Great Blue Heron hunting and finally catching and eating a gopher Reuploaded 4K

First version did not upload correctly after about 12 hours.

[@RAREFORMDESIGNS]

I like how patient the Heron was, but in the end he decided to Gopher it.

[@1BassJohn]

😂😂 This comment wins the internet!

[@Dan-nt2yb]

Badump bump.

[@joeblow4566]

Yuck yuck yuck Wiseguy just like The Three Stooges

[@thehop639]

brilliant 😂

[@DABIGDAWG001]

Can’t explain why I like this joke so much, but I do 🤣🤣

[@johnshields6852]

Herons are modern day dinosaurs, incredible hunting skills, they look so elegant with their long thin beak, but that beak is a powerful weapon, part harpoon, part dagger, part jaws, it's like a Swiss army beak.

[@hopefulskeptic42]

"Swiss Army Beak" LMAO Good one, John!

[@edelweiss-]

Birds came from dinosaurs

[@gigatron4578]

Powerful birds (though relativily) are Eagles, ostriches, cassowaries, heron, pelicans, swans etc.

[@gigatron4578]

Birds are coelurosaurs, known as feathered dinosaurs wich includes, dromeosaurids, oviraptorosaurs, tyrannosaurids, Megaraptors etc. Birds are the only coelurosaurs to survive.

[@D-Z321]

Gopher didn’t seem to struggle at all 😂. Dude was like, aight you got me lol. Went from dirt tunnel to throat tunnel.

[@jimzenor9148]

I’m pretty sure she literally stabbed it through the back of its head, maybe the brain. I have seen this heron catch a lot of gophers such as the most recent one a couple days ago. She deliberately killed it with a bill to back of head. She is really good at disabling them quickly. It seems every other heron has the prey struggle longer

[@MichaelBrown-ti1un]

​@@jimzenor9148 Interesting. Glad you clarified this here about the beak. I was wondering why no squirming and/or shrieking from the gopher. That strike was basically a kill-shot as well as snapping that gopher up.

[@michaelh1889]

@@jimzenor9148 ..snapped the neck. Over.

[@Renville80]

Just incredible how the heron was as motionless as a lawn flamingo when waiting for the perfect time to strike.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah, I felt oblidged to point out that she wasn't a photo. I have seen this heron in that pose a few times.

[@MrJsv650]

there is one that hunts a damn near my house he sits for hours motionless

[@MrJsv650]

there is one that hunts a damn near my house he sits for hours motionless

[@martybrink7916]

I lived nearby for 9 years and used to walk weekly through different parts of the park. I witnessed the birds successfully catch their prey and devour it. Good work.

[@infinitespecies6560]

the patience of the heron beat my own!! Amazing how the heron is steady and pounces on the oblivious gopher. Glad you were able to catch a glimpse of this amazing animal!

[@lawrencelymanii6943]

Nice catch. When I was a kid, in Florida, I often watched big herons hunting lizards, snakes, other birds, mice, etc, really far from the water, they would just stroll the lawns and eat like they were at an automatic sushi vendor.. really awesome birds.

[@georgewhitehead8185]

The trick is to swallow the Gopher head first...then they just "scamper" on down to the stomach...Yikes! I think the Great Blue Heron stabbed the Gopher at the base of his skull and spinal cord = Quick Death...

[@CraftyChicken91]

That's what it looked like to me as well. Nailed him in the sweet spot.

[@AlexanderTheGoodEnough]

lucky for the gopher, death by drowning in stomach acid would suck.

[@chrisrice3551]

He was clearly dead before the swallow..still strange tbh to see it.

[@motherlandbot6837]

A gopher swallowed conscious and struggling won't "scamper down to the stomach"... it would try to burrow through the heron's tough (catfish and sculpin spine resistant) gullet with its' very powerful and heavily clawed front feet, and tear through with its' huge exposed incisors. A heron feeding young does not pass most food directly to the stomach, but carries prey in its' crop (the base of the gullet) to its' nest or fledglings. Dangerous prey that isn't killed or fatally paralyzed by a heron's first capture strike is finished off with one or two sharp bites to the neck. Defenseless small fishes, frogs, etc are swallowed conscious (not necessarily the same as "being eaten alive) and struggling.

[@discretebear4115]

The lion of the marsh strikes! Brilliant video, I often enjoyed watching these guys and the egrets when I lived in FL.

[@bartonpercival3216]

When I lived in So.Florida, we use to have a big lake/reserve by our back yard. I was always amazed watching the blue herons slowly stalking their prey and eating it. Seen them eat everything, from small ducks to fish and even large snakes!!!!!!! Nature is incredible

[@takaorobinson8719]

I was prospecting in the San Gabriel mountains. It was after a flood so the river had risen and was muddy. I saw a heron watching this one spot be the rapids. I fish too so I thought this might be interesting. Ten minutes later his head shot into the water and he came up with a fish. As he shot up, his feet went flying out from under, the fish flew out of his mouth back to the river and he got his ass soaked. When he came up he was pissed. Flapping his wings ,jumping screaming. The frustration measurable. I could hear the cuss words. I've also seen them creep up to the waters edge, look, slowly back up and shift to another spot and repeat. Being a Fisherman also, sometimes he'll glare at you like you're screwing up his fishing spot. I just tell him '" look, you've tried for half an hour, give someone else a chance" and he'll move up river.

[@jimzenor9148]

That’s funny. I’ve had similar experience with this heron. She is my favorite subject. She is very emotional it seems. She will squawk or open her bill when she misses. I try to not scare her gophers but she gets pissy at me if I interrupt her hunting.

[@tobylangdale95]

Wow! Thank you so very much for this work. When I was a kid in south Florida I used to watch these birds and many others for hours on end through my granddad’s WWII field glasses… anyone who wants to know about the non-avian theropod dinosaurs and their likely behavior? Watch these avian dinosaurs and we’ve got a good idea . Thanks again, liked and subscribed ❤️

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks, I appreciate that

[@ThomasWeiskirch]

Such an amazing shot of this Great Blue Heron, Jim! Thanks for sharing my friend. Best regards, Thomas.

[@gratefuldale117]

Lived in El Dorado Park a few months in the early 70s. Missed out on the Park part!!!

[@jeffschultz732]

I live in Michigan. I once saw a Great Blue Heron in the winter, sitting near a bird feeder, picking off birds that were feeding on seed scattered in the snow

[@jimzenor9148]

Cool. That is very fast prey.

[@rvasquez8057]

Outstanding video Jim. Excellent capture. Noticed he was all decked out with his mating plumage too. 👍👍👍👍

[@aznboycols]

The gopher looks out and thinks "hey...I don't remember a tree there before. Oh well..going to visit cuz next door".

[@oscarmedina1303]

I saw something similar where I live on the coast. Amazing hunters with keen eyesight and incredible reflexes. Thanks for uploading.

[@JB-qt4hp]

Instant kill! That gopher had it lucky, compared to other victims.

[@normanriggs848]

Paleontologists say that birds are actually dinosaurs. If that is true and we were alive during the reign of dinosaurs, which we were NOT! Then we would have never stood a change of us becoming us! Just look at how birds hunt and eat and what speed most of them have. We would have never stood a chance against birds or T. Rex or velociraptor! We got lucky. Thank you, meteor!

[@Blues40]

Great camera work! Great video. Those birds are amazing.

[@user-qp1jn7cm3y]

She looks happy when she ended the hunt lol 2:42 " Wow. I did this. "

[@oozeygoosey518]

Omg dad its you!! Its been years, i thought I'd never see you again!! 🤣

[@briondavis6662]

Patience is a virtue

[@johngreen3543]

Just shows why we need birds. Not only do they kill insects but the big ones like this blue heron attack and eat a variety of rodents. We need more blue herons.

[@brucesanborn7484]

And there's yer dinner! Maranatha, Greetings from Tampa Florida 😎

[@ocrisanto]

Hi Jim, thanks again for the information on the pin whiter this morning

[@jimzenor9148]

You are welcome Chris. It has a weird spelling, Pin-tailed whydah

[@ocrisanto]

@@jimzenor9148 Thanks

[@mohamedgoldstein5565]

Gopher looks at the heron and goes "Nah, thats a statue".

[@officertom6751]

It looked like the gopher was immediately dead as if the heron had stabbed his head.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah that was a perfect shot. You can see in the slow motion that she really zeroed in on that gopher. It seems they ususally do hit them in a vital spot but not always.

[@Dan-nt2yb]

Wouldn’t you be?😮

[@isolinear9836]

@@jimzenor9148 Bald Eagle vs Blue Heron is also a good matchup /watch?v=dpZmyKT9-6I

[@4exgold]

instakill

[@J242D]

@@isolinear9836 didn’t work, i wanna see

[@koreanature]

Great... We liked and enjoyed to the end. Awesome... Full watched. Thanks Have a happy day!

[@jimzenor9148]

Thank you. Have a nice day too.

[@markbarker6739]

Some herons in the parks in London are so tame they will look for picnicking people and accept food from them they won't attack you just sit and wait to be offered food

[@jimzenor9148]

I have seen a couple of these hanging around fishermen and trying to beg fish from them. The subject heron is the tamest heron I have ever encountered but she is also the best hunter

[@kirbywaite1586]

That would be a marvelous experience.

[@carolinezipp4383]

I wish Mr. Heron would come over to my house. Outstanding hunting skills.

[@dolyharianto]

2:20 Gopher: oh, looks like the new heron statue has just been erected. it looks great

[@theokorner6237]

😂

[@mustang7603]

Beautiful bird moving swift silent and deadly with such grace

[@chessman70]

Clean kill.....gopher didn't feel a thing....

[@tnwildcam]

Excellent job capturing these!

[@bassbeardiful]

that backround noise around 1:10 sounds like godzilla charging up his laser attack ha

[@Stormsteed]

Stunning film work! 👍👍

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks I appreciate that. Sometimes the light, the camera, the bird, and the gopher all come together and cooperate and I manage to get a good shot.

[@leeandadaelliott]

Must be the Heron pierced the gopher's spinal cord with that first strike. The gopher appeared paralyzed

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah this heron is a real gopher assassin

[@randallmarsh1187]

I was in Everglades N.P. some years ago, a ranger was leading a tour and giving a discussion on how the various Herons and Egrets hunt differently. When he got to the Great Blue Heron he said that they bore their prey to death...............very apropos!

[@myvillagebirds]

👍👍🐦🐦

[@BlackOps-Ent]

That was horrifying.... Nice all around video quality.

[@toddbennett7157]

WHAT AIM! She must've hit the gopher in JUST the right spot for there to be absolutely NO struggling at all. Usually there's a fair amount of shaking and thrashing on behalf of both the heron and such substantial prey!

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah this heron was the deadliest one I have watched. She usually hit a vital on the first strike.

[@sansan1time796]

that was super cool, I love herons and videos like this, gJ!

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[@johnman559]

It pierced its head, killed it instantly😨

[@terrymiddleton]

fantastic video...what did you use to shoot the video?

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks I have a Canon R6 and my lens was a Canon EF 400 mm F4 DO lens. It is my best lens and I use it more than 90 percent of the time

[@jenkemjones68]

For years I've enjoyed watching GBHs wade up and down the creek that runs through by back lawn.Recently Temps dropped to a staggering 10°F in NE Alabama for a few days but the creek only partially froze.One morning I came out and seen a dead adult at creekside.I have seen another since it warmed up.Not sure how the poor thing died unless it froze to death.But seems like it would have been found in some foliage instead of on a cold rock.Sure hated to see it as they have a great longevity.

[@jimzenor9148]

I was with this particular heron the morning she passed. I think it was quite old. It was the first wild animal that I ever grew an emotional attachment to. I would sometimes wait for the bird to wake up and walk out of the cattails where it slept at night and then walk over to me. She would stand for a few minutes and then lead me on a hunt for gophers. She led me to have a real deep respect for her, her intelligence, and her super human abilities. As a consequence it really deepened my respect for all animals.

[@kirbywaite1586]

She must have killed it on the first blow.. What a good bird.

[@SteveSmith-zz4ih]

"Creeping bloody Jesus" if there ever was one.

[@premgopalexcellentshow.4321]

Great time laps picture taking. Must have spent hours here.

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks. On t hi is particular one she didn’t make me wait long. I have learned some patience since then but I got lucky on that shot. this bird is very easy to video.

[@p47koji]

Excellent video videography. I live closeby but have never seen one even poking his head up.

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks. I couldn’t find herons yesterday so I tried to find a gopher to get some videos but I couldn’t find any. It really makes me respect how easily the herons find them

[@noahholliday9761]

That was instant death!

[@carbonunit6573]

Awesome footage!😀

[@logicalblackman8228]

Great camera work.

[@jeffw.4205]

Did it stab it? Or just grab it? Patiently waiting for a meal.

[@jimzenor9148]

She (I think it likely a she) is a bit of a magician. She typically stabs gopher with bill slightly open. Whether she hits with upper or lower bill or both she then closes it very tightly and if necessary she can tug it out of the ground. The tip has small teeth like things on tip and she can grab something very small using it like tweezers or like a pair of pliers and grab something big. That bill can be quite the dagger too

[@davidzheng101]

Great footage, quality is insane. Gopher didn’t know what hit him

[@logicalblackman8228]

Does he paralyze it or something when he grabs it by the back of the neck?

[@jimzenor9148]

Yes but she is literally stabbing it through the head and in this case it looks to me like she went right through skull. Her bill is like a dagger and she will use it to disable prey

[@logicalblackman8228]

@@jimzenor9148 thanks👍🏾

[@claesandersson4426]

Nice footage! 👍

[@bonchicodavis1444]

Dope video 🎯💯

[@josealexander9794]

What camera and lens?

[@jimzenor9148]

I have a Canon R6 and a canon EF 400 mm f4 DO lens I have other lens but I use this one more than 90 percent of the time

[@hazchemel]

Looks like the gopher was either dead or paralysed, by the hammer blow of the beak.

[@muhammadaliali2134]

You worked hard and patiently to make this video

[@jimzenor9148]

Thank you I have worked a lot harder for other videos but I got lucky on this one. I waited for a hour and a half this morning and the heron I was watching barely moved but finally missed a gopher. That is when you really need patience

[@StoilDIvanov]

Amazing video!

[@jimzenor9148]

Glad you think so! I spent a lot time trying to get in the right light. The bird is a very good bird to videotape because it is very used to people in the park.

[@loganchester1856]

That is absolutely awesome

[@naturearoundyou5119]

Wow, amazing catch... I did enjoy it 😊😊😊

[@edelweiss-]

Saw a documentary in past where a Kaiserreiher eats a himalaya marmot. That was epic.

[@jimzenor9148]

I tried to find it but Google didn’t have a link. At least I found out what a kaiserreiher was.

[@edelweiss-]

@@jimzenor9148 i for my self searched it to give you a link. i dont know again which documentary it was. watched it on arte or phoenix or 3sat. it was a german documentay about i think the tibet high plains or maybe bhutan

[@edelweiss-]

@@jimzenor9148 so yeah, i also dont found it anymore. maybe some day i will see the docu again and then can tell you its exact name. because it often happens due to the fact that i watch documentarys every day, like a true german, lmfao 😂🤓

[@jimzenor9148]

That sounds like my kind of documentary. I thought it was likely a German documentary or at least a German named bird. I had to look up Reiher. My German isn’t that good.

[@edelweiss-]

@@jimzenor9148 no all good. the problem is more that i had to learn this language and from what i should now how Reiher is called in english lmao. all good, it was my mistake! because iam tired of always having to translate all the technical terms into english lol

[@naturalreach4316]

Wonderful video

[@abdulhafeez763]

Excellent photo shoot.

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks. I appreciate that

[@jkjenkins7205]

That was a kill shot. Usually they wiggle and fight.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah she got him good

[@yetidodger6650]

and now the gopher lives in the herons belly, on quiet days you see his little head appear at the beak.

[@forcedge2302]

Cleanest kill I've ever seen in the animal world

[@henrynasal7682]

wow, gives you insight to how a dinosaur might have fed.. nice

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah. It is like a velociraptor with a dagger

[@darthverminates9708]

Wish he'd hang out in my backyard when I had a garden

[@TerreHauteRemoteGoat]

Incredible footage! Can I rent that heron?

[@jimzenor9148]

Thanks. Yeah this heron was an amazing hunter. They all are but this bird was special.

[@eduedu267]

Gopher was still alive when swallowed. Can he bite his way out of the herons pouch?

[@vito1otiv]

He can bite but he forget if he ever had teeth

[@jimzenor9148]

I have wondered that. They have really sharp claws two. I think they learn to kill them but sometimes the gopher is swallowed alive

[@J242D]

I don’t think so, it got a beak through the skull and spinal cord pretty sure that’s as dead as it gets

[@2009landscape]

Caddyshack Gopher: Heh heh Carl Spackler can’t get me and wait what is that? Ahhh!

[@ARRR-SAUROPHAGANAX]

A heroic gopher, was only one strike down.

[@pamcailloux5296]

Looks set up..how come it wasn't fighting?

[@jimzenor9148]

This particular heron is really good at incapacitating the gophers quickly. You can see right at the end that she literally stabbed it through the brain.

[@Islandrifter]

That was awesome 😎

[@BubupatianD]

Amazing 👍👍👍

[@DavBlc7]

The gopher appears to be dead. Probably the Heron's beak stabbed into it's brain or the back of the neck and the gopher probably killed instantly.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah I think that was one of the best shots I’ve seen from her.

[@flyerbob124]

Used to see these birds come over to Long Beach airport and hunt gophers.

[@richardwhite3177]

Like Homer gobbles a donut....

[@jcaimhigher5952]

You can see the upper bill is through the skull of the gopher. Very successful predator. Until a lion or gator catches them; circle of their lives and prey

[@vincei4252]

That Heron's name is Stabby McStabby.

[@MUSBFRANK]

I was going to offer to buy that gopher a pair of glasses but, too late. 🤓

[@DevylsAdvocut]

That was awesome

[@dougcain2720]

Great video!!!!!!!

[@masterkinglee9031]

Slickly big bird

[@glenmiles6279]

Wow man,those herons are creepy birds.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah I really underestimated them. They are like dinosaurs with big stabbing beaks and they are sneaky as cats.

[@augustriver8967]

How intense

[@jimzenor9148]

She is an amazing bird. She was hunting crawfish yesterday and that was the exact word I used to describe her

[@robertclark4635]

It appears that the rodent was dead upon contact with that beak!

[@jatuliabuteo3237]

She's Patient ☺😌

[@menderes.8419]

De gouuut Harika.

[@kenzelcold1636]

That gopher is oblivious to 20/20 vision

[@Davey007]

Atleast it was quick 🙌

[@timsmith3621]

Bill Murray used all those explosives and such in Caddyshack. To get that "varmint" all he really needed was this guy.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yep, sometimes all you need is a heron with a dagger.

[@johnwilliamson2276]

Now that’s a mouthful!

[@roberty.9569]

2:38 f a t a l i t y

[@megagatvol]

Fantastic to see…

[@donthomas4793]

Ice pick to the temple fatality