How can you stop wildlife from getting caught in your pump?

Garden ponds are great at attracting various wildlife to your garden; including frogs, toads, newts, and birds! You can even add in a water feature to provide the soft, gentle, and pleasant sound of splashing water.

It sounds great, right? But it may come with its own problems which you may face in time and it’s a query we get asked sometimes by our customers. How do you stop small wildlife, like tadpoles and newts, from getting caught in the pump?

Well, you have to first think about what a pump is. It’s a small motor inside a cage that has a strainer system so certain sized debris can enter. Unfortunately, if the strainer system allows in larger debris (like some larger filter pumps do), you may be at risk of losing wildlife. You also have to consider that the pump will have an electrical cable and a hose, which may mean finding the right system is difficult.

Below, we have outlined several methods which have worked for our customers in the past.

A Stocking or Mesh Cover

This may sound silly, but a stocking or a pair of old tights can be wrapped around the pump cage to stop debris and wildlife from entering it. Many of our customers have tried it and it seems to work; you may have to pay attention to the garments in case any holes develop over time, but this trick seems to work well. To tie it securely around the pump, some people will either try to tie a knot in the tights or they have used cable ties; however you tie it, remember that you will need to access the pump for your routine maintenance.

If you don’t have any old tights laying around the house, you could try using the PondXpert Media Filter Mesh Bag 45x30cm or the larger PondXpert Media Filter Mesh Bag 60x45cm option. These are simple, multi-purpose mesh bags with a draw string, allowing you to tightly close the mesh bag over the pump.

Stones

Some customers have said that putting the pump into a bucket and covering it with large stones has helped. This will help to prevent wildlife from reaching the pump, but it will make maintaining your pump difficult as you will have to lift a heavy bucket of stones out of the pond every time you have to clean your pump.

Be very careful what size stones you put on top. You don’t want any smaller stones to get into the pump and damage it; likewise, you don’t want to put too much weight on top of your pump as this could also damage it.

You will also have to consider the angle and positioning of your pumps electrical cable and hose; if the bucket is too small, it will make the positioning of these things very difficult. But if the bucket is too large, it may become too heavy once filled with stones.

Planting Basket

This may be another one that sounds strange but hear us out! You could try turning a planting basket upside down and placing it over your pump while weighing the planting basket down. Planting baskets generally have very small holes in, which will prevent debris and wildlife from gaining access to the pump, but they will allow a constant circulation of water. This may be an easier solution for you, depending on where your pump is located.

If you are using a planting basket, please note that you may need to cut a small piece of the basket to make room for the electrical cable and hose.

Chicken Wire

We have had some customers use chicken wire to create a wildlife protection system. People have either wrapped it around the pump or created a small box system by creating a small box frame with wood and wrapping the chicken wire around this and then placing this over the pump, like the planting basket idea. You could also cover it with a small piece of cloth for added protection.

Buy a new, wildlife-specific pump

While very few pumps on the market have a wildlife protection feature, Hozelock have thought of this. Their range of Aquaforce pumps include a feature called the ‘Wildlife Protection System (WPS)’. To minimise the possibility of wildlife getting caught in the pump, the WPS will reduce the strainer cage hole size to 2mm. This drastically reduces the chance of any wildlife getting sucked in while being easy to operate!

You may also find the below blogs useful:
• Customer Top Tips Round Up
• Pest Deterrents - How To Protect Your Fish From Predators
• 5 Tips Which Can Make A Big Difference To Your Pond

If you have any queries, please email us on info@pondkeeper.co.uk.