Attracting wildlife is one of the reasons owners want a water feature installed in their backyard. And naturally, once the pond is all set up, chances are, you’d see visitors every now and then. However, some of them will do more harm than good to your pond, especially if you have fish.
These visitors are interested in your koi, not for admiring their beauty, but in having them as a tasty meal. You don’t want to see your favorite koi suddenly disappear from your pond. Discover how to protect your koi from predators with these tips.
Cover Pond To Protect Your Koi
Install pond netting. While this can obstruct your view of your pond, installing pond netting helps keep away likely pond litters, such as leaves, away.
Get Your Pet Dog to Help Protect Koi
Your guard dog, when trained to stay by or anywhere near the pond, can effectively scare away predators. You wouldn’t be able to watch your pond round the clock so it helps that you have a reliable partner, that is your pet dog, in doing so.
Use Decoys Wisely
Using decoys can also help, but be warned as predators are also smart. They might find out this is only fraud and would still feast on your fish even with the decoy looking straight at them. Common examples of decoys are alligator and koi. For herons, meanwhile, since they are territorial by nature, using a decoy heron may help keep them at bay.
Install Motion-Activated Sprinklers or Alarms
Look into using scarecrow motion activated sprinklers. You can as well opt to install alarms although these alarms, in some instances, may turn out more annoying than useful. It will not be able to differentiate a human and a predator so it will create just the same noise if someone, even you, gets close to the pond.
Give Your Koi Safe Hiding Places
While herons are an expert at hunting your pet on the pond, a raccoon, on the other hand, would only hunt on shallow areas of your pond. Herons would even find ways to lure your fish, and would wait for hours on end to find the right timing to strike. To keep your koi safe from predators, make sure that the pond has safe hiding areas such as fish caves and plant covers. A deep area or a bridge installed over the pond can also help keep your fish from view.
Note as well that winter season may make your pet fish more vulnerable as their reflex weakens. Pond predator control doesn’t have to cause you headaches. Consider these tips to keeping your koi safe and protected.