Recovery from Heron Attack???

A couple thoughts -
How was your last winter? Fish could have died and been consumed by the
bullheads since dead critters are part of their diet.
Could you, or someone else, overfished the pond?

Herons usually hunt in the shallows by stalking and stealth. In addition to
fish they take frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, newts and large aquatic insects
out of a pond. If they are feeding a nest full of young they will be catching
more than they, themselves, need.


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

We live in extreme Southern Michigan and had a very moderate winter.
Until this year we have never seen a bullhead in the pond. Our bluegills
were as large as 9-10 inches and our bass were 14-15 inches.
As far as overfishing, I doubt we have taken 25 fish out over 20 years.
I love to see the herons come and they can have whatever they need, I
just can't imagine they need the larger fish. As I said, we are seeing
more algae this year, so I am checking into that.

Bullheads like murky water and thrive
in it.
They are considered a game fish
(not sure why, they don't look very tasty ;-)
I'm curious, where did the bullheads come from?
Does the pond have an inlet from a creek or stream?
In Oregon (right next door to us) I read an article about 'bucket biologists'.
People who decide to 'stock' their favorite lake with an exotic or illegal fish
for all sorts of different reasons. They dump in the fish and 10-20 years later
the lake has a huge problem with the introduced fish changing the ecological
balance.

Another option for you is to contact your fish and wildlife office. It is in
their best interest to keep all lakes in the state healthy. They might have
reasons for you and suggestion about the algae bloom. Not sure about the
bullheads since they are listed as a game fish.


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

One ponder lady who lived next to a large nature pond said she saw a heron
down a ~24" carp. Took it 30 minutes to get its mouth shut over it. All I
could think of was, where's the coyotes (also in this area) when you need
them? ~ jan

On Mon, 17 May 2004 10:36:14 -0400, (steve evans) wrote:

We live in extreme Southern Michigan and had a very moderate winter.
Until this year we have never seen a bullhead in the pond. Our bluegills
were as large as 9-10 inches and our bass were 14-15 inches.
As far as overfishing, I doubt we have taken 25 fish out over 20 years.
I love to see the herons come and they can have whatever they need, I
just can't imagine they need the larger fish. As I said, we are seeing
more algae this year, so I am checking into that.

(Do you know where your water quality is?)

Gary I use a motion activated water jet (water scare crow) but, after
some losses last year due to a racoon who obviously didn't mind getting
we, have also put netting over the pond. The local garden supplie
shops sell very thin black plasting netting (about 1/2" squares)
intended for covering fruit trees to keep birds out.

It is cheap and light and when stretched thight across the pond above
the level of the water it is all but invisble from more that 10 feet
away - so you can actually look at your pond and enjoy the sight.

So far no more losses.

Good luck

Gary wrote:

Thanks, everyone, for your comments and great suggestions. The
chicken wire is just a temporary measure(effective, but a high
ugliness factor), so I will need to give some careful thought to the
options for a more permanent solution.
BTW, I'm surprised that, today, the fish are beginning to come back up
to the top to check me out when I approach and to eat again. That's
encouraging!

Sean - over the years my fish have developed some interesting colors
and finnage. I don't have any black ones, but several mottled
white/orange ones, yellow/gold ones, some totally white, some intense,
deep orange. As far as fins go, again, lots of variety. One has very
short fins (looks like he has a crew-cut - so I call him "Butch")
while others have very long, flowing tails and fins, like "Rapunzel"
and "Lady Godiva." Some of them have tails that are considerably
longer than their bodies. The young ones are usually black but they
dont stay that color after they get big enough to defend themselves.

Gary