.They say the trick is to move it.I too have a concrete alligator sitting there about 5' long.But he gets near I guess sees the heron he gets upset,he yells.they aren't afraid of much.My jack russells chased him a couple times he would come back..

We have a 3,000 gallon pond that was home to 14 beautiful Koi fish for the past 9 years. Some of the Koi were 20 inches plus in length. Last week we sadly discovered that every single fish is gone!! Our pond is fully covered in bird netting and there are "shelter" areas for our fish to hide in the 3foot area of the pond. We are into the winter season here in Indiana even having a layer of ice on our pond 2 weeks ago. The pond looks completely undisturbed no plants tipped over, all nice and tidy. We are just at a complete loss as to what happened to all of our beautiful fish!! Does anyone have any possible suggestions? Thank you!!

I noticed 6 days ago some of the pond plant was outside of the pond on the edge. I couldn't see any of my fish which was strange as there were over 40 of them in there. I had a feeling that either a heron or a cat had visited so I bought a cctv camera and put it in the tree next to the pond. The next morning at 05:50 I got out of bed and watched my pond on my TV. Only 20 minutes later a huge heron came down and sat on my hand rail that I had going around it. I was amazed but wasn't willing to let it have a feed so I went out and scared it. At least I knew what it was now so I could start to secure my pond. I removed the handrail as it used this to land and get a good view of the whole pond. I reluctantly put a net over the pond as I feel they spoil the view but needs must. I erected a tall metal pole in the herons flight path and attached fly stopper ribbons that you use on doorways to prevent flies coming in. I've blocked the edge of the pond with garden ornaments and plants and put mirrors around the back of the pond. Since doing all of this the heron still comes but just sits on my roof looking down. It's not landed in the garden yet!! Fingers crossed. The photo attached is of the heron leaving the handrail

Awesome picture - they are magnificent creatures! After trying pretty much everything under the sun, I finally started netting the "kill zone" (shallow, accessible areas) of my pond. Since then, no losses. All decoys, scarecrows, etc didn't work. You get used to the net - after a while your eyes don't even see it.

I think the net is the best defense. Once they find your pond, they don't give up until they've finished off every fish, sadly. And they are not easily intimidated - one ponder we know was sitting less than 10 feet from her pond and the heron still landed and didn't move even when she got up and starting walking in it's direction. They are bold! Probably because they are so large - not much to fear!

We're in the direct flight path of herons all day long, but they just keep flying as we are surrounded by natural ponds and lakes. Hopefully they will never look down!

I had a heron visit two years back... took a couple goldies from my front pond. The next day I set up the fishing line fencing. He came three or four times... couldn't get to the water.. and my 6 yr old would scare him away. The following day day I was able to work from home and be on heron watch. I had a large bucket of water right by the doors ready for him. Both of my ponds are up against my house... So i planned on dousing him with water and just freaking him out so much that he would tell all his heron buddies to avoid my house.

He came in the earlier morning and I threw my door open... yelled at him (using appropriate heron curse words.) and chucked the bucket of water on him. I got him good as he fluttered away... I chased him for a bit ( i am sure my neighbors think i am crazy). He landed on a neighbors roof... and i could see him breathing heavily.

I don't know if it was me... or what... but he never returned. I do always use my evil eye when i see a heron flying over the subdivision.

Would it be illegal to wrangle one with a net.... take it to NJ... and dump it ... err... i mean let it go?

Since putting a decoy heron and netting the pond he's not landed. He flys by but doesn't stop. I'd like to remove the net as its unsightly but I can't take the chance. If I could get away with shooting the heron I would but as they are protected I won't. Might just get a cat to sort it

If your pond is by a water line / hose.... You could get one of the scarecrow water things. Shoots water at movement.

I've battled probably the same heron for about 3 years. He comes in during winter through early spring. Always in the AM. I tried the fishing line, watched him circle and circle, army crawl through it and finally he flew up and crashed down in the middle of the pond in the deep water, like a duck. a big duck. They are persistent nasty things. I named mine Smaug, after the Hobbit dragon. This winter I went with a green house plastic over the main pond area, to keep him out and to keep the sub tropical fish alive. it worked. The day after I removed the plastic this spring, he showed up.

The effective deterrents for me have been:

1. Me. Any movement in the house, the drapes open, I get up off the sofa, he sees me through the window and he's gone. Every time. The pond is about 50 feet back from the house. If i want to watch him, i HAVE to sit perfectly still inside the house; they have amazing eyesight.

2. Truck netting. I buy truck bungee netting on Amazon and stretch them out over the main pond. It works pretty well and is a compromise from full fish netting, this way I can let the birds and the frogs in and out, the big birds have a harder time.

This year I got the alligator head. It looks really good, moving with the current, like the real thing. Not sure it'll work for long but anything helps. I also put out a cheap radio on batteries, talk radio.

I am also this year going to capitalize on movement. Since he always leaves when he sees anyone moving in the house, I bought a wemo device. I can power on or off, either from my smart phone or on a schedule, any electronic device. I hooked up a circulating fan to it, aiming it at my drapes. From the outside, it appears to be someone moving the drapes.

Someone suggested going with one of those tube dancing things, the kind you see for advertising. I think it would work for a while.

What I really want is a halloween witch i see on Amazon, its a motion or powered activated full standing prop. Its crouched down, and when activated stands to full height, makes noise, etc. that is something I could use on the back porch or in various places in the house where it would be seen.

I also have a Foscam camera, with audio. I've yet to catch the heron on the motion sensor, but having the ability to tie in anytime, anywhere is very powerful. I would not go without having an IP based camera to monitor, even if its just a passive device, knowledge is everything.

After years using a straight over the top bird netting, I went this route.

A PVC open frame while making sure the sides prevent the herons from walking right into the pond and hopping out. So far, it has worked.

The bird netting that I had used before trapped the damsel flies under it, collected the fallen leaves above it and allowed the herons to stand on the edge and spear for the fishes.

While this setup will allow a heron to fly into it, if it was a stupid heron, once inside and startled, it won't come out easily with its wings flapping wildly. Since we all know how intelligent the herons are, my bet is that they're too smart to get into the trap in the first place.

I have a security camera on the pond and since it was first put in 6 months ago, I have no fish loss or video footage of a heron visiting the pond. Unfortunately, I can't say the same for raccoons/possums but they mainly stop by for a drink only.