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Urban wildlife. Had a visitor yesterday.

So I live in San Francisco, in a very urban setting. I have a small, postage stamp yard where I have an outdoor pond with some cps growing by it. Here's the view looking out from my deck. The pond is in the lower right - the blue watering can is sitting on the edge:

GreatBlueHeron1.jpg


I walked out a bit further to look at the pond:
GreatBlueHeron2.jpg


Something seemed wrong, though. Couldn't put my finger on it, till I stepped back. I jumped a bit when I found who was visiting, about to make lunch out of the goldfish in my pond. Check it out, it's a great blue heron!!
GreatBlueHeron3.jpg


What are you doing in the middle of the city, giant bird!!! I chased it away. :)

Capslock
 
Ooh, very neat. Beautiful bird.
 
Po' lil thang musta been lost and hungry...
 
Neat! He's totally thinking, "Hey, are you guys open for lunch right now?"
~Joe
 
It's hard to pick up in the picture, but these birds are just ridiculously big. You can kind of tell from the first two pictures, but in real life, it's a lot closer than it seems. This is what he was after:

goldfishpond.jpg


Capslock
 
Delicious. I hear the white parts are ice-cream flavored. :p
~Joe
 
We get Great blues all over here in da LBC. Down in Laguna, they are know to nest in pine trees and leave dents in the hoods of cars from the massive crap they unload. :D
 
Yeah we have those in our backyard all the time in Virginia. Between those and the raccoons a pond is near about impossible.

Those bonsai are very nice as well!! What is the one on the left? I'm definitely a fan.

Nice!
-J.P.
 
I had the same thing happen to me a month ago. I have a pond in my backyard and HAD two huge goldfish in it (they are over a foot long), a Blue Heron came and ate one! I was so mad. Now the other one is so terrified that he won't even come up to the top :( I agree they're beautiful birds, but now I just want to ring his long skinny neck!
 
  • #10
Nikki... don't feed the alligators!
 
  • #11
What if you had a large flat rock on the bottom of the pond, supported by smaller stones,
to make a large underwater "cave" the fish could hide under when the killer birds visit?
would that work? or would the fish not be smart enough to use it?

An extremely crude 2-second drawing:

pondrock.gif


Im considering building a pond this year..
I will likely have Heron issues as well..
I have seen them flying directly over our house before..

Scot
 
  • #12
Very nice picture, that last one.

Did you loose many fish?
 
  • #13
What if you had a large flat rock on the bottom of the pond, supported by smaller stones,
to make a large underwater "cave" the fish could hide under when the killer birds visit?
would that work? or would the fish not be smart enough to use it?

An extremely crude 2-second drawing:

pondrock.gif


Im considering building a pond this year..
I will likely have Heron issues as well..
I have seen them flying directly over our house before..

Scot

I think it would be a little unstable and ugly, also you are suppose to be able to see the fish so they most likely are breed to not hide. (do carp even get eaten by birds?) What I would do is not worry, you live in the city, that bird most likely wont come back if it can find a real pond.
 
  • #14
I think it would be a little unstable and ugly, also you are suppose to be able to see the fish so they most likely are breed to not hide. (do carp even get eaten by birds?) What I would do is not worry, you live in the city, that bird most likely wont come back if it can find a real pond.

I dont think it would unstable or ugly..
you can build it to be very stable..a flat slab on 4 stone legs..like a short coffee table..
very stable..
and you probably wouldnt even notice it on the bottom of the pond..it would simply blend in with the bottom..it wouldnt need to be very tall..only 6" or so..
in a 2 to 3 foot deep pond, thats not very tall..
I think it would be quite unobtrusive..

And I doubt fish can be specifically bred to "not hide"! ;)
I doubt thats a trait that can be bred into fish..

and capslock will still have to worry..the heron will definitely come back as long as there are still fish to eat..finding a "real pond" has nothing to do with it..the bird is there because of an easy meal..he will remember and come back for more.

so sorry..I dont agree with any of your points! ;)

but the question remains..would fish hide when a heron appears?
I would think they would, if they have a place to hide..but I dont know..

I do know fish learn to recognize their owners, who feed them..(my parents have a goldfish pond..but its heavily shaded by trees..they dont have heron problems because the birds cant see the pond from the air)

I think the fish would still stay "visable" when the humans are about..because they learn humans are not a threat and are a source of food..

fish arent terribly smart, but they do learn things like that..
people = good...come to the surface and get food..
heron = bad..will try to eat you..hide..

caps..have you heard of the "fishing line" technique?
supposedly if you sting a few strands of fishing line across the top of the pond, it will discourage herons because they dont want to get tangled in the string..
could be a myth, but it sounds plausible..

Scot
 
  • #15
And I doubt fish can be specifically bred to "not hide"! ;)
I doubt thats a trait that can be bred into fish...

yeah, I guess. I just meant that you people probably don't try to breed a fish always hiding under vegetation while they have two that swim up to you. ???
 
  • #16
yeah, I guess. I just meant that you people probably don't try to breed a fish always hiding under vegetation while they have two that swim up to you. ???

yeah, I see your point..
but "hiding" or "non hiding" isnt a trait that can be controlled by selective breeding..

fish hide when they feel threatened by something, and they dont hide when they feel safe, when they learn that "human shape by side of pond equals yummy food suddenly appearing..so when human shape appears, I happily go to the surface and wriggle about hoping to get fed"

"cat shape, or heron shape, equals unpleasant pawing at me with beaks and claws..and no food appearing..bad shapes..I try to hide now"

I think its as simple as that! ;)

My aquarium fish know what to do when my wife or I come near the aquarium..they dont hide...interestingly, they are also not afraid of the cats staring directly into their tank either!
but thats probably because they have never had a need to be scared of cats, because the cats cant get into the tank anywhere..all they can do is stare..so the fish see them as a non-threat and basically ignore them.

goldfish in a pond would also probably need to learn a heron is a threat,,they probably dont know it instinctively..until a few start disappearing..if it happens often enough the survivors might eventually get the concept..

and yes, herons love goldfish ponds! :)
carp are yummy..
They can spot the bright orange dots from way up high..
they learn to spot ornamental ponds with bright orange goldfish..
small ornamental ponds are a very easy ready-made lunch buffet for them..

Scot
 
  • #17
I don't think it will work. Herons are very patient and clever fishers. It will just give the heron some place to stand while eating your fish.

Although this is a green heron look at this video:

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  • #18
didn't someone on this forum have an oscar that would just look at them and even if they are in another room it would wait on the side of the tank closest to the door?
 
  • #19
sooo beautiful Max. very very nice heron there. lol! What did u do? :p
 
  • #20
Nice fish, Max. Are they koi? Although the bird may have been undesirable, you gotta admire its taste. I didn't know that palm trees grew in San Francisco.
 
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