[snowdrops]

Just looked out of the bedroom window & could see something orange/red on the lawn. Went out to find one of our fish, dead & has been gored, quite a bit of blood,scales etc around on the grass & by the slabs & steps round the pond. Surely a heron would have taken it whole,might a cat have got it?

[8doubles]

A hole through the fish is classic heron, it may have dropped the fish as they spook easily on the ground.
Other birds will mob a flying heron and cause it to drop a catch especially if it is  full right up with your fish!

[tosca100]

A hole through the fish is classic heron, it may have dropped the fish as they spook easily on the ground.
Other birds will mob a flying heron and cause it to drop a catch especially if it is  full right up with your fish!

My thoughts too.

[spottymint]

As already said, Herons tend to spike the fish, often by the head.

It's then pulled from the water, the heron spins it, in it's beak, to swallow the fish head first.

Often you see scale damage to the fish, often on both sides in roughly the same place on both sides.

They do scare easy & will drop fish.  Had enough heron attacks to know.

They hate being chased with a bucket, caught him just as he landed (little blighter must have been watching me  )

[snowdrops]

Thanks all, we'd previously had a heron sitting on the fence a couple of years ago & looked them up & read that they are wading birds,so I increased the planting around the pond. Also that they need a runway to take back of uninterrupted,so we always keep to washing lines up so they can't take off. This obviously didn't work this time. We don't really want to net but may have to. I've added a photo so you can see the size of the fish & will understand why we don't want to lose anymore. We've had most of them for 10/12 years & some were bred in our previous pond.

[tosca100]

Wow they are beautiful. I can understand why you don't want to net but you don't want to feed the heron on valuable fish which you obviously think a lot of.

[spottymint]

Very nice fish. 

Remember, the heron will spike and kill fish, before attempting to eat them. That's the point when he realizes they are too big or heavy to swallow, sadly too late to be revived. 

[snowdrops]

Thanks just Israeli koi mostly with a few grass carp that you can't see in that picture, a few goldfish & shibumkins. We were given a set of four garden lights for Christmas. Solar ones, we put them out the other week & 2 don't work already hubby moved them to around the border near the pond last night, I'm going to put some string or something from one to another to stop the heron being able to walk in from the lawn. The pond is a triangle with a wall onto the patio & a wall on to steps up to the greenhouse making the right angle. The third side is the grass & border. We'll give that a go & do a bit more research on herons. I might ask on the bird watch thread for glosterboys advice he knows a lot about birds.

[Aunt Sally]

Can can put a low fence around it to stop the herons standing on the edge of the pond ?

[Aunt Sally]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Velda-Heron-Stop-Fence-Deterrent/dp/B0039YSEX4

http://www.harrodhorticultural.com/heron-scarer-pid7650.html

[snowdrops]

Thanks Aunty fig 1 is what I was thinking of. Will see what I can construct. Just hope it can't land on the patio & walk up the steps & hop on the wall & coping stones around the pond.