I hate nets over ponds. Last week I lost a 12inch koi to an owl and last night a goldfish. Going to get a net today
Have you thought about turning off the light? That seems like an advertisement to night hunters.
Yea I had a nightlight, then I saw that I could see the fish better at night. And if I could, so could predators.
Piggybacking on your comment, I bought a greenhouse frame from Amazon, then netted over it so the pond surface itself wasn’t covered. So far I’ve had hawks, bobcats, raccoons, cranes/herons attack my pond. It’s like an all you can eat nature buffet, I don’t even know how high flying birds spot a tiny pond from so high up.
Sorry for you losing some of your fish more sorry for the fish (Yes I know it’s nature but it still sucks!). I have been netted since July because of a GBH who frequents my yard. But this Spring I will be going with a suggestion from a very good man that used to own a pet store in the area here (They also do pond maintenance and installations still) they have a customer that lives by the water here on Long Island and has a HUGE pond his solution was to put some shiny Mylar balloons around the pond on stakes and he hasn’t lost a fish in a few years doing so after losing fish for years. I assume it’s because of the shininess and the fact that the balloons move very easily in any sort of breeze just my two for you.
You can repurpose old cds for a similar effect, especially if you have trees to hang them in. Tin foil and the metallic streamers from bikes work well too. Anything shiny with unpredictable movement.
Maybe an aesthetically pleasing pinwheel or small wind chime as well. Creates motion without being gaudy.
Curious, how deep is your pond? I was thinking of how to protect from Racoons….
It’s only like 2 feet it’s mostly for our turtles. We were planning on expanding bc of the koi, but now that’s gonna wait. I don’t think we have many racoons, but I’m sure there are some
I had no idea owls went for fish! I had a kingfisher take out my pond the year before last, it definitely sucks.
I didn’t know they did either. I know the videos not super clear, but I think that’s what it was. Sorry for your fish lose
It won’t help with mammals but I put up fishing line between the trees over my pond. It confuses birds so the won’t fly through it. They do that over pools and patios on the coast to keep the gulls out.
I had to put a metal fencing over my pond and put concrete screws to strap it down with wire tyes because I’ve had all my fish eaten several years in a row.
Ugh that sounds like a lot. I keep seeing that person with a big pond it a screened in porch. Very jealous of that!
Owls too! I had no idea about possible owl attacks on fish.
Do you know what kind of owl or what state do you live in, I’d love to see what owls are in your area.
Marauding wildlife is so annoying in the yard and pond.
Northern Florida. We recently started to hear it and then boom all the fish are gone
We had a heron show up and luckily we saw it before it did any damage. We used the net in the link below and have been very happy with it and think it looks very good considering it’s a net. We did have an extremely small area which is seen in the video where a tall plant is in the pond and a very small surface are wasn’t covered by the net. I mean just a couple inches. Well, yesterday I walked up to feed the fish and a heron was sitting RIGHT AT THE SPOT where it was clear. So make sure it’s entirely protected or nature will find a way. This is the link for the video with the net: Netting the koi pond from herons| Winter prep| Donated High end Guppies! 🤩 https://youtu.be/PW_9upWXDo0
Here’s a thought:
An arial attack needs an approach vector. I’d consider planting bamboo around the pond to block the glide-path. Bamboo might be a really nice surround and it has no branches for owls to perch on.
this makes a ton of sense. cloister the pond in tall grass. that would be a good alternative to a net. although, unless you want to cloister it entirely — no one wants that — you’ll be leaving open a portion of it that might become the new raptor entry.
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