No herons, just red-tailed hawks

[PapaBear]

I'm a very PO'd camper at a %$#@@@$% Hawk that nabbed a pregnant Bekko, pregnant Orenji, two tosai paruchina's and a tosai ki utsuri out of my pond Unlike herons which wade in and are easily chased away by dogs, hawks swoop in and just snatch 'em right out of the water. Are hawks spooked by alligator decoys? I really don't want to have to ugly things up with a d@mn net.

[MikeM]

Need an over-arching "something" to block the free over-flight zone, or you will have to resort to stringing monofilament criss-crossing the pond. Colored filament is best for avoiding birds becoming entangled, falling in pond and ruining water quality.

[mulberryjen]

Larry - have you actually seen a hawk doing this? I've got a resident redtail that bathes in the waterfall at my house, but didn't consider him/her a danger to my fish b/c not known to prey on fish. More concerned about nasty parasites transferring into the water. He did fly up out of the middle of the pond a few weeks ago, but I had assumed he was mistakenly tried to land on the net. I would trip out if a confused and desperate redtail hawk was the reason my chagoi was all mangled up.

How large are the missing fish? Most hawks do not have the strength to lift up a heavy animal and fly off with it. (Great-horned owls do, however) Do you think you might have an osprey picking off your koi? (Black and white bird, white head with a black "mask", swoops down and grabs fish out of the water)

or bald eagles - can't be shooting those guys!

[maryland_ponder]

Redtails are strong birds. A fully grown Redtail can take koi of moderate size (10-12 inches). Coopers hawks & Red shoulder hawks are smaller birds & less of a threat. Are you certain of the type of hawk you have seen?

[mulberryjen]

Hmmmm......maybe it could have been one.......

Volunteered with a local Raptor Rehab organization for a few years awhile back do educational programs and such, and always believed that fish were not on the menu for redtails - however, did a little surfing and lo and behold:

from : http://www.nysite.com/nature/fauna/redhawk.htm
"Red tail hawks can eat any of the following prey: grasshoppers, house mice, field mice, rats, red and gray squirrels, rabbits, moles, chipmunks, skunks, muskrats, porcupines, feral house cats, waterfowl, pheasants, doves, owls, kingfishers, pigeons, starlings, crows (we often see a family of 4 crows chasing this red-tail out of the ball field and hillside trees), robins and other small birds; snakes, turtles, toads, frogs, lizards, salamanders, crayfish, crickets, beetles, spiders, earthworms, carp and catfish caught at edge of pond or stream."

Now whodda thunk it? Not me! Wow. ain't that a whupping. What to do, what to do......I'm so shocked I can't even type in proper English anymore......

[aquitori]

Kinda cool to see a Redtail Hawk catch some koi...Champkoi has some Redtail Hawks living in some trees just outside of the shop....

[PapaBear]

...but I've seen a decent sized Redtail in the neighborhood and once caught him perched in my redbud tree. They are common here in central okiedokieland.

Mulberryjen, you can go ahead and trip out now. If you saw him launching from the middle of your pond he wasn't there to take a bath. They bathe on waterfalls, they go fishing in ponds. Not dazed and confused, focused on your chagoi and partially detered by the net.

The fish taken range in size from 5" to 16". I'm really disappointed about the bekko. She was very clean, nicely marked, and coming into her first spawning season.

[maryland_ponder]

I'm sorry for your losses Papabear. Redtails dont like owl's. You can use an owl decoy to disuade him from further hunting. His nature is to hunt but the owl decoy will make him pass on your pond & self preserve. He cant avoid his nature. The owl decoy can go on a post near your pond & if its within 15 or less feet away you should be ok.

Great Horned Owl's are fearless hunters & no hawk wishes to tangle with one.

see below for an example

http://wildbirdmart.com/wildbirdmart/rowl.html

[bip]

A redtail hawk killed kingfishers next to my mud pond on several occasions, while I was observing from a distance.
I never saw it take any fish. It became so used to me that one morning he landed on the back of a lawn chair not more than ten feet from me.

[Kohaku]

Try metal grates, or leafy trees(hawks can't see/divebomb pond) to prevent hawk attacks