ducati Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 What size fish can they get? Is any size fish relatively safe in a pond Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 They will get any sized fish they can fly with. They need a perch where they can sit and watch the pond then dive and get lunch. No perch---no dive. Herons will wade in and take the lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ianab Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 It's usually herons that take goldfish. They are big, greedy and will keep coming back untill they empty a pond NZ kingfishers may take small ones, but their main food is large insects like crickets or wetas and lizards. They dont seem to be as keen on getting wet as the overseas species. Cheers Ian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducati Posted October 27, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 Unfortunately there are perches galore and I am not keen on taking out the 120 yr Puriris Are there any scarers or other devices that can be used - I can net the ponds but not terribly aesthetic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 What sized ponds are they? You could try stringing a couple of lines crossed over using fishing line (which you wouldn't see) and see if that deters them. Or like we used to do with our cherry tree down south - hang a dead bird over the pond (even less pleasing to look at) but sure works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted October 27, 2007 Report Share Posted October 27, 2007 I hear a replica heron beside a pond will keep others away but don't know about kingfishers. They may be small birds but they can take a goldfish at least the same size as itself, if not bigger. My dad was plagued by one years ago and in the end chopped down the tree it was perching on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coelacanth Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 the replica heron thing is a myth. All it does is signal to other herons that there may be good feeding there. Personally I'd love a kingfisher visiting my ponds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 A replica heron would be the same as a replica duck in the shooting season. Coelacanth is on to it. Put a hollow log up in the tree for a nest, sell your expensive goldfish and restock with el cheepo kingfisher tucka---sit back and enjoy. Many moons ago I was walking along the riverbank and heard scuffling and cheeping from a hollow branch and figured it was a nest. Curious to see what a baby looked like I put my hand in and Mother was there and very unimpressed. They have very strong and sharp beaks---my hand was not in there long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducati Posted October 28, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 well personally I love kingfishers too and I am not interested in dispatching them .... just discouraging them. Sounds like there's not a lot that can be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskas Posted October 28, 2007 Report Share Posted October 28, 2007 the shags are worse they will damage the fish by stabbing them and then realise they can't swallow them and just leave them to die! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gannet Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 what about a net over the pond? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ducati Posted October 29, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 a net is the last alternative - I can do that but would prefer not to as it ruins the aesthetics of it all a bit. It was my understanding that kingfishers could/would only take theycould fit in their mouths which arent that big - there seems to be different ideas about whether thats right or not Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tHEcONCH Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 Stand in the middle of the pond waving a stick and yell 'Darty Varmits' as loud as you can... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilson Posted October 29, 2007 Report Share Posted October 29, 2007 cONCH could be onto something there. im sure you could repell birds by using high frequency (sp) sound Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whiskas Posted October 30, 2007 Report Share Posted October 30, 2007 Or rather than putting a net over the entire thing if you make it hard for the kingfishers to dive/swoop safely they apparently won't. So i guess you could do this by putting a strip of net or a line of string across the pond so that the kingfishers don't find it as easy/safe to catch their tucker there. I personally use bird netting as i have a cat who loves nothing more than to go fishing - along with all the strays! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
repto Posted November 11, 2007 Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 try a sheet of glass,say one metre square and prop it up with bricks etc at each corner so its just below the surface,they don`t like this at all!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OscarBoy Posted November 11, 2007 Report Share Posted November 11, 2007 arnt king fish da 1s u catch in the sea?? lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamish Posted November 13, 2007 Report Share Posted November 13, 2007 Or rather than putting a net over the entire thing if you make it hard for the kingfishers to dive/swoop safely they apparently won't. So i guess you could do this by putting a strip of net or a line of string across the pond so that the kingfishers don't find it as easy/safe to catch their tucker there. I personally use bird netting as i have a cat who loves nothing more than to go fishing - along with all the strays! We have the same problem with our pond, i was thinking of trying this too, just net the top of it, then they cannot dive/swoop into the water. we have both herins and kingfishers here, and they can take big goldfish too, we had four nicely sized fish (size of a block of butter+? (lol, only way i could think of sizing it)) and they took three of them, and we found one dying. now i think we are going to put all of our turtles in there, but its abit expensive to try without a net (incase they grab them too, or even the hawk's) but we'll see. getting the digger in again this week to landscape the pond/area a little more, and get some plants/rocks and such arround the pond. but the net would definatly (sp) ruin the whole niceness of it, but at the end of the day a pond full of plants/lillies just wouldnt look as good as if it had fish/turtles in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxglove Posted November 14, 2007 Report Share Posted November 14, 2007 You could try using bird scarers - like a scarecrow or a hawk silhouette. Some people use dangling shiny or waving things - old cds hanging so they spin and the light apparently distracts/repels the birds. Strips of cloth or plastic tied to a fishing line across the pond is enough to stop some kingfishers. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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