Water Garden and Fish Pond
My pond and water garden has been in existence for about fifteen years now. In the beginning I bought koi. They were rather expensive little boogers. Well, they all died. I took a sample of my water to the local pet store and they told me the water was perfect. They didn't know why the fish died.
Well, I wasn't willing to invest so much money in more koi, so I opted for 'feeder fish'. There were some pretty ones and they don't look that much different from koi. They flourished.
One particular fish was very aggressive toward the others, so I quarantined him to the upper pond by himself. He grew and grew. He was probably twelve to fourteen inches long.
One Saturday morning last summer, I was looking out the palladian window at the backyard, the gardens and the fish pond below. Incredibly, this huge bird was right there below me in the fish pond.
In amazement, I told Dave to come see the huge bird in the pond.
Okay, his first comment was, "He's eating your fish!"
Sudden enlightenment...I ran out the back door and he flew away. Yes, it appeared he had eaten all of my fish.
In disbelief, I went back in the house and Dave said, " There he is again!"
Running back outside, I see him flying away again.
My son, Will, was in the backyard. I asked if he had seen the blue heron.
" Yes." Laughing, he said, "He had a frog leg hanging out of his mouth!"
He not only ate my fish, he ate the dang frogs, too!
We live maybe 250 to 300 feet away from a large lake. The fish in my little garden pond must have just been an appetizer, at best.
A week later, one lone little fish showed up. He had apparently been hiding, surely scared to death.
Researching on line, it seemed people had succes with putting a heron decoy by their ponds. Herons, apparently, are territorial and won't intrude on another's territory.
Another option was a net over the pond. No, thanks! Ugly.
Dave suggested not restocking the pond for awhile, and that is what I chose to do.
Late summer, we bought four more fish and they are still growing and doing well.
