Good News For Trout!!..Blue Heron eating gopher lol

[DyberryBrookies]

All the trout can now take a deep breath....apparently Blue Heron are now more happy eating gophers!!

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10204262495191468&set=vb.1500784159&type=2&theater

 

[Fishidiot]

It's common for some Great Blue Herons to become rodent hunters.

Every year here at Gettysburg, when they bale the hay fields on the park, a lot of field mice get chopped and hawks and buzzards descend on the park like it's an all you can eat buffet. There's usually a couple herons who discover this too and some of them will continue to hunt fields for the rest of the year - even through the winter.

 

[DyberryBrookies]

Thats incredible!! They are for the most part waterway hunters up here...pretty crazy stuff by an amazing bird.

 

[krayfish2]

I wish that bird would come to my house. I've got a mole that's making my life hell.

 

[sandfly]

rent ya my lab, he likes hunting mice and moles

 

[Night_Stalker]

K2,

Put the lawnmower on the lowest setting and sit it running over there tunnels...instant dog food!

Or see a dermatologist.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

didn't squirm to much after it got speared.

 

[FiveWeight]

Just as a side note here. Camp for me sits on the Juniata River just down river from Huntingdon. So I fish it and hike along the banks a lot. Also the LJ, Spruce and other waters in the area. This year I have seen very little of Mr. Blue. And caught very few speared/stabbed fish. The amount of Crayfish I see busted up in the rocks is down too. Been seeing more Eagles and Ospreys the past few years pull'n fish out of the water. Maybe I'm just in the wrong place at the wrong time to see herons. Hey, they gotta eat too.

 

[LongWader]

I saw a lot of eagles on the Juniata last weekend. Maybe they make the herons nervous because I saw a couple of Great Blue Herons fly up into a tree when a couple of eagles started patrolling up and down the river.
I have seen a great blue heron kill and eat a young muskrat. I guess if they can swallow it, it is on the menu.

 

[FarmerDave]

sandfly wrote:
rent ya my lab, he likes hunting mice and moles

So does my one Brittany, but it often require back fill afterwards.

It is apparently fairly common for blue herons to eat gophers. There are several clips on youtube. Cool stuff.

And eagles will catch muskrats.

Sorry about the quality. It was before I got a new digital camera with decent zoom.