Opinions on herons eating spawning frogs in garden ponds

[~T~]

I know most people here are of the opinion on letting nature take it's course such as when a sparrowhawk makes a kill as their garden feeders. But what about small garden ponds with lots of spawning frogs being targeted by herons? I would assume a heron could easily eat large numbers in one sitting. Would people here scare them away if they saw this happening in their garden? If so would you do the same in a wild ponds?

[tom00_uk]

i have set my pond up so its accessible for herons, unlike the field drain behind the garden fence.

im happy to have them visit and enjoy watching them, the local bird was recently shot so not had a visit for a while, will wait and see when we start getting visited again

[Gill Catton]

No I'd let the heron take the frogs myself. Nature in action right in the garden - very exciting!!

[healfdan]

Cover your pond with a net which should be about a foot above the margin to allow amphibians to enter and small birds to drink. OK the Heron is a fine looking bird but it's also a glutton and will soon decimate your frogs and fish if you have any. For me it's a clear case of not in my back yard

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by healfdan

Cover your pond with a net which should be about a foot above the margin to allow amphibians to enter and small birds to drink. OK the Heron is a fine looking bird but it's also a glutton and will soon decimate your frogs and fish if you have any. For me it's a clear case of not in my back yard

Fish maybe (but they wouldnt be in a small pond in nature anyway) but if you have plenty of frogs (ie an established) I doubt they will have a serious long term effect, providing there is some cover (ie plants or and over hang). There will 1,000s of tadpoles from each adult so plenty to replace any taken.

The danger of a netting is the heron and other animals can get caught. I once had to free a toad that somehow got onto of the netting and Ive witnessed herons caught in netting, even if it was in a fish farm.

[faz]

let heron be ok its easey pickings in a back grden pond but all fair in love and war

[nightshade]

I lost all my frogs to a grass snake (more than one?)and the Heron took its tithe but when I found large fish, with the livid dagger marks, abandoned on the edge of the pond I did as as healfdan did and netted the pond the same way using plastic electric fence posts to support a net above the pond,everything has access still but the Heron shies away for the most part but it has still visited (and left footprints)

[King Edward]

I don't see any problem with scaring Herons away from a garden pond, although the chances are they'd be back another time when you're not there. I wouldn't go around deliberately scaring them off wild ponds though. An alternative to netting is nylon lines stretched from posts around/over the pond, at a height of about 12-18" or so. It's less visually obtrusive then a net, and probably less chance of catching wildlife by mistake (I once found a live Grass Snake caught in the mesh of a strawberry net that had been left in the long grass).

Nightshade,
How many frogs did the snake(s) eat - what makes you sure it wasn't the herons?