When do you remove bubbler?

March 23, 2008 @ 9:19 am · Filed under Philippines Internet Koi Society

Mark said, “…My question is how to keep raccoons out of the pond!…”
Quick answer… 22 long’s?? No, it’s not a aquarium size.
And here’s what to do with the Raccoon’s euthanized by the 22 longs… “Roadkill Stew!” LOL http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1948,149173-240206,00.html
But seriously, there are many methods to help deter varmin from foraging in your pond. If your pond is in-ground, a simple method is to line the perimeter of the pond with the stackable garden bricks to make a “wall” around the pond around 8″ high so the raccoons wouldn’t be able to reach down into the pond. This would also deter them from entering the water since they like to go in directly from the banks of the pond so they can get out easily. The only way they’d go into the pond with this wall is if they fell in trying to reach down for your goldfish. When that happens, they’ll be so shocked from having fallen in that they’ll spend all their energy clawing their way back out of the pond. Hopefully, they’ll learn their lesson quickly when this happens.
This is another reason to NOT even have a shallow graded bank on the pond. It’s best to have the edges of the pond be a direct drop off, rather than a sloping grade. This feature will dissuade many land predators from entering the pond and some flying predators as well since they like to step into the water and when they can’t easily step into the pond, they’ll be less likely to come back but some long beaked birds will stalk the fish from the ponds edges. I had a big heron start hunting in my ponds a few summers ago when they were doing construction on the local canals where the heron would normally hang out and do it’s fishing. Letting the dogs hang out in the yard more often dissuaded the heron from coming back so I didn’t have to use the 22 longs.
I’ve also read that you can buy simulated wolf urine and spray it around the pond which would supposedly “mark” the pond as the wolf’s territory and dissuade any unwanted visitors. Hopefully it doesn’t attract any other wolves to your pond… if you have any living in your area. I’m guessing a pet dog’s urine might work as well. Though, you’ll have to figure out how to teach the dog to pee in a bottle. LOL
Lenny Vasbinder Fish Blog - http://GoldLenny.blogspot.com