There are several ways to protect a garden pond from herons. Ultimately you have to decide which variant is best for your garden pond.
For many lovers of ornamental and farmed fish, the garden pond is a welcome alternative to the aquarium. And especially those who want to keep koi carp cannot avoid a garden pond of a certain size. Some farmed fish are not only beautiful to look at, they are also very valuable and expensive to buy. It is all the more annoying when a natural predator wants to take the fun out of your fish. Of course, even a heron has to feed itself and its food is fish. But he doesn't necessarily have to fish them out of a garden pond. Even if native ornamental fish from garden ponds are a popular choice of prey. But don't worry: there are plenty of effective ways to protect your own garden pond against herons.
You should never forget that the gray heron in particular is a nature reserve. Of course, you cannot take all possible measures against the predator - but there are still enough effective ways to deter herons from visiting your garden pond regularly. We expressly advise against measures that could go in the direction of animal cruelty. In the past, some pond owners have already installed small electric fences to get rid of herons. There are numerous other options that are much less extreme and still achieve good results. Because despite all the anger about the loss of fish - even a heron is an animal with a pronounced sensitivity to pain.
How does a heron hunt?
To understand the easiest way to get rid of a heron, you must first understand how herons hunt in the first place. In principle, you can assume that the danger that herons pose to native fish is greatest in spring. This is simply because herons need to feed their hungry young in the spring. The heron explores the river from a safe heightarea below for a suitable feeding place. For example, he is looking for a stream, a lake or a pond. Once it has found a promising spot, the heron prepares to land. He needs a lot of space for that. And once he's landed, he'll stand right on the edge of the bank or in the shallows and wait for a fish to catch his beak.
Even these peculiarities of the heron offer important and interesting clues as to how best to keep herons away from your home pond in the long term. There are 8 options in total, some of which work well and some of which work very well. However, it must also be said that herons are different. So not every method works the same for every animal.
8 ways to effectively protect a garden pond from herons
As mentioned, herons and gray herons are protected animal species, so it is not allowed to set up traps, harm the animals in any other way or even kill them. But that is not even necessary. There are far better ways to keep herons out of your home garden without harming the animal in any way.
❶ dummy heron:
Probably the easiest and cheapest way to protect your home garden pond from herons is to put up a plastic bird. As mentioned above, herons probe the area below them from the air in search of a feeding ground. Basically, you will never see two herons standing next to each other on a bank. Waterholes that are already “occupied” by other herons are generally avoided by the herons. The only exception: If there is really real need and the need for food is particularly large. Then there can be turf wars. A heron then quickly finds out that your dummy isn't moving in the garden and isn't fighting back either. So, if you come to your pond one fine day and the heron that you put there as a kind of scarecrow is lying in the grass, you can be sure that one or the other fish could be missing. For this reason it makes sense to combine the dummy heron (e.g. available from Amazon.de) with one of the other defense options.
❷ Heron Scarecrow:
The heron deterrent is a combination of a garden hose and a motion detector (e.g. available from Amazon.de). If an object, such as a heron, comes into the sensor of the motion detector,a jet of water is emitted in the direction. Herons don't like that at all and usually retreat very quickly. Alternatively, the heron deterrent is also available with an acoustic signal instead of a water jet. Both variants are equally effective - but of course they also start when a person or a significantly smaller bird approaches the pond. But the heron deterrent automatically drives strange cats out of the garden. Reading tip: Drive cats out of the garden - 5 effective tips.
❸ Pyramid of Mirrors:
Herons shy away from everything that flashes and glitters when they go hunting. A smooth water surface is still okay. But if, for example, a small pyramid is floating on the water, which is equipped with several mirrors and which reflects the sunlight in all directions, the heron quickly loses interest in hunting in your garden. Because a heron needs rest when hunting. The flashing and glittering only distracts him.
Of course you can buy such a pyramid. You can also easily build the object yourself. Simply stick mirror foil on the outside of a waterproof pyramid-shaped body and you've built your own little heron scarecrow.
❹ Heron take landing opportunity:
As mentioned, a heron needs space to land. In addition, the stork-like bird always lands directly on the water. You will never see a heron landing somewhere in your yard and then walking through your yard to the pond. So if you design the area in the immediate vicinity of your pond in such a way that the heron cannot land there, it will look for another hunting ground. This can be done, for example, by placing round stones around the pond on which the heron cannot stand. Porcelain or stone figures are also ideal as decoration around the pond and at the same time as a tripping hazard for a heron that wants to land.
❺ Block entry path:
A heron arcs toward the ground, then approaches its target near the ground. If the garden around the pond is set up in such a way that a landing would be possible here, then it can make sense to block the entry area. This can be done, for example, by planting high bushes not too far from the pond. Or you hang a bird net or leaf protection net in the area where a heron would fly to your pond. However, with this variant you have tobe careful that other smaller birds could also get caught in the net. If this is the case, you must remove the net as soon as possible.
❻ Heron Taking a Standing Opportunity:
When a heron is hunting, it stands by the water or in the shallows, waiting for a fish to approach. If you have a pond that has correspondingly shallow edge areas, then you should make sure that a stork-like bird like the heron with its 80 cm long thin legs cannot stand there. You can achieve this in several ways. For example, by planting this area of the pond appropriately (reading tip: planting ponds - you should pay attention to this). Or by stretching a net over the shallow areas.
❼ Stretch the wire over the pond:
One of the most complex, but also probably the most successful method is stretching thin wires over the pond. You can use floral wire or braided fishing line for this. If you want to stretch such a grid, you should stretch wires at a distance of 30 cm in one direction, and then lay additional wires on top of them at right angles every 50 cm. This creates a very coarse-meshed net that does not catch any animals, but prevents the herons from taking up position in the water or even reaching the surface of the water. If you decide to use fishing line, you also have the positive effect that the wire glitters in the sun, which further deters herons.
❽ Provide a hiding place for fish:
Fish also have instincts and notice when a heron is nearby. A wonderful way to supplement and round off one of the measures mentioned above is to place a plastic pipe in the pond. The diameter of the pipe should be large enough for several fish to swim in. And it shouldn't be too short either. If the pond is large enough, a simple plastic tube from the hardware store with a length of around 2 meters is recommended. If a heron approaches, the fish in the pond will quickly run away and try to get to safety. The heron can no longer see your fish in said tube and can no longer get to them.