Three Ways Not To Save Your Garden Pond Fish From Predators – Use Pond Nets Instead
We had not heard the fantastic news about pond nets or pond netting until just recently. As we explained in our apology letters to our neighbours, had we known about them, we would have tried them first. The worst of our fish-eaters turned out to be a crane that would do its doglegged dance around the pool until finally wading in and enjoying a meal. We also have documentation footage on…
- The wily Raccoon, which we did not know existed in the UK, would lurk in the bushes until nightfall before scampering out to wash their hands and join in the fish feast.
- Our neighbour’s cat, which was all of 15 years old, loved to pop over for a bite, often leaving the remains on our doorstep in a kind of tribute to the humans that kept them stocked.
- Old Dodger, as we came to know him, was a crane who had seen better days.
Our first attempt to rescue our fish and try to stem the flow of cash from our accounts as we refused to be forced to sit outside in the evenings and watch nothing swim gracefully around our garden pond was from a tip given to us at the fish store. The clerk, a wise looking old fellow said that he had the same problem a few years back and this is what he did. We dressed our 14-year-old son in a crane suit, which we made from the numerous feathers that they leave in our yard every year while fighting over the tender young gold fish.
The plan sounded perfectly sound to us, as parents and the footage we took with our mini-cam will certainly prove useful should our son refuse to go to college or tidy his room. He realizes we would not hesitate to post it to our website www.oursonwillgotocollege.com. We were told that the great grey Heron was territorial and would not eat if it thought another crane had staked the pond out. Apparently, the old Dodger is also endowed with a goodly amount of motherly instinct. As soon as she spied our son, she pinned him down and tried to regurgitate supper for him.
Actually, it could have been the earphones that gave him away. A good dose of Ozzy brings out the mother in all of us… or the urge to regurgitate. The next attempt to rid our pond of predators gave my wife and me a chance to get in on the act. Wearing our best grey cashmere sweaters and painting robber masks on our faces, we hid in the bushes and sprang out when we thought the racoons were close enough. Unfortunately, the raccoons turned out to be Bobbies since one of the neighbours spied us in the bushes and called the police. When we posted bail, the fish were gone and we had to start over. Again, we consulted our fish guy.
Finally, we decided to tackle something less intimidating and that we were sure could not outsmart us, the neighbour’s old cat. I do not know if you have ever tried to perform CPR on a 15-year-old cat, but I can assure you it is not pleasant. He will be missed. Finally, we decided to fit pond nets. It seems that pond netting is invisible in the water and has deterred all of those annoying predators.
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