About to break the law...

B

Bubba1235

No longer on Forums
Joined
May 25, 2008
Messages
588
Blue Heron are protected so I'm guessing that blowing them into a cloud of feathers with the 12 guage is frowned up on. Be that as it may, I am sick of them (a pair) killing the fish in my pond. Don't get me wrong, all animals need to eat and if all they did was eat a few here and there I'd be ok with it but this pair is killing them and leaving them laying on the bank. In the last week I've had to clean up at least a couple dozen carcesses that no attempt to eat was made.

If anyone has a suggestion on how to get rid of them I'm all ears. (Pond is located quite distance from house so runing out and chasing them away is not an option.)
 
MTboatguy

MTboatguy

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
8,988
Re: About to break the law...

Bubba,

I understand your frustration, but I would not recommend killing them, I have a friend who did this a few years ago and he has been a guest of the Federal Government for 6 years now and still has 7 years to go. There are things you can do, I know quite a few that put up 6"x6" nets over their ponds to prevent this from happening. Once they figure out they can't get to the fish, they will vacate and head for other areas, this I know for a fact, I have a friend in Vermont that has had the same problem, once she put the net over the pond, it only took a couple of weeks and now she has not see a Heron in about 2 years.
 
J

Jeep Man

Commander
Joined
Oct 17, 2008
Messages
2,803
Re: About to break the law...

How big is the pond Bubba? A friend stretched light netting over the landing area on his pond. The birds moved on.
 
rivermouse

rivermouse

Senior Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jun 16, 2011
Messages
661
Re: About to break the law...

Poison? Sure some poison could kill the fish, the birds, the frogs, small pets and maybe your neighbors kids.... Yea that sounds like a wonderful idea..
 
M

mommicked

Lieutenant Commander
Joined
Dec 15, 2009
Messages
1,700
Re: About to break the law...

Are you sure it's the Herons? I've heard Otters will sometimes wantonly kill and didn't know birds would do this. Maybe a new Labrador Retriever would help shoo them away?:) If it is the birds, do they seem to waste a certain kind of fish? It might be illegal,(harrasement) but maybe a few days in a row of bottlerocket fireworks attacks would scare them away permenantly.
 
C

CoffeeHound

Petty Officer 1st Class
Joined
Jan 20, 2012
Messages
210
Re: About to break the law...

1- Contact Autabon Socity --HAVE back field filled with ladies of all ages tromping around .
2. Contact Local Parks and Wildlife -- Have back field filled with Men in Green Shirts .
3. Contact a Pro-Trapper -- Pay for relocation cost and shipping fee!!.


#1 Is my choice, but of coarse i am basicly single legally and too old to care!!
 
Tim Frank

Tim Frank

Vice Admiral
Joined
Jul 29, 2008
Messages
5,351
Re: About to break the law...

Bubba1235 said:
Blue Heron are protected so I'm guessing that blowing them into a cloud of feathers with the 12 guage is frowned up on. Be that as it may, I am sick of them (a pair) killing the fish in my pond. Don't get me wrong, all animals need to eat and if all they did was eat a few here and there I'd be ok with it but this pair is killing them and leaving them laying on the bank. In the last week I've had to clean up at least a couple dozen carcesses that no attempt to eat was made.

If anyone has a suggestion on how to get rid of them I'm all ears. (Pond is located quite distance from house so runing out and chasing them away is not an option.)
Click to expand...

If raccoons are not cleaning up the left-overs, I'd be more worried about what is going on with the fish than with the herons.
I'd suspect something toxic in the fish....animals are pretty cognoscent of dangerous food.
 
JB

JB

Honorary Moderator Emeritus
Joined
Mar 25, 2001
Messages
45,907
Re: About to break the law...

Unless you have actually seen the herons killing and abandoning fish (what species, how big??) I really doubt that they are the culprits. I suspect you have a disease killing the fish or making them so sick that they make themselves available to predators that will not eat them.

Get your state wildlife people to investigate the fish kill to find out what is really happening. DO NOT molest the birds.
 
J

JRJ

Commander
Joined
Sep 11, 2001
Messages
2,992
Re: About to break the law...

I haven't seen herons fish for sport, but if they are protected by law, then so be it. If you don't follow and uphold the law, don't expect others to follow the laws you do agree with.
 
LippCJ7

LippCJ7

Vice Admiral
Joined
Sep 20, 2010
Messages
5,431
Re: About to break the law...

Bubba, I used about twenty runs of clear filament fishing line run across my parents pond and it worked wonderfully they hang about 10 feet above the surface of the water and about 5 feet between runs, they have a 2 or 3 foot droop in them so they are not tight by any means and you really have to look for them to see them, mind you their pond is only a couple hundred square feet and I imagine you have a typical Bubba style acre pond so not sure it will work for you, my dad saw the idea on a pond show on tv, apparently the fishing line screws with the birds eye sight and they avoid it so we never had a dead bird to deal with.
 
LilRedNeckGirl

LilRedNeckGirl

Petty Officer 2nd Class
Joined
Jan 25, 2010
Messages
184
Re: About to break the law...

research the birds, then find their preditor and put up some decoys @ eagle, owl, etc.
 
jigngrub

jigngrub

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Mar 19, 2011
Messages
8,155
Re: About to break the law...

Great Blue Heron tastes like chicken!... not really.

I'd bet money that the Herons aren't killing your fish for sport, they eat what they catch.

Fish laying on the bank sounds more like something a human would do, I suspect you have a rather ignorant trespassing fisherman problem.

You should setup a couple of trail cams around your pond.
 
F

Fishing Dude too

Lieutenant Junior Grade
Joined
May 13, 2011
Messages
1,035
Re: About to break the law...

Not sure where he got it brother has an aligator head, that might woork if you had a few of them
 
MTboatguy

MTboatguy

Fleet Admiral
Joined
Jul 8, 2010
Messages
8,988
Re: About to break the law...

Bubba, it is very odd they are not eating the fish, I have never seen a heron not eat what it takes, the normal process is catch and swallow, there is a reason your fish are not palatable to these birds, I would do some investigation to find out why.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top