Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management Great blue herrons

has anyone figured out a good way to keep great blur herrons away from the pond. there has been three at my pond every morning. i thought they were territoryal but it doesn't look that way. Any ideas other than the good old fashioned remedy for making them disappear?

jsand13 - lead poisoning not working?

Either staked lines or electric fence work well. I did an article on it a few issues back. There's also plenty of discussion on the subject here. Just don't get caught if you use the lead. It's a bird that comes under Federal protection.

I used to shoot them with a federal permit but won't do it anymore. The above are much more effective and work when you're not around.

I let them stay.. I can't see how they could possibly affect a pond enough to kill them.. And trust me I kill alot of animals so no tree huggin BS.. when I watch herrons they do alot more standing than eating and what they do eat needs gone anyways.. Just my thoughts on the subject, plus my kids love them..

You may think differently when you find fish bigger than they can eat with stab marks in them, and floating upside down. That was a good article Cecil.

They "generally" take only small fish and aren't much of a problem. Esshup is 100% right about finding a nice fish with a beak hole in it. I won't tolerate them.

I think they transport parasites and other unwanted things from place to place.

I quess I'm lucky.. Never found a fish with a puncture through it.. On a sidenote I only have one that shows up once a week or so..

Well think about this. Im trying to build the forage base back up in my pond so ive been adding as many bluregill as possible. If each one eats 5 3" bluegill a day then thats 1800 3 inch bluegill per year for each one. Thats means that those 2 birds are taking out 3600 3" bluegill a year. So you may think they aren't bothering much but that adds up to alot of money when you buying bluegill to add to the pond.

jes they are working for us-keeping you buying more bluegill-kidding of course
try having 3000 trout in .05 acre poond and see how many show up.

Well Greg im gonna leave these two a map too Ball Ground and tell them there is a trout dinner waitingthat they dont have to work as hard for. It figures this morning they wouldnt show up. I had a surprize for them.

jasnd13, look in archives for other Herron threads. I have posted before on the possible adverse consequences of shooting them. It's based on my own personel experiences similar to your situation...du

What you say makes sense but here are two points:

1.) Although it happens (as mentioned above) you will very rarely see two birds feeding at one pond, even larger ones.

2.) They don't just eat fish. They have a varied diet of fish, mice, moles, frogs, and crayfish.

True but those parasites are rarely lethal or even harmful to the fish or yourself if you eat the fish.

I guess these two are exceptions to the rule because they always are there at the same time. but my pond is 6 acres so it may be different.

give em lead poisoning..

I agree, I often have 2 -3 at the same time on my .75 acre pond, they will set up with 1 on the upper end and a pair within 20 ft of each other near my dock, this is durring the sumer months naturally. While i dont appreciate them eating all my fish, I do enjoy seeing them at the pond and better yet when i let the dogs out and they start flying off into the sunset headed for my neighbors pond, LOL. Anyone know how much damage Green herons will do?? had one hanging around this past summer along with an aggressive Kingfisher.

Salmonid

I've noticed on my pond that the Herons are almost always on one of the floating islands which are loaded with frogs and bugs, and I never found any dead fish with spear marks on them.

Maybe adding a good size artificial island might solve alot of the problem with Herons, and it's also great for your fish.
Just a thought.

Hey jsand...I understand your point about them costing you money...if those birds were spearing and eating actual one dollar bills (legal tender for all debt public and private) to the tune of 4,5,6+ a day I think every member here would be ready to %@#$$%*& KILL THEM. You didn't say but I gather your pond is small which makes the cash money analogy even stronger. However after spending the best part of the last 40 yrs in a boat chasing green fish I must say that I tend to agree with Rick Clunn. ALWAYS look for where the life is HAPPENING on any body of water. Baitfish moving-breaking, turtles, birds, insects, beaver, coons, deer....ANYTHING EVERYTHING.....PAY ATTENTION. Anyway maybe you should just kill them or something but if you do they will almost assuredly be replaced by some other money eater. My uncle Gordon taught me how to fish at a very young age and I can still hear him say " hey look over there..let's go fish where that pond scoggin(deep south for heron)is wading...he knows where the fish are..heck he fishes for a livin...he's got to know."

A good point about the downside of using the "lead" approach. If you kill them they will just be replaced, and how effective is a gun when they come and you are not there to use it?

I've dealt with them for years by purchasing a federal permit to take them out. However I'm at peace now as I don't have to constantly watch the ponds, and worry how many valuable fish are getting nailed at night.

The staked lines work 24/7.

It sounds like you've sucummed to wisdom, or maybe just getting old.

Don't they go hand in hand?

[quote=Cecil

staked lines work 24/7. [/quote]


Cecil how tall are your stakes and how many lines do you have on them? How far from the waters edge are they?

RC51,

It's in the article I did a while back, but I believe the lines are about 16 or 18 inches above the ground or water level. If you're not confident the bird can't get under the line I would run another one below it. As long as you create a barrier the bird cannot slip under or step over you are good to go.

You can run the lines at least 100 feet if they are taunt, and in a straight line. When the pond curves you'll probably have to put in another stake.

As far as how close to the water etc. you place your lines so the bird cannot get into the water or is able to strike anything in the water. I place mine close to the edge and sometimes even over the water a little if their are spawning beds there and the water is shallow enough the bird could possibly land in the water and wade on the other side of the lines.

It's really a simple concept.

In addition to Cecil's method which appears to work very well, a friend of mine who raised show quality waterfowl and poultry had problems with hawks and owls, he strung overhead lines above the fenced area.

In addition he hung up CD's which would spin in the wind and flash from sunlight during the day and would have some flood lights on at night to reflect and spook the owls. He claimed this especially helped the owl problem at night.
Not sure if this would have an affect on Herons.