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    Thread: missing koi - time for cameras

    1. #1
      Charlie Brown's Avatar
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      Angry missing koi - time for cameras

      This morning I went out at 7am to feed everyone and I couldn't find bandit. I must of spent 30 minutes looking in the pond for her. Then another 1 hour checking all the plants around the pond thinking she jumped and is hiding. I gave up on the search, went inside fed the pup and took him for a walk in the backyard. As he was doing his business I noticed several flies in the grass about 10 feet from the pond. I didn't see anything at first look- bandit was about 8-9". When I bent down to take a look to see why the flies were gathering in the spot I saw this.


      I don't know what happened, it sure looks like blood. The pup and I searched the entire yard no sign of her. The pup knows how to search a given scent - he got the sent but couldn't track her


      I don't think it was a heron.... I have 50lb fishing across the top of the pond and along the sides to keep the heron away. I also have a floating gator not sure if that helps.....

      I can only think that she jumped, got spooked by the flood lights or went in the skimmer and jumped out and rolled around and something- ground hog, skunk, cat ate her.

      I'm looking for a camera system now. Anyone have this unit or know of a decent unit just so I can see if some sort of animal visits the pond if another one goes missing.
      http://www.costco.com/Q-See-16-Chann...l#BVRRWidgetID
      Last edited by Charlie Brown; 06-01-2013 at 01:41 PM.

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    2. #2
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      Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully she was just spooked and you had an oppurtinistic preditor rather than one that will come back for more.



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      I don't have this unit but I have a Lorex camera system with Digimerge DVR. The specs on this unit are very similar. The biggest difference is this unit has 600 TVL resolution cameras. Mine only have 480 TVL. I like the remote monitoring. I can see it anywhere I get a 3G signal or WiFi on my cellphone. Mine was half priced when I bought it and was still nearly $700. To me this looks like a decent deal.

    4. #4
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      Quote Originally Posted by jimfish98 View Post
      Sorry to hear about this. Hopefully she was just spooked and you had an oppurtinistic preditor rather than one that will come back for more.
      I woke up at 5:10 this morning for a drink of water. I checked on the fish, they were all swimming around. I opened the blinds all the way and there it was a 3' heron. It heard the blinds or saw me open them. I didn't even get a chance to scare the crap out of it.

      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      I don't have this unit but I have a Lorex camera system with Digimerge DVR. The specs on this unit are very similar. The biggest difference is this unit has 600 TVL resolution cameras. Mine only have 480 TVL. I like the remote monitoring. I can see it anywhere I get a 3G signal or WiFi on my cellphone. Mine was half priced when I bought it and was still nearly $700. To me this looks like a decent deal.
      I wasn't able to order it, went out of stock. Going to the store today to see if they have it on the shelf. Now that I know its a heron I have to figure out something.

    5. #5
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      predator deterrents currently in place.
      Large floating gator
      Great Blue Heron Decoy

      I also have 50lb fishing line across the top and sides of the pond. Yesterday I found the fish on the lawn in that corner, this morning the heron was approaching the pond from this corner.



      I guess the only option left is to net the pond?

    6. #6
      Sweetwater is offline Supporting Member
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      I like your landscaping. It looks very inviting.

      Good luck at the bricks and mortar for the camera system

      Did you ever look into this?

      http://www.amazon.com/Contech-CRO101...crow+deterrent

      I never used one myself, but from reading about them both here on Koiphen and elsewhere on the internet I found mostly positive reviews.

    7. #7
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      Run the line actually over the water like they do at industrial park ponds if you ever seen that, they do this to keep the geese out. The size of your pound you might want to run some across the first foot or two over water edge as well. Then the heron can not wade in and hunt. Just a thought....looks better than net IMO.

    8. #8
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      motion sensing sprinkler. Blasts jets of water when it senses motion and scares off whatever sets it off. A friend of mine has been using one for years to keep herons and raccoons out of her pond and it works well. She hasn't lost a fish since she started using it. Just remember to turn it off before you go wandering in front of it, lol.
      I think hers had a name like scarecrow or something like that.

      clm
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    9. #9
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      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      I like your landscaping. It looks very inviting.

      Good luck at the bricks and mortar for the camera system

      Did you ever look into this?

      http://www.amazon.com/Contech-CRO101...crow+deterrent

      I never used one myself, but from reading about them both here on Koiphen and elsewhere on the internet I found mostly positive reviews.
      Thanks

      I was about to order it from amazon then I decided to check locally - saw lowes carries another brand, a few dollars more - looks pretty serious
      http://www.lowes.com/pd_419999-74985...r|1&facetInfo=

      I'm going to get the yard enforcer from lowes - worst case if it doesn't perform I'll return and get the contech from amazon with 2 day shipping (w/ prime) Getting up at 5am isn't my thing



      Quote Originally Posted by KoiAteMyHeron View Post
      Run the line actually over the water like they do at industrial park ponds if you ever seen that, they do this to keep the geese out. The size of your pound you might want to run some across the first foot or two over water edge as well. Then the heron can not wade in and hunt. Just a thought....looks better than net IMO.
      I'll probably add more 50lb test - I'll string it like they do barb wire angling over the pond.
      Last edited by Charlie Brown; 06-02-2013 at 11:54 AM.

    10. #10
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      Quote Originally Posted by Charlie Brown View Post
      I was about to order it from amazon when I decided to check locally - saw lowes carries another brand, a few dollars more - looks pretty serious
      http://www.lowes.com/pd_419999-74985...r|1&facetInfo=

      I'm going to get the yard enforcer from lowes - worst case if it doesn't perform I'll return and get the contech from amazon with 2 day shipping (w/ prime) Getting up at 5am isn't my thing
      Looks like a nice unit. I like that it is expandable. Good luck with it.

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    11. #11
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      Quote Originally Posted by Russell Peters View Post
      He couldn't teach her because she was in the belly of a predator.
      ? are you referring to the pup and tracking abilities? For being almost 6 months old he is pretty good. I had to look at other methods besides throwing the ball for hours to absorb all his energy. I read that games involving the mind and nose can make the dog exhausted. Since the pups father is a police dog I figured I would train him on how to search. First it was his ball that I would hide, then I would use kibble in a sock and hide it. Then I would let him sniff an object while he was in his play pen and drag the object into another room(scent on the floor) He wont give up in the house searching for stuff, but outside if he sees anything flying he gets distracted. We tried a few times outside looking for the fish but within a 15' radius of the blood he would look up at me, now I know why the bird flew away

    12. #12
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      Quote Originally Posted by clm View Post
      motion sensing sprinkler. Blasts jets of water when it senses motion and scares off whatever sets it off. A friend of mine has been using one for years to keep herons and raccoons out of her pond and it works well. She hasn't lost a fish since she started using it. Just remember to turn it off before you go wandering in front of it, lol.
      I think hers had a name like scarecrow or something like that.

      clm
      Contech Scarecrow


      Quote Originally Posted by Russell Peters View Post
      .
      Sad thing is out of all the fish in the pond I have a handful that I paid a premium for even with 50% off that was one of them. I'm sad it was snatched, extremely ****** it was a heron, I would feel better if it was an animal that thought I was feeding it. On the other hand bandit had carp pox. Still upsetting it couldn't have been a few pond mutts/culls that I'm growing out.

      Quote Originally Posted by Sweetwater View Post
      Looks like a nice unit. I like that it is expandable. Good luck with it.
      Yeah, my thinking as well....The contech one doesn't have ports after the valve.
      Last edited by Charlie Brown; 06-02-2013 at 11:15 AM.

    13. #13
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      Will be installing this, along with more rebar in the ground to add more fishing string.

      I think the downside to the enforcer - I have a ton of plants around the pond and a pup - its going to take a lot of getting used too....hopefully I don't get soaked too often. I plan on hang a wind chime so when the water hits it should sound. Also looking into pinwheels.....??

      "Don't hurt 'em" Yeah right if it were legal that thing would be someones dinner.
      Last edited by Charlie Brown; 06-02-2013 at 02:38 PM.

    14. #14
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      It would be handy if those things had a remote to turn them off and on. I hope it works well for you. I'll be getting one if I ever start to have trouble with beasties taking my fish.

      clm
      Click for Toronto Pearson, Ontario Forecast

    15. #15
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      Well Charlie, the original problem was that the WHOLE yard wasn't strung off. From that first pic, I can see where the Heron could easily land and walk over to the pond. Heard of this happening on several occasions with different folks. So, either stringing the pond 12" on center about 12-15" off the surface should deter them. They seem to be a very intelligent bird with problem solving skills. Those water sprayers, it'll take them a couple times, but they'll figure out where they can't spray and that's where they'll fish. Raccoons have been known to figure out how they work and go over and actually move the spray arm out of harms way. Like in Jurassic Park,..."nature will find a way"!
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    16. #16
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      Quote Originally Posted by clm View Post
      It would be handy if those things had a remote to turn them off and on. I hope it works well for you. I'll be getting one if I ever start to have trouble with beasties taking my fish.

      clm
      I had to change my shirt twice today - **** sprinkler........ Yeah a remote would be nice.

      Quote Originally Posted by koiman1950 View Post
      Well Charlie, the original problem was that the WHOLE yard wasn't strung off. From that first pic, I can see where the Heron could easily land and walk over to the pond. Heard of this happening on several occasions with different folks. So, either stringing the pond 12" on center about 12-15" off the surface should deter them. They seem to be a very intelligent bird with problem solving skills. Those water sprayers, it'll take them a couple times, but they'll figure out where they can't spray and that's where they'll fish. Raccoons have been known to figure out how they work and go over and actually move the spray arm out of harms way. Like in Jurassic Park,..."nature will find a way"!
      I really didn't want anything over the pond. My old pond had a net over it and it took the beauty away from the pond. The fishing string just over the water surface I can try that, hopefully with new string and not faded would blend right in.

      Here are a few photos pond its 22'x17'x4' no shelves, but not vertical, its slanted pretty good.
      Back left hand side is where I found the blood, and this morning it was just walking up, got onto the pea gravel right next to the 4x4 cemented post to hold up 50# fishing line



      I temporally mounted the yard defender on a deck post this way I could get full coverage of the pond and where the heron is entering



      I put in another piece of rebar old one sat at 21" new one on just one side is now at 28"


      I put up deer netting and a huge flower pot to block off the pond, can't enter from the rear...


      This is where the heron has entered and left. Don't mind the garden hoses... flow through on the fry tanks tape measure is where I found blood.


      Gator didn't do a thing....guess northern birds don't see many of those.


      I do have a watering valve, and several motion sensors (put them in test mode)- have built a sprinkler in the past but tore it down and installed the fishing string.



      I wired one motion sensor to a 12volt wall wart to power on the air valve, my neighbors are going to love me at 5am. I'm a deep sleeper, should wake me up. 135psi 13"+ 10" trumpets


      Next up MSD ignition coil 45,000 volts............ This bird messed with the wrong fish
      Last edited by Charlie Brown; 06-02-2013 at 07:44 PM.

    17. #17
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      They are smart birds. I string fish line around the perimeter of the pond, three different levels to make it difficult for them to sneak under or over the string. I even had one get his wings caught in the string. He was their all day long waiting for someone to cut him free. My husband used a 20 foot pull with a knife on it to cut the fish line from his wing. You don't want to get too close to them, they will attack you if cornered. He flew away and never came back.
      Sprinkler only works a few times, they will figure it out and ignore it after awhile.

    18. #18
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      Well the heron hasn't come back yet. I never got a chance to scare the bird off, so maybe he will visit this weekend.

      Since the fishing string around the pond didn't stop the attack I decided to go with the yard enforcer. Overall its a nice unit, has very good range / detection, but it doesn't tell me if it got tripped and by what. I looked around for an IP camera to monitor the pond. I was told to get the Foscam FI8918 (slightly older model) I didn't and went for the newer model (8910) and what a disappointment. The wifi only works from 5 feet away from the router, picture quality is ok for an IP camera but nothing to write home about.

      I decided to go another route........ I'm currently working on a laser trip wire that will go around the parameter of the pond. I'll be using a laser pointer, bicycle mirrors, photoresistor or light dependent resistor (LDR). It will be controlled by an ardunio. I will also be using motion sensors that you find on outdoor flood lights and sprinkler heads, and a electronic water valve.

      Here is a picture of the new 'toys'......Hopefully I get the reset of the stuff on Monday - sensors, LCD screen, laser, mirrors, remote controls, etc.
      Ardunio Uno (microcontroller), Sainsmart 8 relay board, Raspberry Pi (credit-card-sized single-board computer)
      Last edited by Charlie Brown; 06-07-2013 at 01:08 PM.

    19. #19
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      What a wise person who suggested the older 8918 models . Mine reaches about 30 feet through two interior walls where my router is located and through a glass partition to the green house. Still not sure it would be long enough in your case, but you can always just run a network cable and be done with it.

      Love the laser trip wire project, but if you get a powerful enough laser, I don't think you'll need a water spray, just hit him with the laser for 3-5 minutes on each side and serve.

      The other option (my preference) would be to put some decoy fish underneath that giant suspended door hatch thing that I presume covers your filter pit. Put a remote trip on that thing to let you drop it remotely and you've got a trap that Wile E. Coyote would be proud of.

      Keep posting your results, I'll be following with keen interest. If this doesn't work, I think you will probably just have to run the horizontal line on the sides all the way up to the roof string grid you have at the top at 1' intervals. I use fishing line and you really don't notice it. I prefer it over the net for sure.

    20. #20
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      You are really going after that bird. Hope he decides it's too much trouble. We had one once...came up to the pond. We took down the shade cloth for the winter so I think he couldn't see the pond before. Pop fired a warning shot and he flew up onto the shed about ten feet away...not too discouraged at that point. Fired another and he took off never to return. The shade cloth went back up the next day.
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