A Heron ate my fish.

eclectic

Moderator
Short version.

Saturday, very early, a Heron
(I assume) ate 3 of the 5 goldfish from my newish 3m x 4m garden pond.

I've covered the pond, using "bean-netting" (6" mesh), but it looks ugly.

Two questions.

1. A recommendation for a "trail" or "wildlife" camera which will help establish the culprit.
(And which would be useful in the future).
I've got Amazon Prime btw.

2. A "Heron-scarer" that works.

I own a fair amount of PICAXE gear, ultrasonic module, servos ........

Budget? Say GB £200.
(Buying new fish costs lots).

Oh, and I'd like it all done by Wednesday at the latest. :)

e
 
Last edited:

Armp

Senior Member
1. A recommendation for a "trail" or "wildlife" camera which will help establish the culprit.
(And which would be useful in the future).
I've used the free version of vitamindinc to identify what was stealing my wife's marigolds from the garden. http://www.vitamindinc.com/
Uses your webcam, allows you to define a zone, and start recording on movement, when something enter or leaves the zone or a number of other criteria. It was featured on the BBC program 'Click' and does a fine job for the price.

The culprit was a vole, chomped through the stems and dragged the flowers away! Got him with a mousetrap placed along his path <g>
 

Buzby

Senior Member
Hmm ?, Let me think.

A couple of those linear servos, a waterproof skin ( long thin balloon maybe ), and of course a PICAXE !.
You could then build some electronic goldfish. Cheaper than real ones, and the herons will soon stop eating them.

( That's either me, or this fine 12 yr old malt, talking. )

Cheers,

Buzby
 

eclectic

Moderator
Hmm ?, Let me think.

A couple of those linear servos, a waterproof skin ( long thin balloon maybe ), and of course a PICAXE !.
You could then build some electronic goldfish. Cheaper than real ones, and the herons will soon stop eating them.

( That's either me, or this fine 12 yr old malt, talking. )

Cheers,

Buzby
The fish swimming in their
uisge beatha

slainte
:)

e
 

PaulRB

Senior Member
I built a "fox/stoat scarer" to protect our chooks, among a number of other measures taken after an attack last year, including a finer weldmesh wire over the top of the existing heavy-duty but wide mesh original, plus an electric barrier at the top.

The scarer is just an old FM shower radio. I built a simple circuit to switch it on/off for a few seconds at random every few minutes using an 08m2. Its tuned to BBC Radio 4, because I heard that human voices are more of a deterrent than music.

Herons are very wary of humans. Might be worth a try...
 

g6ejd

Senior Member
The Bushnell wild life camera gets rave reviews they use them on the BBC Springwatch programme all the time. Battery powered photos or video on capture, long range sensor about 7m I recall, a camera that actually works. Maplin sell a cheaper version. Worth a look.
 

Michael 2727

Senior Member
Put a Crock in the Pond. :)
(name him 08M2 )

There are dozens of cheap Car Dash Cams on the market, some are motion activated.
Most have an SD card slot, get one that can take a 32G card then ad an Ext Supply,
many actually run on 5V. Many of them have an internal lithium battery but only
last around an hour or two of recording time.

Much cheaper than a Trail Camera.
 

RobertN

Member
Hate to spoil your fun conjuring up something to scare away Herons. Best is a decoy Heron, just standing there like real ones do. Apparently they think the pond is 'claimed' by the decoy and stay away.
 

SAborn

Senior Member
It might well be a local cat dropping in for some fish oil in his diet, They tend to be a bigger problem than birds are.

Also a good designed pond will stop most preditors, and the simplest design feature it to use flat overhanging rocks or similar all the way around the edge, it creates a nice rock pool effect, but most important gives the fish a ledge to duck under for protection.
Almost all birds and cats will fish from the edge (cat are not very good in waders) and they trap the fish on the pond edge with no where to go, but a dark ledge to hide under will save many fish.
It also stops a lot of alge growing in the pond due to less light around the walls of the pond.
Another tip for alge prevention is to place a small bundle of dried stems from barley in the pond (no heads on the barley), it wont harm the fish but will prevent alge growing.

No picaxe solution here but design is always important to any project.
 

westaust55

Moderator
Try some artificial meekats: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003W8J6CK/ref=as_li_tf_til?tag=herondeterrent-21&camp=1406&creative=6394&linkCode=as1&creativeASIN=B003W8J6CK&adid=0JXCV0MTR82BTJXK4TZY&
Then an LDR (day/night switch), PICAXE and hi brightness White LED or two to illuminate the meerkats at night plus solar panel to keep batteries for the lot charged.

Maybe add an ultarsonic sensor or PIR to detect movement at night .
Consider servo's to help the meerkats move - particularly at night.


From the RSPB website:
http://www.rspb.org.uk/advice/gardening/unwantedvisitors/heronsandponds/herons.aspx
A plastic heron will more likely attract other herons rather than deter them.
 

AndyGadget

Senior Member
Have you tried a ring of nylon line around the pond perimeter? It should be about a foot off the ground and 18" back from the edge of the pond. The theory is that a heron will land some way back from the pond and walk up to it, but is put off by the obstruction against its legs and will give up and fly off. This has worked for me and other people I know of.

If you really want to use a PicAxe you could have it tensioned against a strain gauge (or lower tech, a microswitch) to sound a beeper when tugged.
 

Jeff Haas

Senior Member
It's more likely to be raccoons. They probably drop by at night to get a drink, and turn over any loose rocks in the shallows to find worms hiding under them. Any fish with no place to hide become an easy meal. I agree with the advice to have a deep section of the pond for the fish to retreat to, that strategy has saved many expensive koi for my friends.

By the way, racoons are everywhere. PBS here in the US had a show on called "Raccoon Nation" which shows how integrated into modern life they really are:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/raccoon-nation/full-episode/7558/
 

ZOR

Senior Member
We have regular early morning visits from a Heron. We tried a decoy heron, no good. I was always led to believe they land and walk up to the pond, thats untrue, my security cameras show the heron landing on a fence, then hover and land in the middle. The heron would take out fish and drop them on the side of the pond. I tried motion sensor and bag inflating/deflating and it took no notice.
The only way we have stopped it getting fish is a net covering. Unfortunately not so attractive but it saves fish. We see the heron land on the net, it's weight takes the net to the bottom under it's feet, and it looks bemused as to why any brave fish cannot swim near him. After a while he gets cheesed of a goes. However it never learns. Good luck
 

eclectic

Moderator
@ZOR

I'd read about the "wet landing" technique, and thanks for confirming it.

I'll continue to investigate the PICAXE themes as well.

e
 

techElder

Well-known member

Michael 2727

Senior Member
I'd stiil go with the Crock, they'll eat all of the critters mentioned above and many that were not :)

Make sure the Acorn is bolted down, people like to nick them.
A mate of mine had his pinched, including the bucket it was mounted
inside (nailed to the tree for shade) and the large SLA battery on the ground running the unit.
 

John West

Senior Member
As we in Boulder, Colorado, have both bear and mountain lions in town, we usually find it best to just let them eat the fish.
 

SAborn

Senior Member
As we in Boulder, Colorado, have both bear and mountain lions in town, we usually find it best to just let them eat the fish.
Blimey!!

Think i would leave a tin of fish out just incase they were still hungry after to goldfish.
You might say you have a BIG cat problem with your fish.
 

clockwork

Member
A local garden pond keeper says he has often seen a heron standing on the head of his dummy heron
in order to see where his koi carp were hiding...........so forget the dummy herons......dont work.
Well thats what he said in court to explain why he had a 12 bore propped up near the back door.

Radio 4 sounds a better bet......................... providing you have cultured neighbours. Like wot I doz!

You can get floating plastic mat type things. They do not have to cover all the pond but they allow the
fish to retreat underneath them where they are safe from becoming the next meal.

Clockwork
 

Hughdh

New Member
No help with the herons, my neighbour keeps fish in his pond and ever once in a while You here "F@#& Herons" across the fence.

Though the movement actuated sprinkler would work since it would reach out and touch the Heron and if it's the same one after a couple of hits it probably wont come back.
Though "wet cat = no dinner"

But in an earlier post somebody mentioned stoats I always wondered what they were so Google.
For us North Americans their "weasels"

And enjoy the coons when they get to the UK much worse than herons for ponds, garbage cans, attics and whatever they can get into
 

g6ejd

Senior Member
Progress so far.

I've ordered a camera and 16 Mb card
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Acorn-Wildlife-Trail-Infrared-Camera/dp/B00873DB5S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372671542&sr=8-1&keywords=wildlife+camera

to be delivered tomorrow.

Next target is the woodpigeons that nick the bird-food!

e
That's a good find, probably better than the Bushnell units and it has a screen, so no need to download to see what's been caught.

I've found the culprit, albeit recorded on a Bushnell, see the little blighter here :)
http://www.amazon.co.uk/review/R1M1QOR3VEMJRV/ref=cm_cr_pr_perm?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B008CNWR80&linkCode=&nodeID=&tag=
 

eclectic

Moderator
My pond a couple of years ago,
after I'd wasted money on a plastic heron.

I'm now thinking about

PIR / SRF

Servo and attached feather "wings"

e
 

Attachments

alband

Senior Member
Edit: only relevant if you have a Canon DSLR (thought I'd mention to save time):

Sorry, don't have time to read the whole thread, but replying to your initial post. If it were, me, I already have the gear I'd need. If you already have a Canon DSLR, even an old little one, just get "Magic Lantern" and install that on it (for free). It has motion detection, and some battery saving stuff so it'll last the night. Alternately, it can take many pictures over a set period of time, likely to catch the culprit, or if you wanted to save shutter counts, it can do a very low fps video instead.

Other than that, I've had good success with cheep PIR detectors on eBay, but make sure you buy from the UK!


Edit: As for scaring them, after many attempts at sneaking up on Herons, I can confirm most things scare them. Your servo wings thing would work, though I'd be tempted to not make it a mock-Heron, instead a mock-person or something.

Edit 3: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mini-Human-Sensor-Detector-Module-IR-Pyroelectric-Infrared-PIR-Motion-/320899981899?pt=UK_BOI_Industrial_Supply_Security_Equipment_ET&hash=item4ab721224b That's the exact thing I used, though it took about a month to come and the description isn't accurate so find one from UK. Works nicely though, high output for 10sec after movement. Good at sensing movement, even of cold objects like leaves.

Good luck!
 

erco

Senior Member

g6ejd

Senior Member
The UK does not have rabies AFAIK, when I was bitten by a dog last year, when I mentioned this to the Doctor, he laughed and said to me I need to be more worried about tetanus.

Dogs are allowedinproviding they have a dog passport and are chipped, applies across the EU, for dogs outside of the EU it's quarantine time.
 
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