Whether you have created a wildlife pond, an ornamental pond or a water garden there are living creatures in there who will be on somebody’s dinner menu. Some of the most prolific predators in your pond will be insects who, to be perfectly honest, are going to be extremely difficult to either deter or stop. Creatures such as dragonflies and diving beetles are both effective predators who will be impossible to keep away unless you have absolutely nothing else to do with your time.

Realistically, the only approach to these threats is to accept their position in nature and appreciate that their hunting is maintaining the important balance of a mini eco-system. Once your pond is well established, these small creatures who arrived of their own accord will be living in a delicate balance. The bigger threats to the balance of your pond are the external predators such as cats, foxes and herons who are capable of diminishing your fish stock in addition to the other wildlife visitors such as smaller birds.

A simple approach to protecting against these threats is some form of mesh over the pond. Whilst this can be a very effective approach it can also be quite visually obtrusive.

At the other end of the scale are motion detector scarers that can be effective at scaring herons or cats through the use of a water jet or some form of audible deterrent. Audible deterrents for herons tend to be loud bangs which may cause issues of a very different nature for you and your neighbours. The benefit of such a deterrent is that it does not detract from the visual appeal of the pond. A couple of more down to earth approaches may be loose, wobbly rocks around a pond that may deter a cat by not providing a stable platform from which to pounce. A good old fashioned scarecrow may also be off-putting to a heron.

It is impossible to keep your pond totally safe from predators but a combination of some simple physical obstructions to the hunting process and some high tech deterrents, and you should be able to effectively reduce some threats without too much compromise to the appeal of your pond.