How to Protect Pond Fish from Birds Using Bird Repellers

Today (Friday 18 June 2010) was a gorgeous, sunny day in Glasgow (and across much of the rest of the UK as well, I think). So before the hard work of watching the England World Cup football team being held to another draw (this time, by Algeria) I was enjoying a few minutes R&R in the garden. The kids had thrown some bread out for the birds and I was amazed when three or four cheeky seagulls landed just a few feet away from me to feed on the bread. I was rather surprised by just how large these birds were in the confines of my garden (not to mention how brazen) and it occurred to me that if I had a fish pond in my garden (which I don’t but I’m considering putting one in), that these birds would make short work of the fish.

So how does one protect the fish in their garden ponds from large birds such as seagulls and herons? The garden sprinkler repellers would do the trick certainly but there are other things one can try. If you like ornaments in your garden, you could consider an ornament bird scarer such as this long eared owl scarer (left) or maybe this falcon bird scarer ornament (top right) is more to your taste.

There’s also specifically-designed bird repellers such as the Procter Pest-Clear Professional Bird Scarer. This device is proven to be effective against seagulls, pigeons and herons and it works by using the hunting call of owls, falcons and sparrowhawks. It can detect birds by passive infra-red or can be on constantly with a timer delay. This device isn’t cheap at just under 90 quid but I imagine that one could spend much more than that if it became necessary to regularly replace the fish stock in your pond.

If money is an issue then the garden sprinkler repellers might be the best solution as they’ll also work against other garden predators to your fish including cats and foxes.

In closing I’d just like to say that the one thing this World Cup needs before anything else is the Tartan Army. Our bagpipes would soon drown out the vuvuzelas. Now there’s an idea for a novel bird scarer…