Herons Beat Retreat as Homer Goes on Guard

Greedy herons on a Lancashire holiday park's new fishing lake have been put to flight - with the help of America's best-known cartoon family.

Life-size effigies of The Simpsons are succeeding where other methods have failed to stop the herons' daily fish feast at Moss Wood Caravan Park in Cockerham.

According to park manager Ian Stokes, the problem began in early spring after thousands of trout, carp, bream and other species were introduced to the newly dug lake.

Within days, he said, herons began helping themselves to the fish which the park had hoped would provide a sporting challenge to its angling guests.

But it wasn't just the fact that the birds were fishing without a permit which worried Ian:

"Herons are notorious for spreading diseases picked up from the different waters they visit - and they were posing a threat not just to the fish, but to other aquatic life.

"We are trying to make the lake a magnet for wild fowl, newts and dragonflies as part of our conservation work, and an outbreak could have set us back literally years," he said.

Trip-wires around the edge of the lake didn't provide the deterrent for which Ian had hoped, and within days the herons had learned to pick their way around the obstacle course to their free lunch.

Other ways of defeating the heron menace were also examined, from infra-red beams to trigger jets of water to helium-filled zeppelins which would hover over the lake to simulate birds of prey.

But in the end, it was Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie who provided the solution.

The entire Simpsons family had been carefully crafted by a guest at the Moss Wood for entry to the Wray scarecrow festival in May - and when Ian spotted them, he had an idea:

"We selected the herons' favourite fishing spots, and positioned the effigies around the edge of the lake, making them look as life-like as possible from the air.

"Over the following few days, we kept a very close watch - and to our amazement, not a single bird decided to risk a landing!

"We don't know which character was frightening them the most, but we reckon that Marge's blue hair would certainly unsettle even the pluckiest predator," added Ian.

The solution appears to be long term as the herons haven't been back. But, said Ian, he does take the precaution of adjusting the family's position every few days.

Moss Wood Caravan Park is a favourite with wildlife-lovers, and its achievements in protecting the natural world have won praise and a top conservation accolade from botanist David Bellamy.

Now, says Ian, the credentials of the 22-acre parks as a safe haven for all types of species remains intact - thanks to the Simpsons, and one of the world's most unlikely hair-dos.

Moss Wood Caravan Park is a member of the British Holiday and Home Parks Association whose website - www.ukparks.com - lists and describes thousands of holiday parks across Britain.