electric fence for ponds?

My pond, veggie garden and bird feeders are all in the same general
area and for years were ravaged by groundhogs, deer, raccoons, and
bear. I put up a four foot high 4"x4" mesh fence around the whole
thing - primarily too confine my retired racing Greyhound. That
stopped the groundhogs, most of the rabbits, and some of the deer.
Then I added a single strand of electrified barbed wire to the top.
Now nothing gets in except for the occasional rabbit and of course
squirrels. Hope you can put this information to use.
On 8 Apr 2004 18:54:11 -0700, (Fish tales) wrote:

I am wondering what experience/ advice people may have about the use
of electric fencing around koi and goldfish ponds. I live in the
woods and have gazillions of predators: raccoons, possoms, herons,
owls and an occasional snapping turtle that eat my dear expensive koi;
squirrels and deer that eat and demolish the marginal plants; snakes
that carry off and consume the bullfrogs. After loosing lots of fish
(even with careful sculpting of the pond sides and underwater hiding
places), I had to resort to bird netting staked down on all four sides
and netting overhead to keep owls out. It has worked, but as a friend
says, it looks like stalag 17. And I am constantly repairing holes
the squirrels make. I can't seem to find much information about the
use and/or problems of low charge electric fences made for ponds
online. Anyone have any experience with them or resources?

"Fish tales" wrote in message
om...
"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...
"Fish tales" wrote in message

* They would be useless against bullfrogs and snakes, two of the worst
predators of fish in some areas.

I have considered putting a narrow band of small-holed chicken wire
around the bottom.

Owls?

Yes! That is something rarely reported in the fish world. But several
times I have watched great-horned owls sit on branches overhead
looking for the best bite, and one left a calling card of a few
feathers after scooping up a brand-new gold butterfly koi -- a quick
$40 dinner!!

## Yikes!!! We have several types of owl here. I didn't know they fed on
fish as well as rodents and birds. I usually find fur, feathers and bones
under this one old juniper tree out front. With the net they can't get my
fish.

* Why are the squirrels chewing holes in the netting? Thirst? We're
crawling with squirrels here and they've never touched the netting. Why
not
try to put a birdbath on the ground for them? I have seen squirrels
drinking from our birdbath is summer.

I have LOTS of extra water around for deer and squirrels and birds.
But for some unknown reason, they want to get in the pond area and rip
up the marginal plants and drink from there. This, too, I have
witnessed time and time again... I even have an australian shepard
who does her part in keeping them up trees, AND an low sonic device
that is supposed to annoy them, but they persist!!

## So far nothing has bothered the nets we use. We also have possums,
deer, fox, turkey, coyotes and skunks here. I'm sinking a 150 gallon kiddy
pool way out front in hopes of keeping them further away from the house.
Our dogs bark at them at night and I don't want to disturb the neighbors
(which aren't really all that close.)

You said something about heavy bird neting.

## No, it's NOT heavy but it is strong. We buy it at Ace Hardware. We pay
between $18 and $22 for a net large enough to cover our 2000 gal pond.

I wonder if that is
differnt from the netting I use, which is fairly light. Do you have a
resource? I appreciate your thoughts. I'm in NC so we probably have
similar situations.

## Yes,... try Ace Hardware.
--
Carol....
"Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again..."
My Webpages:
http://.www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Fish tales" wrote in message
om...
"~ Windsong ~" wrote in message
...
"Fish tales" wrote in message

* They would be useless against bullfrogs and snakes, two of the worst
predators of fish in some areas.

I have considered putting a narrow band of small-holed chicken wire
around the bottom.

Owls?

Yes! That is something rarely reported in the fish world. But several
times I have watched great-horned owls sit on branches overhead
looking for the best bite, and one left a calling card of a few
feathers after scooping up a brand-new gold butterfly koi -- a quick
$40 dinner!!

## Yikes!!! We have several types of owl here. I didn't know they fed on
fish as well as rodents and birds. I usually find fur, feathers and bones
under this one old juniper tree out front. With the net they can't get my
fish.

* Why are the squirrels chewing holes in the netting? Thirst? We're
crawling with squirrels here and they've never touched the netting. Why
not
try to put a birdbath on the ground for them? I have seen squirrels
drinking from our birdbath is summer.

I have LOTS of extra water around for deer and squirrels and birds.
But for some unknown reason, they want to get in the pond area and rip
up the marginal plants and drink from there. This, too, I have
witnessed time and time again... I even have an australian shepard
who does her part in keeping them up trees, AND an low sonic device
that is supposed to annoy them, but they persist!!

## So far nothing has bothered the nets we use. We also have possums,
deer, fox, turkey, coyotes and skunks here. I'm sinking a 150 gallon kiddy
pool way out front in hopes of keeping them further away from the house.
Our dogs bark at them at night and I don't want to disturb the neighbors
(which aren't really all that close.)

You said something about heavy bird neting.

## No, it's NOT heavy but it is strong. We buy it at Ace Hardware. We pay
between $18 and $22 for a net large enough to cover our 2000 gal pond.

I wonder if that is
differnt from the netting I use, which is fairly light. Do you have a
resource? I appreciate your thoughts. I'm in NC so we probably have
similar situations.

## Yes,... try Ace Hardware.
--
Carol....
"Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again..."
My Webpages:
http://.www.heartoftn.net/users/windsong/index.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~