May 1st, 2007
Keeping Your Garden Pond Safe from Predators
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One of the concerns that people have with garden ponds is the predators that they can attract. This can be a problem if the person has fish or other wild life living in the pond. Many times a person will have heavy vegetation in the yard and will have fish that will inhabit the waters. These can attract a number of predators that will prey on the fish and the other things living in the water such as snails.
Some of the most common are snakes, raccoons, and even domestic cats. Some people that have gardens have tried all series of methods to keep the creatures at bay and with little success.
There has been one thing that has proven to be good at keeping these predators out of a person’s garden pond and that has been having pets of your own. These pets are usually large dogs that can even make the most aggressive raccoon timid. Some of the pet owners have seen their dogs repel a cat from stealing a fish and even seen a raccoon stray away when there are dogs present.
These have been some of the challenges that the predators have posed and the dogs will only work if there is alternate food sources. Some people have actually placed little traps in the fauna for predators that would prey on the fish and make the yard unsafe for others that would like to see the wildlife that has teemed in the pond.
Even the snails that people can purchase for their pond can fall prey to these predators and that can pose an expensive problem as well if all the life in the pond is consumed. Some people that have had this happen will give up on fish for a few years to give the predators time to find other food sources. This sometimes works, and sometimes the predators don’t stray far enough.
These are some of the challenges that a pond owner must face and these are some of the things that have made people reconsider if garden ponds are really for them. Some people have also found other methods to evade the predator issue and that is something that should be considered as well. It all comes down to how devoted the person is to have garden ponds with life or not.
