REQ: advice

Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding
protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife
pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My
problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering
the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from
several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a
multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond.
I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of
protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural
looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated.
TIA
Rez



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"Rez" wrote in message
...
Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding
protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple
wildlife
pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My
problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering
the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from
several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a
multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond.
I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of
protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural
looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated.

You'll need to go deep, and provide a hide out from fish. You'll also want
to avoid shelves the birds have no where to stand. This will of course make
marginal plants diffcult to keep. I have sloped sides, and wish I had more
shelves for plants. On a side note...my pond has remained unat....on second
thought...I am not going to temp fate and discuss what has or has not
happened to my pond with respect to heron. I can't risk it.

BV.

One way to approach a wildlife pond is to think about feeding the predators
too. Stocking fish for herons, kingfishers and various mammals.
They can be fascinating to watch. Every December a kingfisher visits my pond
and has his share of fish. I heard of a bird watching lady who wanted to put in
a pond just to attract herons.

But some folks get attached to their fish and it hurts to see their pets
snarfed up.

Netting is a very effective deterrent but for wildlife it can be dangerous.
Like BV says depth and straight sides helps keep herons at bay, though some
very determined herons will actually float along on the water like a duck and
strike.
A chimney flue at the bottom of the pond gives fish a place to hide once the
intial strike occurs. But as Ingrid says, herons are very patient. Having bird
brains they have little trouble with boredom and are prepared to hang about
waiting for the fish to come out again.
An electric fido shock fence will keep mammals away. But also all the wildlife
you hope to attract.
A motion activated sprinkler works for many ponders. But again also works on
wildlife too.

So I'll go back to my original suggestion and have you include
the predators as invited wildlife and don't get too attached to your fish.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

"Rez" writes:

Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding
protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple wildlife
pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My
problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering
the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from
several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a
multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond.

I was the same way. I've really gotten used to the bird netting. You might
give it a week or so, its a small investment.

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...

"Rez" wrote in message
...
Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding
protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple
wildlife
pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My
problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen
covering
the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from
several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a
multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond.
I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way
of
protecting the pond from such things without making it too much
un-natural
looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated.

You'll need to go deep, and provide a hide out from fish. You'll also want
to avoid shelves the birds have no where to stand. This will of course
make
marginal plants diffcult to keep. I have sloped sides, and wish I had more
shelves for plants. On a side note...my pond has remained unat....on
second
thought...I am not going to temp fate and discuss what has or has not
happened to my pond with respect to heron. I can't risk it.

BV.


Thanks for the reply & advice
I hear what your saying, and don't blame you on the silence


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"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

One way to approach a wildlife pond is to think about feeding the
predators
too. Stocking fish for herons, kingfishers and various mammals.
They can be fascinating to watch. Every December a kingfisher visits my
pond
and has his share of fish. I heard of a bird watching lady who wanted to
put in
a pond just to attract herons.

But some folks get attached to their fish and it hurts to see their pets
snarfed up.

Netting is a very effective deterrent but for wildlife it can be
dangerous.
Like BV says depth and straight sides helps keep herons at bay, though
some
very determined herons will actually float along on the water like a duck
and
strike.
A chimney flue at the bottom of the pond gives fish a place to hide once
the
intial strike occurs. But as Ingrid says, herons are very patient. Having
bird
brains they have little trouble with boredom and are prepared to hang
about
waiting for the fish to come out again.
An electric fido shock fence will keep mammals away. But also all the
wildlife
you hope to attract.
A motion activated sprinkler works for many ponders. But again also works
on
wildlife too.

So I'll go back to my original suggestion and have you include
the predators as invited wildlife and don't get too attached to your fish.


kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

That's something I hadn't thought of, fits well with my idea of a 'natural'
environment too. I had thought of stocking with native fish (if that is even
possible - or legal). While dreaming of my pond I had visions of
sticklebacks, newts, dragonfly Larvae & such, like I remember as a kid. I
know that some wildlife itself is a problem for a 'natural' pond, dragonfly
nymphs predating on small fish etc, but would this really work? Am I allowed
to stock native fish & Newts? I suppose frogs will move in of their own
accord, but where (if I am allowed) would I find sticklebacks & such
nowadays?
I'm guessing you were referring to stocking goldfish or similar to feed
wildlife? If this is so, how much/often do the fish get taken, couldnt it
get costly?
Ok now I sound like a skinflint AND I'm rambling.
Thanks for the advice



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"Andrew Burgess" wrote in message
...
"Rez" writes:

Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding
protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple
wildlife
pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My
problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen
covering
the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from
several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a
multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond.

I was the same way. I've really gotten used to the bird netting. You might
give it a week or so, its a small investment.

Hi, Thanks for the reply
From what I have been told it seems a complete net may be the only way to
avoid the problem completely, but doesn't it spoil the whole thing? I want
to be able to sit on my patio & look at the pond, and the image of a nsaty
net or mesh screen seems to destroy the 'natural' thing.
I see I'm going to have to be prepared to either not have fish, lose the
ones I have from time to time or have an ugly net.
Thanks again for your reply.


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Hi Rez,

There is a wonderful pond set up in England, it is fishless, in fact it gave me
my idea for my fishless pond, here is a link
http://www.mybitoftheplanet.com/
He gets the most wonderful assortment of amphibian and insect life.
All the critters will prey on one another but Mother Nature usually works it
out and it all comes out in the wash.
This newsgroup uk.rec.gardening will probably be able to tell you where you can
gather or purchase sticklebacks. I would go with those fish over goldfish.
You'll still get visiting predators but sticklebacks have less of a chance than
getting eaten than goldfish. Plus there is always the worry of goldfish getting
into natural waterways (big floods washing through backyard ponds, kingfishers
carrying off fish and dropping them, herons wading in ponds and picking up
sticky fish eggs).

I adopted native treefrog eggs into my pond from a friend's pond. All insect
life showed up on its own. We don't have salamanders in great numbers around
here. I'd like some toads and am looking for local ones to adopt. I decided not
to put any fish in this pond as I have another pond with goldfish in it.




Rez wrote
That's something I hadn't thought of, fits well with my idea of a 'natural'
environment too. I had thought of stocking with native fish (if that is even
possible - or legal). While dreaming of my pond I had visions of
sticklebacks, newts, dragonfly Larvae & such, like I remember as a kid. I
know that some wildlife itself is a problem for a 'natural' pond, dragonfly
nymphs predating on small fish etc, but would this really work? Am I allowed
to stock native fish & Newts? I suppose frogs will move in of their own
accord, but where (if I am allowed) would I find sticklebacks & such
nowadays?
I'm guessing you were referring to stocking goldfish or similar to feed
wildlife? If this is so, how much/often do the fish get taken, couldnt it
get costly?
Ok now I sound like a skinflint AND I'm rambling.
Thanks for the advice
kathy :-)
A HREF="http://www.onceuponapond.com/"Once upon a pond/A

you simply have to try the black, fine bird netting first to realize how it
disappears in a very short time. in fact, the sun has to be just right to make it
stand out at all. I have my netting taut, so it isnt hanging in folds all over tho.

http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/changes/changes.htm
the netting is in all those pictures.
http://puregold.aquaria.net/mypond/2003/8-2003B.htm
the netting is somewhat more visible, but when I sit by my pond I look thru to see my
fish and pond, not the netting. I dont net just for predators, I net to keep birds
and everything else out of there and to keep my fish IN. Ingrid

"Rez" wrote:
From what I have been told it seems a complete net may be the only way to
avoid the problem completely, but doesn't it spoil the whole thing? I want
to be able to sit on my patio & look at the pond, and the image of a nsaty
net or mesh screen seems to destroy the 'natural' thing.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

"Rez" wrote in message
...
Hello there,
I'm on the verge of setting up a pond, and have few concerns regarding
protection of the pond. My original intention was to have a simple
wildlife
pond, but have since decided to stock some fish of some description. My
problem/worry is the predatory subject. I do not want mesh/screen covering
the sface, but I live in a very rural part of suffolk where aside from
several cats there is also a risk from Herons, possibly kingfishers & a
multitude of other creatures that may fancy a nibble from the pond.
I've read about cords & such to stop wading birds, but is there any way of
protecting the pond from such things without making it too much un-natural
looking? Any ideas or experiences greatly appreciated.
TIA
Rez

I've heard that a heron decoy will keep other herons away for a while, or a
fake fox.
A net is as close to a sure thing as you're going to get. And if your pond
isn't too big, it only takes a few minutes to take it off if you're going to
be spending the day in they yard. I didn't want to do it, but my favorite
koi became a meal, and I will not let that happen again.

--
"Almost nobody dances sober, unless they happen to be insane."
- H.P. Lovecraft