Poor Koi Got Eaten!

In November 2007 we finally re-landscaped our backyard! It was like a jungle before! And now, it looks much more open and clean after rearranging and getting rid of some plants.

It only took a couple of weeks for a job that normally takes months. We were very happy with the results! The best thing was we put in a water feature! The contractors did a great job designing it. We love the soothing sound and look of the water fall and the pond. In January, the pond looks like it is ready, so we decided to raise some kois in our pond.



We brought 8 of them home and immediately fell in love with them. Michael loves to feed them cherrios out of his hands. I think this helps him lower his blood pressure. :) We used to never go to the backyard. But now, we would come home and rush out to the yard to check out the new plum blossoms and the to feed the kois. It is really nice when the lights in the pond turn on at night, and the kois' skin would sparkle. It looks especially magical from upstairs.

We had seen some cats in the neighborhood checking out our kois. The kois were very smart and would go hide if they don't feel safe. We have been thinking about ways to keep the cats away, not expecting other predators. On Monday, February 18th, I was working from home in the morning. At around 11:30am, I went to the kitchen to get some water. Suddenly, outside the kitchen window, next to the pond, I saw a huge, white heron. I was shocked. The heron looked at me, and I looked at the heron. Then, it jumped onto the top of the water fall, and flew away.



I rushed out to see the kois. I could not see any of them, nor did I see any signs of struggles. They normally hide during the day to avoid sun burn, so I wasn't sure if the heron got to any of them. That night, the kois would not come out at all to be fed, so we got even more worried. We went online, and of course the search results came up with numerous stories of heron attacking kois. We could not eat dinner. Michael was so depressed, he said he never realized how attached we could be to our fish in such a short time. We just sat and felt aweful.

Two days later, the kois reappeared. We counted, now we have 7. We lost one. I am sure when I saw the heron, he had just eaten the one koi. He probably would have eaten some more if I hadn't come down stairs. Now, to protect the "Lucky 7" we installed a "scarecrow" - a motion-sensing water sprayer! It sprays almost like a machine gun, except it shoots water! It works great, because both of us got sprayed a few times when we walked by the pond!



Our kois (and Michael) have since then become happy again! They swim a lot and have grown bigger because Michael loves feeding them. I haven't seen the big white heron again, but I have been checking whenever I can - I don't want to lose another one of our fish! They are such a joy to watch and we are glad to have them as companions. Now... onto the search for the next pet... maybe alligators? ;)