Ways to Avoid a Bad Background

You have a wonderful subject, the light on it is great, but what an awful background!
What do you do?
Below is a real scenario of my approach to the problem on the Forest Glade Trip.
The subject was statues of Storks in a fountain. They stood out well but the path, concrete rim and a hedge of Variegated Pittosporum behind with the bright light hitting it would not allow a good photo to be taken under any circumstances.

Initial shots taken 11am.
Different attempts at taking shots:
From another direction - not bad
Cropping in - getting better
Getting higher - wrong perspective

Still need to find another angle or different lighting to make this shot worth taking

Later - 11.30am
Reflections more interesting
Still needed to crop
Still need to avoid bad background

Later Still - 1pm
Reflection of statue with wind rippling water to create an art effect

Conclusion
So when you find something that doesn't work, walk around it, look carefully, come back at different times or even in different seasons or weather until something works.