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Wild Capitol Hill: Volunteer Park koi pond hunter


, originally uploaded by m33gs.
This lovely shot of a heron’s visit to the Volunteer Park’s koi ponds was taken way back in mid-April but just submitted to the CHS flickr pool this week. It fits well with our piece earlier this year on the hawks of Capitol Hill. If you notice a dwindling supply of koi fish, you can probably thank this fella. Thanks for sharing it with us m33gs. Hope you are enjoying all the wildlife out in our parks this weekend enjoying the wonderful weather.

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SeattleBrad
SeattleBrad
13 years ago

Great photo!

Mike with curls
Mike with curls
13 years ago

How can you beat that pic inside any city? Nice, nice. Love it.

ps98107
ps98107
13 years ago

Gorgeous shot, m33gs.

If the city would spend a little money, they could keep the herons away from the ponds with some strategically placed Scare Crows. Not the farm kind but this kind http://www.amazon.com/Contech-Electronics-CRO101-Scarecrow-M . You hook them up to a water spigot and they run off nine volt batteries. I use the long-lasting ULTRALIFE lithuim brand. You can find them with the smoke detectors at Fred Meyer. I have two Scare Crows at our small 8′ by 11′ Koi Pond and the only heron that ever visited our pond got sprayed when the motion and heat sensing sensor detected him. He took off in a hurry. To keep raccoons away, Shake-Away Deer repellent http://www.amazon.com/Shake-Away-Repellent-Granules-3003503/ is the way to go. I have not seen one since I started using it. Shake it in spots around the pond and raccoons think coyotes (a predator) have marked their territory and that puts fear into them. The bigger Koi get, the more expensive they are to replace. After losing 2 fish to raccoons, I did some research and found a way to protect the remaining 3 dating back to 2003.

As a rule, ponds need to be at least 2 feet deep and have a sheer drop from the side walls. You don’t want the the pond too deep though because after a certain depth, it’s considered much like a swimming pool and you have to get a permit. I don’t remember off hand what that depth limit is though.

brownman
brownman
13 years ago

As I recall there’s even a sign at the koi pond suggesting that if you see one of these birds, you should feel free to shoo it away.

linder seattle
linder seattle
13 years ago

A sprinkler like this has been used in the past to ward off the herons in these ponds. They probably take them down during the winter / colder months.

ltrain
ltrain
13 years ago

The shoo part has been blocked off the sign. Maybe the heron did it when nobody was looking.

I like koi, but I like heron more. The big ones seem to know to stay out of the way. He was there when we were in the park in April and we were able to walk right up to the fence around the pond (with crazy 18 mo old in tow) and he wasn’t sweatin us at all. Pretty neat to see these around, never saw them when growin up on the hill.

SS
SS
13 years ago

I hope he didn’t eat my favorite fish – the beautiful gold one in the north pond. :(

Julissa
Julissa
13 years ago

Does anyone know anything about the decoy herons that are in koi ponds placed with in a week or two? Are they supposed to keep the heron’s away?

Thanks,