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Ponds in the UK

help...........................all my fish have been eaten

17 years ago

Hi I hope you guys can help me,

Over this weekend, I have had all my fish eaten by , I dont know what, a couple of fish had a pretty hard time of it judging by the mess.

We have the pond for several years and although we welcome and look to attract birds etc, have nevr had anything like this before.

Common birds include crows and magpies and the odd gull, but never had bother with them before, and as the pond is a couple of feet deep am unsure if a cat would go into the water to get them. There have been no sightings of herons etc locally......thanks for any help or advice........Gerry

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Comments (10)

andy_2006
17 years ago
can you give more info as to the state of the fish(dead)it will help.
dampflippers
17 years ago
Are you near any streams or other waterways?
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Hi kelly odd a heron leaving heads on the lawn, they normaly swallow the fish whole head first. Otters often leave the tail end of thier prey, seems they are not keen on that bit, mink are messy eaters, leave bits all over the place, and often as not they will hunt another fish or several just because its there, otters only hunt when hungry, maybe it was disturbed after catching the 2nd, both otters and mink are able to squeeze in small holes, so culprit could be either, there are young of both out at this time of the year. If you do catch a mink, drown it!!! they are a menace, if you release it, it will only continue to kill british wild life, they are only here because of those fools in animal rights let them free without thinking of the effect they would have! mink are best left in their own enviroment, and used as a coat in this one, you need to make sure to block off all areas to the pond, becasue both mink and otter will find any small opening and exploit it. be carful with the copper too, copper can have a bad effect on fish over a period of time, so if its overhanging the water anywhere paint it to seal it
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gerryf
Original Author
17 years ago
Turns out it was a heron.......its been seen several times since, once being hassled by a group of magpies, so maybe they caused the mess.

cheers

Gerry
alison_froglady
17 years ago
Gerry so sorry to hear of the Heron attack. Nature can be cruel sometimes, but the Heron would have truly enjoyed his meal. Will you continue and put more fish in the pond?
Have you the chance to get an ornamental heron as I have heard quite often that Herons will not come down if they see another Heron. You do need to move it round sometimes or they will realise it is not real.
Another thing is to cover the pond with a net, but I find them unsightly. They will do the trick though.
I am lucky and although Herons are always at a nearby RSPB reserve they haven't stopped at my pond, but a Magpie did once eat my diamondback sturgeon.

Here is a link that might be useful: Alisons pond and garden
PyschicLord
17 years ago
I have a plastic heron which is moved around a regular and different intervals. The heron still visits and pays no attention to the 'fake'.

As a matter of interest we have found how it enters the garden..... It lands on the large open field behind our garden where due to the topology it has a good view of what is going on. It then moves down the field behind my neighbours bach (east)fence, waits, then jumps on to the fence, walks long the top of the fence until he reacahed my fence (north)where it travels inwards until it can jump down on to a small area of clear grass..... very devious!

However to my knowledge, and despite two or three visits a week, the design of the pond has foxed it. However, just in case a couple of water scarecrows are in position!

Our worst offender has been the kingfisher to whom we lost over 20 fish in a couple of months some 5 years back. These days, probably due to our fish being somewhat larger that he can take away, we rarely see him.

I'm not sure where you are Gerry, but my mother's neighbour down in deepest Sussex has lost some of her fish due to seagulls this year - not sure if the water scarecrow will activate okay with these guys!

Just keeping watching, buy a water scarecrow, and don't give up!

David.
ponddipperdave
17 years ago
Herons can also bring suprises !
My visiting Heron regurgitated a Black Comet from someone elses pond and has been living well in my pond for two years now.
Probably a good exchange for a couple of frogs.

Dave
big_kid
17 years ago
Oh boy, ain't Mother Nature somethin' else!!

Sorry to hear of your losses. Is it possible to do the trick with two different heights of fishing line around the edge of the pond so that the Heron can't wade in?

There's also talk of using rubber snakes. If anyone has had Heron losses, then used them and found it successful, please share with us all!
gerryf
Original Author
17 years ago
Hi All,

thanks for info and input.

I'm actually just back from holidays and there was a piece in my local newspaper (East Kilbride) about someone else who also lost all their fish.

I am indeed, going to restock the pond, i find its too good a way to 'chill out'..
In addition, I have started to make a new pond about 1.5 times bigger in all dimensions.

I will install a net before restocking and will probably be back on line for some guidance from you guys if thats ok?

thanks very much and I'll update you soon,

Gerry
retropwr
17 years ago
Make sure that one of the dimensions you make bigger is the depth as a heron will quite happily wade and fish in 2 feet of water, as I discovered in the early days.
big_kid
17 years ago
Wilkinson have pond/garden netting which has narrower holes (useful at Autumn time) and is less likely to trap ordinary birds with, because it's stiffer plastic.

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