Ponds can be a great attraction. But, unfortunately, it can also attract a variety of creatures to your new pond. Although some animals may be a welcome sight, others may be a nuisance. In this article, we’ll discuss pond maintenance tips on keeping unwanted pests out of your pond. Doing this can ensure a balanced, safe environment for your fish and other pond life.
Herons
The pest on the list is the heron. Herons are beautiful birds, but they love to snack on fish. This can be a big problem if you have fish in your pond, such as bass and bluegill. What can you do? The first thing you can do is install a heron decoy. Since herons are territorial by nature, they tend to avoid ponds they think have already been claimed.
Another thing you can do is to give your fish a hiding place. For example, you can place plants, rocks, and other coverings where your fish can hide. You may also want to consider using pond dye. A lovely shade to color the water’s surface will hide your fish from incoming heron predators.
Dealing With Raccoons
Other pests that could leave your pond with any life are raccoons. These animals eat a variety of smaller creatures, including mice, insects, fish, turtles, and frogs, just to mention a few. You can keep raccoons away from your pond by doing a few simple things. First, make sure to keep the area around the pond clean. This means keeping any nearby garbage cans sealed. You can also place small raccoon traps baiting them with cat food. Lastly, flashing LED lights work great at mimicking the flashing eyes of a predator, which will scare away the raccoons.
Creative Solutions for Relocating Pests
Some unwanted pests that could cause a problem are muskrats or snapping turtles. These creatures can be fun to have around your pond from time to time. However, they can also cause an issue with your pond fountains. If you find that your power cords for the fountains are getting chewed up and destroyed, you have to find a way to remove them. One way is to trap and release them to a new location. You can use fish or meat to bait your turtle traps. Moreover, muskrat traps will have to be baited with something different, such as apples.
Predator Decoys
Some of the bigger unwanted pests can do damage to your pond. In fact, some of the bigger animals have been known to produce large amounts of waste that can destroy a pond’s clean environment. One of those animals can include the Canadian Goose. You can use predator decoys to prevent Canadian Geese from hanging around your pond. Alternatives that you can consider are swan, coyote, and alligator decoys. Make sure to place your decoys in an open area where they can be seen from above.
At Outdoor Water Solutions, we offer a variety of pond aerators & solar pond aerators providing you with the options needed to pick the perfect pond aerator for your pond. We always enjoy working with clients on ways to improve the quality of their ponds’ health & solutions for pond maintenance so, if you have any questions or would like more information on our solar pond aerators, contact us at 866.471.1614 today!
