Great Blue Heron & water snake

A struggle between a Great Blue Heron and a Florida Banded Water Snake that lasts for minutes. Taken with iPhone through a Leica APO Televid 65 mm spotting scope with a NEW 1.8x extender which allows 90x magnification!

[@shemreznaumanafzal8032]

A great moment of nature at its finest / cruelest, captured by a steady hand on some AMAZING equipment!!!! THANK YOU @Jeff Bouton !!!!! 😊😊😊

[@bobbyworthington1417]

Shut up you, stop bending over for him and get a life you sado

[@billhilliard5454]

I get those Great Blues in my back yard after heavy rain events. They're such patient and stealthy hunters. The smaller Greenbacks nest in the big pine trees.

[@merkurii3877]

That's amazing. What country do you live in?

[@billhilliard5454]

@@merkurii3877 U.S.A. State of Florida.

[@gunlokman]

The heron version of spaghetti!

[@vasybylli4870]

👍👏👏👏😀😀

[@megaball-ps8tq]

Herons like to eat everything from frogs, mice, rats, gophers, voles, snakes, rabbits, even a duckling.

[@anthonydesroches785]

I seen one eat a snapping turtle. Now that was something to see

[@jaykay6387]

Wow, I thought the snake was going to "wriggle out" of that one, but not so fast, Mr. Snake! When the Heron figured out to pull it in from the back of his beak and not the front, it was all over.

[@SuperSwifte]

Came here after reading Of Mice and Men. Didn't know herons hunted snakes. Nice video.

[@rannajim]

Herons have a simple technique when it comes to overpowering their prey. They hold them just below the head and with a vicious shake sever the spinal cord. Usually, you can see the prey going completely limp and stop any form of resistance. That's when the Heron will actually swallow their kill

[@PlanetRockJesus]

God programmed the great blue heron to know which end was the head on its prey. My favorite bird ever. At Devil's Lake State Park in Wisconsin there is a huge nesting area in the top of some pines that you can view from above by climbing the bluff. Awesome.

[@irgendeinname9256]

They are really smart. In another video I saw a heron using bread as a bait to catch fish.

[@CoffeeMViralVs]

Badass bird indeed . This bird is like perfect predator in that territory .

[@jaimemeza7821]

snakes are scary. heron: hold my beer

[@MarcelloBranca]

That's a good spaghetti he got there

[@SCROOGE96]

Herons are ruthless!

[@RU-zm7wj]

Gee, what kind of lens were you using? it was like a telephoto or something.

[@gastonbell108]

I think it was a Canon.

[@jbouton2]

No, as stated in the video this was a spotting scope with an iPhone attached behind.

[@Marcfj]

Great work, Mr. Blue! I hate snakes.

[@scottjohnson1640]

Mmmmmm! Yummy! Such a delicious snake for lunch!

[@peacefrog929]

You need to get some serious help

[@RealSirMikay]

The snake was probably tired of hearing that heron's voice, so he decided to try and shut him up.

[@shrenikdodhia]

Superb capture.

[@sunspiral79]

One can see dinosaur dna in the blue heron

[@mrm8422]

Next thing on the menu for Mr heron is gonna be..... Hmmmm an Anakonda maybe

[@MAGNUMMASTER7]

Wouldn't surprise me at all lol

[@CHRISTIANNWO]

The tables would be turned on Mr Heron

[@duumahh]

Do those bird have teeth to kill it or did it just suffocate it in the water?

[@markmark1078]

Modern day terrydactyl-could see that bird eating a baby

[@philtymcnasty9994]

I wonder those birds can be brought over in Africa? We have too many snakes out there to be taken care of. Would Heron survive in West Africa’s hot climate?

[@scottjohnson1640]

Gulp! Mmmmmm. Nice tasty snake snack!

[@jholid6y]

This how Chinese ppl got the idea of chopsticks.

[@zahirmurji]

😅😅😅

[@xyz2121]

I wonder how much clamping force their beaks have.

[@peacenow42]

and hook-like "teeth" inside the bill?

[@1juanitosully]

20,000 lbs of crushing power; that's how grandpa was killed

[@juliasmith5267]

Thanks heaps. 💖

[@trent8002003]

I always wonder what if the snake is not fully dead and bites the bird in its esophagus? Does that ever happen?

[@ridingtherellzridingtherel5180]

Once they eat em the prey can't breathe inside of em

[@wentshow]

If the prey is struggling at all, the bird does more shaking and shifting of its grip until it gets the animal by the neck. A few hard shakes, and it's neck is broken. Though they might be twitching a bit, they're not up to fighting and biting when they're swallowed. For example, that snake was no longer struggling. It was just noodle when it was swallowed. Does the bird make a mistake now and then? Of course it can. But the nerves inside of its beak tells it whether the prey is still struggling. That's why the bird will pause in the middle of mauling its prey, waiting to see if it's still struggling.

[@shemreznaumanafzal8032]

Thank you so much @@wentshow your reply solves a question that's beeb riddling my mind for YEARSSSS!!!! 👍👍👍

[@wentshow]

@@shemreznaumanafzal8032 You're welcome. Oh, and you don't see it in this video, but heron's beak is pointed. Sometimes it'll impale its prey on its beak, especially when it catches rodents. Sometimes it'll put its prey down in seeming mercy just to stab it.

[@peacenow42]

@@ridingtherellzridingtherel5180 don't need to breathe to bite....

[@WaynesAdventure]

Excellent

[@baukejosh]

There is nothing scarier than a GB Heron.

[@expertfishingbd8451]

naturilly nice

[@sephirahisui]

Are great blue herons still an endangered species? It's been about 30 years since they taught us that in grade school...

[@jbouton2]

No they are actually quite widespread and not endangered at all.

[@alijaanali9242]

Amazing catching

[@adenfamily2535]

Amazing 👍

[@zahirmurji]

True dinosaur eats everything that moves..

[@theprehistorichubert9448]

Man!! You probably know nothing about dinosaurs if you think that they were swallowing everything that moves

[@zahirmurji]

the prehistoric HUBERT Elaborate please.

[@rivercarplife]

Herons are savage

[@xyz2121]

No more than people who eat meat.

[@rivercarplife]

x yz 😂 disagree Atleast they are dead 1st. Well in the main anyway.

[@peacenow42]

@@xyz2121 no more than the fish and insects and birds who die for the growing of grains and vegetables. You vegetarians and vegans just don't see the death so you think, I'm good.

[@clarkthesharkshow9944]

Looks like he carefully has to keep the possibly venomous snake at distance !!

[@ultimatemexicano3535]

Oh interesting capture! Smart of the Heron to eat it headfirst, it must be a hungry bird! At the end, it appears the snake possibly going down! Still, it looks like the potential prey could possibly turn around (or even bite!) inside the elastic throat/stomach? I would think the heron couldn't keep such a thing down okay and the frantic snake must be scrambling to escape such a fate?

[@Thebrothaisback]

You could not see that the snake was out?

[@peacenow42]

@@Thebrothaisback it can be very hard to tell when reptiles are dead, not that easy.

[@irgendeinname9256]

It's hard to tell if the snake was still alive or vital enough to defend itself. But I saw many videos of herons swallowing little mammals alive and even they had no chance to make any damage In the throat. Even though they were still moving like crazy

[@cju4300]

A good tasting snack... I mean snake.

[@rahmatefendi1329]

Good job heron

[@seanscanlon9067]

I think maybe the snake could have done with its own spotting scope perhaps!

[@ericgrosvenor67]

Good footage, these birds also have a diet consisting of field mice that are the size of a rat.

[@theophicen7850]

They also eat complete ducks. Look it up.

[@peacenow42]

See kids, ya gotta chew your food....

[@user-jw9zw7rq2k]

voice Great Horen

[@johnalfonzo4752]

En Venezuela la llamamos morena, muy sabrosa frita con arroz blanco y frijoles. Muy buena.

[@gateway4582]

Dont let your puppies or kittens run loose!

[@cessealbeach]

Blue Heron, he is AbadAZ, good job

[@dnaathiest537]

Finding head part it is great bcoz use the brain

[@user-yd8lr1fn2u]

👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@alexciocca4451]

I wonder if they make good pets

[@youtmeme]

They eat anything, fascinating

[@edmonddantes3640]

Uh....waiter!

[@osamanaguib81]

بالهنا والشفا

[@user-rs7xs2ti8u]

鳥真是蛇的剋星。蛇遇見鳥呀一條也逃不掉。

[@cimengyuuk]

Saya ingin lihat kalau ada kesempatan ke wetland di Florida,kalau di new Orleans sudah saya kunjungi 20 nevember 2022,mungkin tahun depan kalau badan masih sehat akan saya datangin,wetland di Florida, saya baru sampai pensacola dan destin saja, yang indah

[@rickymorganenglandengland6741]

Quadrat ne jiska Jo bhi khorak banaya hai woh use mil hi jata hai

[@pattiniamo10]

I don't believe an iphone + lens extender took this video , too high quality for that rig , this was probably shot with a real camera and a good lens

[@jbouton2]

Patti, spotting scopes have the ability to reach focal lengths over 4,000 mm lens equivalents something NO standard lens in the business is capable of coming anywhere near (typically the largest lens one can purchase is 600 mm, some offer 800 mm equivalents). You should look into it more. This is known is digiscoping and the results one can get can be phenomenal.

[@jbouton2]

follow to my page everything there is shot with a spotting scope and typically a phone.

[@adjeinyarko2571]

this heron is hudge

[@mubasharautos]

Good shringe

[@antoniocollie865]

Dam nature you scary

[@neeturana_91]

I kant belive

[@naturalreach4316]

Heron was confused 🤔🤔 how to eat but altimately...

[@MDRony-oi2pk]

O may got

[@WildlifeObsessed]

Leica Optics advert.

[@jbouton2]

more of a testimonial showing the power of the new extender, I've moved to Kowa now though and get mush better quality!

[@lhaviland8602]

"Dramatic struggle" lol. The heron was totally crushing the snake.

[@jbouton2]

I didn't say "dramatic" the original clip is over 5 minutes of the snake struggling though.

[@GlobalTubeTruth]

Black-crowned Night Heron & Great Egret Hunting Together. Check it out here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/nIWspZilecSMb7c

[@SalmanSamutie]

Sedapnya makan enak ya ..

[@GreenRC24]

Unlevel video.

[@paintriarchdave7977]

Herons eat like this cause if they eat live prey it shits in them when it dies. That's why they will rinse a mole or rat off like 10 times.

[@piyush00001]

Noodles for Bird.

[@pois3689]

Qui in Europa gli aironi stanno distruggendo l' habitat .

[@doktormcnasty]

Too shaky. Get the stabilizer from Leica to go with the lens maybe that will be better.

[@jbouton2]

Doktor, this is not a camera but an iPhone and it's attached to a spotting scope not a lens so no image stabilization available. Also, at this magnification this would be the equivalent of >2,500 mm lens, not including any of the digital zoom on the phone so MUCH greater focal lengths than any standard telephoto lens equivalents. Here is a more professional example a high quality digiscoping kit in action: kzbin.info/www/bejne/iJTFn3qno9msl7c

[@chirujason2844]

Few minutes later the heron is dead n snake comes out..

[@wentshow]

So, the heron kills its prey through extreme, late-onset, shaken-baby syndrome.

[@RU-zm7wj]

Inappropriate.

[@wentshow]

@@RU-zm7wj Pity, it's the closest analogy I could come up with. Nothing else describes it. "Shakes it until its spine breaks." If people knew there was an animal that took approach with its prey, they'd probably be much more careful about shaking their kids.

[@abhaypradhan2007]

Good clearity

[@peacenow42]

@@abhaypradhan2007 but still creeeepy.

[@anthonydesroches785]

Actually he was lucky. I seen some go down alive

[@ALEXANDER_AAQUIB]

ढोरिया सांप हो रे भाय

[@AmurTube]

He drowned the snake

[@TheSilverSurfer1949]

Don't herons look evil mothers with their beady eyes.

[@danmaltby3271]

Spaghetti anyone

[@shemashema8523]

ক

[@CharlesCammock]

Weak ass snake can't even defend itself

[@Mbarism38]

🤮🤮