Solution: A spray of water (as from a fountain) will make seeing fish difficult, but is unlikely to protect the entire surface of the pond (unless your pond is small and your fountain very vigorous!). Calm and clear water makes the fish easier to see Combining low water levels with vertical sides to the pond can be effective (see Figure 3). Solution: If you can control the water level, keep it at least 60 cm below the top of the bank. Water levels close to the top of the bank will make fishing from the pond edges easy If changing the bank profile of an existing pond is impractical, position a chain of polyethylene floats, spaced less than 30cm apart, floating along the pool margin: herons are reluctant to feed between or over the floats (see Figure 2). Hedgehogs can fall into straight-sided ponds, and unless there is a means of escape, they will drown, so careful consideration is needed before you build a straight-sided pond. Also, a pond with vertical sides will be less attractive to other forms of wildlife. Solution: If building a pond from scratch consider making the sides vertical, but remember that these will need reinforcing or they will cave in. Gently sloping banks - herons like to walk into the water from the bank and fish while wading The plants will benefit the fish and any wildlife using the pond. Concentrate particularly on screening the edge(s) most often used by a heron for arrival and departure. Solution: Consider growing tall shrubs or emergent plants at the edges of open ponds, or building a bank to make it more enclosed. An area of water with a good all round view - herons need to be able to see danger coming The barrier must be at the very edge of the pond or the heron will land inside the fence. Running a network of strings above the surface can also be used, but this is not likely to be as effective as netting.Ī barrier (see Figure 1 in the downloadable diagram) made of chicken wire, two lengths of polypropylene twine, or an obvious ‘ribbon’ can be effective in the right situation. The net also needs to be kept taut to prevent herons weighing it down. The netting must therefore either have a small enough mesh size (2.5cm to make sure it is small enough not to trap the bird), or be at least 60cm above the water. A heron can put its neck through mesh that is 5cm knot to knot, and it has a reach of 60cm. Solution: Netting can provide a cost-effective heron-proof solution if carefully designed and maintained.
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