Koi verses Feeder Fish
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.
Water Garden Invader
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 to 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 into the house and Dave said, ” There he is again!”
Running back outside, I saw 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, but he also ate the dang frogs!
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 online, it seemed people had success 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 a while, and that is what I chose to do.
Late summer, we bought four more fish and they are still growing and doing well.
To see complete DIY step by step directions for making your own fish observation tower ◄click here.
