pond visitor

[flowerseller]

We had a visitor at our ornamental pond the other day.

 

 

woo hoo, guess who?

 

 

awesome sight isn't it?

 

We had a fake snake but moved it when we covered the pond this winter.

Thank god it's still got the cover on it or we'd be fishless.

One wiped out 17 of 18 koi several years ago.

The last one was so skittish after that I ended up getting rid of it.

[Black Mammoth]

Cool!

 

IMHO fake snakes don't work. My parents have a Koi pond. They had birds taking their fish. So they thought it might be a good idea to put a fake snake around the pond. That work all about a day until they say a bird swoop down and pick up the snake! My parents tried another one and it was gone with in the week...LOL

[trble81]

You should set up what they have at grape vine fields. There are this cannon looking things that use propane (I think) and every couple of min it builds up some gas and ignites it, causing a noise that sounds like a shotgun going off. It always scared the bejesus out of me and I never saw any birds around.

 

Or, you could just sit in a rocking chair all day and fire a real shotgun into the air when they come around :wink:

 

Of course, I'm only kidding.....

[scott711]

chip,

 

they make motion detectors that connect to your water hose and when an animal(or in your case bird) comes near it shoots water to startle the animal.

 

Scott

[jamesbuf]

chip,

 

they make motion detectors that connect to your water hose and when an animal(or in your case bird) comes near it shoots water to startle the animal.

 

Scott

 

That sounds like a great idea. Or you just have to get yourself a good bow and go hunting Never been hunting myself, but I definitly went comando style with a BB rifle on some squirrels that used to get in to my trash everyday. Little buggers chewed through 3 different trashcans before I finally got them.

[dandy7200]

Yep, shotgun, rocking chair and spittune is the way to go on this one.....oh wait, we are all supposed to be wildlife conservationist right?

[jamesbuf]

Yep, shotgun, rocking chair and spittune is the way to go on this one.....oh wait, we are all supposed to be wildlife conservationist right?

 

Not if the creature in question is eating hundreds of dollars in koi :wink:

[modelrr]

we get huge herons at our pond .. ate some of our biggest, nicest koi a few years ago. Now we have a big black lab who chases the birds away (sometimes he manages to get a few feathers). We'll probably put up fishing line around the paremeter of the pond as well

[Almon]

Nice picture.....

 

I have a different predator in my Koi pond. My cat....he loves to fish. I now use netting to cover the entire pond. It works well.

[jason the filter freak]

sate bird is awsome

[extreme_tooth_decay]

I was just hiking around the lake in the Winkler nature preserve (Alexandria) this

afternoon, and noticed there's a big school of koi in there. Probably 100. All

packed together, and close to the surface.

 

 

I often see herons and eagrets out there, I wonder how they survive.

 

 

tim

Edited March 14, 2007 by extreme_tooth_decay

[BeltwayBandit]

Just don't shoot the heron. They are federally protected.

[extreme_tooth_decay]

Just don't shoot the heron. They are federally protected.

 

 

Personally I think herons are a lot cooler than carp

 

:wink:

[flowerseller]

I would never hurt the bird and also think it's neat.

Just don't want to feed the thing a couple hundred dollars in fish.

[Gatortailale]

Thought chip was gonna post a picture of this other creature that has been known to visit his pond

 

 

 

 

[ReeferMan]

Gatortailale is that a bald eagle?

[BeltwayBandit]

Nahhh. I think its some kinda turkey!

 

 

 

But in all seriousness, Chip has to keep howard from bowfishing in his Koi pond... sheesh.

 

[ReeferMan]

I have never seen a bald turkey. Maybe it could be our mascot! :wink:

[Gatortailale]

That is what happens when you rub doe in heat on your head.

 

http://www.baylink.org/wpc/tbuzzard.html

 

There is one bird that is often seen around the Historic Triangle but nearly always at a distance. Few persons are accorded a close-up view and perhaps this is well. When seen on the ground, the vulture or turkey buzzard as he is more commonly known presents one of the most repulsive sights in nature with his bald, grotesque head, hooked beak and awkward method of locomotion. Once airborne, all clumsiness is left behind, for as a glider and sailer, the turkey buzzard has few equals.

 

There are two species of vultures in the locality but seldom seen is the black vulture. The two birds may easily be identified in flight, the turkey buzzard having longer wings and being more graceful while the wings of the smaller bird are broad and stubby, causing it to fly with a short, jerky wing motion.

 

The eyesight of these birds is remarkably keen even among the rest of the birds of prey. From such a distance in the sky that they seem to be mere pin-points, they have been known to sight the bodies of small dead animals Iying thousands of feet below.

 

The bird's nest is located in a hollow stump or tree and generally is only a slight depression scooped out in the ground. The eggs are slightly larger than hen eggs and are white with brown splotches. The female protects her nest and eggs by food regurgitation in the hope that the foul odor will drive off intruders.

 

just kidding of course.

[ReeferMan]

haha that stuff stinks Howard! He uses a bottle of that stuff not that actual doe right?

[lanman]

We had a visitor at our ornamental pond the other day.

 

We had a fake snake but moved it when we covered the pond this winter.

Thank god it's still got the cover on it or we'd be fishless.

One wiped out 17 of 18 koi several years ago.

The last one was so skittish after that I ended up getting rid of it.

Hmmm... talk about hitchiker's - I have a Koi in my pond that must have hitchiked in on a plant. I only bought three $2.49 goldfish. But now that I have a Koi - maybe I should protect my pond. It's in a tight corner with a fence on two sides, and a gazebo on another side - but I've heard those blue herons will do just about anything for a pond full of fish.

 

bob