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Great Blue HeronsWe are about 1 mile from a reservoir, and about 10 miles from a Great Blue Heron rookery, members of the egret family. We have had a Great Blue Heron visit us. In a few visits he took about 120 of our best 4-8" Koi. There were only 100 left in that pond. He usually came at dawn and dusk. We saw him several times but he quickly took off. What a huge and magnificent looking bird. We tried a Great Blue Heron decoy that came with instructions to move it every day. The theory is they politely respect each others territory, and will not horn in on another Heron's meal. We saw him fly over the next morning at about 100 feet. That evening he flew over at about 50 feet. The next morning he flew over at 30 feet and we could see him checking out the decoy. The next evening he landed and had a sumptuous Koi dinner. So I decided to try to communicate with that bird. I wanted to threaten him with physical harm if he came back. How could I do that? I decided to lay the decoy down on the ground like a "dead Great Blue Heron". I hoped that would scare him from coming back. Again I saw him fly over lower and lower with each pass, but he never landed again. Whether or not he got my message is hard to prove. All I know is he never has landed again. In the Denver, Colorado area people believe Great Blue Herons only feed heavily during May and June when the male brings fish back to feed the baby Herons in the nest. It was in July that he stopped landing. I did see him several times in July but he never landed. It was easy to tell when he came if I didn't see him. The Koi would be badly spooked. They would all hide for at least a day. In fact one time I thought they were all gone. I couldn't see any. We use 12 little plastic stepping stools for plant stands, and they form a tunnel like area. They provide great hiding places for Koi, but they also make it very difficult for us to catch them. We saw a couple of Koi peek out from under the plant stands. Eventually the 100 survivors ventured out, but not for many hours. In fact there were a few we did not see for weeks. I had trained them to come to me for meals by splashing my fingers in the water. I wondered if the Heron made a similar sound which would have led the Koi right to him. Of course he took the most friendly and curious ones. Some of my favorites. It seems only the spooky and wary Koi survived. Afterwards, when I fed them if I moved my hand too quickly to shoo away a fly, they all darted for cover. It took a month for them to calm down. One of the last times I saw the Great Blue Heron I thought he might have talked to me. As he flew over I heard a couple of crow-like "caws". I have never seen him again, and I never want to see him again.. Herons are a big Koi problem here. Some have tried putting netting over their pond. One put a sheet of Plexiglas just under the water's surface. That was a surprised Heron. In Japan they use fish line strung back and forth over the pond, a foot or two apart, which also threatens the well being of a Heron. They don't want to hit that line because it might hurt them. If you have discovered a good anti-heron method we would love to hear what you did. |
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