Body double keeps the herons away

Damien Enright on how to keep a pond-robber at bay.

THE other morning a personable woman phoned me from a local radio station telling me she was sure I was the right person to advise her listeners on how to keep herons away from their garden ponds. She was to phone me back for an interview but my phone was engaged until it was too late. Never mind. Here’s my halfpenny’s worth of wisdom on the subject.

Herons enjoy garden ponds and the fish in them, perhaps even more than their owners. Flying high overhead, they spot the golden opportunity and visit at dawn when there are no humans about to interrupt their breakfast. Standing on the pond edge, they select a koi here, a carp there. They will consume a fairground goldfish with the same relish as a dramatically patterned koi worth, perhaps, a thousand euro.