Great Blue Heron in 4K catches 3 gophers

[@fahoodie1852]

Interesting how the heron makes sure to kill the gopher by repeatedly spearing its head, definitely wouldn’t want to mess with an angry rofent’s teeth

[@nickdouglas736]

Ever since I started watching your videos I've realized how terrifying herons actually are. That first stab and the skin tear was brutal and the precision of the attacks and coordination of head an body is insane. That heron knows what it's doing.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah I really underestimated them before I actually spent time following them. I remember thinking they really weren’t very good hunters but I was wrong. Lately hunting has been difficult and each gopher is wary and a challenge for them and so they have become very patient. They really are supreme hunters and they make very smart choices

[@rayman1611]

We have had, over the years, dozens of gold fish and koi in our pond. Every one was breakfast for a blue heron. A friend who was moving away gave us four larger goldfish. We named them after “I Love Lucy” characters. I was out of town, talking on the phone with my wife. She happened to be looking out the window and said to me, “a blue heron has a banana”, and then, “oh my god, he just ate Ethel”. We were sad as Ethel was the last one left after Lucy, Ricky, and Fred were swallowed whole and alive by the big beautiful blue heron. Everyone has to eat.

[@jimzenor9148]

I have 4 koi now and they are getting pretty large. Fortunately no herons or raccoons have found them. I have a friend who also lives where herons fly over.

[@chloehennessey6813]

That Heron would have caught some copper birdshot real quick!

[@michaelduncan2151]

It's a Land Shark ...NO...GREAT BLUE HERON....!!! 😂😆🤣

[@mastery7901]

That first heron kept stabbing it. Bloody hell thats brutal.

[@gerardog2663]

Really good quality of this video. Thank you.

[@Raptorman0909]

You start with a bird, that can fly, and therefore is not limited by water etc. Then, you give in a massively powerful neck that is like a highly sprung spring ready to release. And then you stick on a weapon like the GBH bill and Gophers have zero chance to escape. The Gophers only strategy is to not be the one the GBH gets!

[@andyelliott8027]

Go on Heron, gopher it !

[@motherlandbot6837]

@Raptorman And to breed much faster and start breeding at a much younger age than herons do. The more gophers in a given area (they are solitary and aggressive towards other gophers outside of reproduction), the less likely any one gopher will be "the one the heron gets".

[@LeeDfined]

Lovely. I watched one kill a vole at Circle B Park Lakeland Florida and it was just like this. It was over in under 3 minutes.

[@alabamamothman2986]

imagine 50,000 years ago when a 10 tall version was doing this to people.

[@WaynesAdventure]

Impressive bird, love the Herons

[@andred3199]

I think it once made the mistake of thinking a prey was dead, only to be bit bad. Now, it wants to be fully, absolutely sure, that its meal is well done, not fresh.

[@nemeanlioness]

One shot one kill on that last one. Cool

[@michaelduncan2151]

God surely made some incredible Creatures....!!!!

[@kelliott7864]

When farmers use certain gopher poisons on their fields, the poison gets passed on to the heron.

[@jimzenor9148]

I’ve seen these herons eat dead gophers presumably poisoned. I am always worry about them but so far I haven’t noticed any harm to the herons. Hopefully they are using a relatively safe poison. Still I just wish they would let the predators get the gophers

[@mtnbikr107]

Definitely an advantage being born with built-in Hattori Hanzo's

[@pacificrules]

The first has OVERKILL written all over... 🤢🤢🤢, anyways good job birdie.

[@jayj6325]

Today the logarithm gives me Herons & Storks killing/eating small rodents... WTF???!

[@kk-sr1wl]

Gopher just spending time with family.... Oh wtf!!

[@williamphillips6049]

Nothing like a nice juicy gopher for breakfast.

[@kf160k160]

Wow, it uses it beak as a sword and stab the rat.

[@lebojay]

Impressive animal. The heron, I mean.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah she really humbles me. I grew up in the woods of South Dakota but every time I follow this bird it shows me just how much better a hunter it is. It is smart and has amazing vision and hearing

[@sophdog1678]

The puddle is actually dipping sauce.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah our concrete “river” isn’t very impressive

[@emercycrite]

It’s tenderising the meat lol

[@marskriegsgott9979]

This is a overkill

[@canhhuynhhuu3511]

One time one kill

[@freesoul3371]

Herons are stone cold killers. One seriously bad azsz bird. I love seeing them on the Northern California lakes that I flyfish. also the herons cranes on Davis Lake are LOUD. They are very vocal and have a nasty obnoxious bird call.

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah these guys squawk a lot too

[@thepirate5955]

"There's a killer on the road . . . " Blue herons are stone cold killing machines. Scaled to the size we are, their beak strikes would be like having a huge Caterpillar jackhammer for tearing up old roads slamming into you at outrageous speed. Plus, they're tapered and create huge fatal wounds. It's no coincidence that the strikes are very precisely placed - in the heart area. They seem to do the same with fish. Gotta eat or ya die!

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah if you had one of these guys scaled up to a few hundred pounds, they could hunt people

[@subiemon]

that is how nature works !!!!

[@hazchemel]

If this was scaled up to the gopher being human sized, the heron's sharp stabbing bill would be longer than 2 metres ...

[@peeet]

The beak isn't as long as the bird is high. If the bird was 2m tall the beak might be 1m.

[@Nakande72]

@@peeet The beak is about as long as the gopher.

[@tjmmcd1]

God must get a kick out of watching his creations eating each other, alive. Amen .

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah it can seem cruel sometimes but after following this bird off and on for a year, I’ve started to worry if she doesn’t get a gopher but really she can eat crayfish etc. I’ve started to really like and respect the gophers too but every predator seems to prefer them

[@motherlandbot6837]

@ Tom McDonough A brain dead vertebrate animal no longer experiences fear or pain, even though MOST predators that eat "fresh killed prey" are eating muscle tissue, viscera, and skeletal material that is largely still living. Herons swallow relatively defenseless prey such as small to medium sized fishes, frogs, etc, without killing them, but gophers and most birds are killed with bites or stabs to the back of the head and neck before they are swallowed. They are generally killed much more quickly than the slow strangulation that large felids inflict on mortally terrified large victims, or via the disembowlment that Dholes, African Wild Dogs, and other socially hunting canids inflict on the same. This particular heron's quirks are inefficient killing and an oddly episodic stalking technique. A gopher swallowed while still conscious and capable of movement would attempt to dig right through the heron's (very tough) gullet, or less tough crop, with its' powerful sharp claw equipped front legs, and/or with its' huge exposed incisor teeth.

[@nanallen1]

Yeah, I totally lost any religion I had after thinking ( and watching) how brutal the natural world is - the killing, suffering etc. etc. My religious friends always change the subject when I bring this up.

[@xxmelotaplaysxx7682]

These are very pretty impressive birds where I live thiers tons of them and I live near a park where a river flows through and there always standing there or fishing I did had one in My back yard and I through out some fish and it came close to eat then it got scared of my dogs and tried to fly up and it hit the tree lol but it's alright it's survived

[@jimzenor9148]

Yeah they sometimes don’t mind me but they watch dogs really closely. They surprised me with how impressive hunters they are

[@xxmelotaplaysxx7682]

@@jimzenor9148 yeah ,thier awesome hunters

[@starwithnowars]

Kyle please stop stabbing it, i think it's dead now

[@jimzenor9148]

That heron seems to have a hard time killing the gopher quickly. I felt bad for that gopher

[@W81Researcher]

Everytime it stabbed it would pick it up...

[@W81Researcher]

How does a burrowing animal hide from a blue heron?

[@jimzenor9148]

They have to clear their holes and they have to eat. I have seen gophers pull plants down from the roots which helps but sometimes the herons will stab through the ground and pull them out. Gophers can be pretty quick when exposed so a heron has to be very stealthy

[@LuisDonado]

How can't they be satisfied with one gopher? I don't see how they can fit 3 gophers in its stomach.

[@charlieross-BRM]

Looking at where the black and the white markings are on the head, I think this was at least two different birds.

[@chloehennessey6813]

Her/his little soul left this plain to be transported to one of the thousands of “Earth”s around the Universe. There it will be joined with body and they will be reborn. May he run faster, jump further and not get caught by the Heron. RIP little doods.