Heron Kills 4 Gophers in a Row; Eats Only 2

bukaymedia.com Ever wonder why fish-eating herons and egrets are often seen standing in fields? This video provides some clues. This Great Blue Heron caught and killed four gophers in a row without a miss! Two gophers were swallowed and two were left uneaten. The first gopher was quite large and took some effort and lubrication from a water puddle to swallow. Herons have been known to choke to death while trying to swallow large prey, but not this time. A few days earlier, I was fortunate to film a much smaller sized egret catching a large gopher and struggling for about 9 minutes to swallow it! This video is at • Amazing Egret Struggle... . I was amazed that the egret's skinny neck could eventually stretch enough to pass the large gopher!
I was surprised to see the heron continue to hunt and kill more gophers than it ate. I suspect that it enjoyed hunting for fun as well as for food. I filmed the heron for about 90 minutes in the late afternoon. I don't know how many gophers the heron may have caught before I arrived at the scene.
The heron struck the gophers so hard that they appeared to die very quickly after the first blow. Gopher #4 was struck only once; and then it was quickly dropped to the ground. The heron watched it for about 15 minutes, as if to see if it moved, and then walked away without eating the dead gopher. The heron appeared to continue to hunt for more gophers as darkness fell. I got cold and went home.
This heron could easily get a job in backyards plagued with gophers!
I filmed this event on March 17, 2012 at Miller Knox Regional Park in Pt. Richmond, CA, along the San Francisco Bay Trail after several days of heavy rains. The gophers on this fateful day may have been more vulnerable than usual due to partial flooding of their burrows after the recent rains. I used a Panasonic GH2 camera to capture the footage.
If you have issues with gophers damaging your garden or landscape, don't you wish you could rent a Great Blue Heron like this one for a few days?
I recently found this amazing video of a falcon dive-bombing and killing a Great Blue Heron--far more than it could eat! Check it out at • Video . The very end of the video shows the falcon feeding on the heron close-up.
Here is a video I made about a gopher that DID get away: • Dog Acts Like Ostrich

[@kenparnell4297]

Well, when you eat two gophers, you have to make sure you don't leave witnesses.

[@carolbutler9312]

lol

[@danaphanous]

smart heron is poisoning the water puddle with a dead gopher maybe? Will he eat the animals that die drinking there later?

[@nathanielreid4967]

hhahahhaaah

[@Chief_5]

Saving some for later. Or that heron just doesn’t like gophers.

[@decadantdog4444]

If I ate two gophers I'd lose my appetite too!

[@WhyMe432532]

What a lovely, considerate animal. He only eats 2 and leaves 2 for some other hungry bird. So sweet of him.

[@akarpowicz]

Great production values. Very enjoyable film. That last close up of a corpse was a vole. Herons eat a lot more voles than gophers, because voles run around on the surface in tunnels they make through the grass. Especially after heavy rain of course, voles spend even more time at the surface. I used to work at a facility in the middle of 200 acres of grazing pasture, including a large reservoir, and eucalyptus and cypress trees for roosting. It is blue heron paradise. The herons would just wander around picking up frogs, snakes, rodents. There was also a bob cat who came through every day about an hour before sunset picking off voles like they were sliders at happy hour. There were also coyotes and foxes enjoying the smorgasbord, but they did not come close to the "human area" like the herons and bobcats. There were so many voles, that they would run across the parking lot at all hours to feed on the little lawn in the parking lot. Rabbits too - we never mowed the lawn, the grass was always 1/2 inch high. The rodents knew it was much safer to eat next to the building, inside the chainlink fence. Then we got two cats. They cleaned up the voles and rabbits near the building, they even killed enough mice that there were few mice indoors. We had to start mowing the lawn!

[@StanslaMichael]

Damn that music made it a serial murderer. Otherwise it was just catching breakfast lunch dinner and a bed time snack in a row.

[@leob4403]

It is a serial murderer, or do you mean only humans can be murderers?

[@bobbillyofficial9686]

Your spot-on filming, added suspenseful music, and the killer instinct of the bird itself made for an excellent documentary-style short film. I was engaged the entire time! Bravo

[@STARKILLER15100]

Did he just dunk the gopher in water like its a bbq sauce dip.

[@enochianwolf]

+STARKILLER15100 he got the 4 pack it comes w/ free packet of sauce

[@STARKILLER15100]

+Lazarus lol

[@grahamgulker9803]

Lazarus you really like blue hearons dont you. ive seen you on all if the hearon videos ive watched

[@MassDynamic]

lmao. granted it didnt add much flavor.

[@enochianwolf]

Graham Gulker they are an Apex predator. in my opinion, one of the most elegant and beautiful creatures on the planet. They remind me so much of the lineage from dinosaur to bird. It seems to me as if they have kept a lot of what they used to be through the aeons. thanks for the comment :)

[@joseaechev]

Herons are mean, they eat ducklings too. That said, I would give anything to have one visit my gopher infested back yard.

[@mbukay]

Yup! They would probably eat any living bird, mammal, amphibian, or reptile that they could swallow. Surely, one would help with your back yard gopher issues!

[@bufordt.justice7777]

A bird is mean?

[@jderrickson4597]

Not mean...its a predator,would you call a lion mean? Or an alligator? No right? Exactly

[@dingus_doofus]

@@mbukay Makes you glad there aren't any Heron around huge enough to swallow humans. Then again we would've hunted them to extinction in return, so...

[@leonardolopez2849]

@@bufordt.justice7777 yes they are

[@samfcarvalho]

Haha i really appreciate the editors sense of humor and attention to detail

[@mbukay]

+Samuel Carvalho Thanks!

[@butterw55]

Gophers need to start pickup up on the musical cues here.

[@akaakaakaak5779]

herons, storks and anything in this family are absolutely horrifying birds

[@simonphoenix3789]

birds in general are pretty creepy, outside of seed eating birds like parrots.

[@LJG907]

Excellent capture by both you and the heron !!

[@mbukay]

The Heron may have eaten more gophers before I caught up with it around 3 p.m. and started filming.

[@jbartas]

Can I get this Heron to visit my yard?

[@mbukay]

I understand that some local humane societies will rent out the ones that they get that can't fly...... just kidding.

[@mbukay]

Just build a koi Pond!

[@trishinarobinson7065]

yes

[@Astaticembrace]

Michael Bukay My parents have built a Koi pond and yes...I can confirm this will attract Herons. I have seen a Blue Heron on 2 separate occasions outside the window, pretty cool actually, when they don't eat your Koi.

[@phillyflash43]

I didn't know gophers could o.d. on heroin...

[@mbukay]

+phillyflash43 Funny!

[@SSmith-fm9kg]

Good one!

[@alchemist889]

No kill is wasted in nature... whether the predator consumes the prey, or leaves it for another animal - or even microbes - it'll be recycled before long.

[@mbukay]

That's so true! In nature, nothing in nature is wasted. Great observation! Mike

[@DacterGreenThumb]

Norman Wells Not in today's society! An easy example is the 'Shark Fin Soup' fiasco.Damn Shame

[@melvinjansen2338]

alchemist89 that means we humans can continue to beat eachothers faces in

[@__1201]

Expialajoseph Humans are an exception to the rule as we are a wasteful species.

[@divingstag]

If that were true we wouldn't have any fossils

[@javierey]

Bill Murray could've used this guy in Caddyshack

[@dcacnc]

really enjoyed that dramatic back round music good work :)

[@laurencetan6396]

Heron: its day 70 and they still think im a duck 0:15

[@ardentskies]

Those are geese

[@StoutShako]

And people honestly think dinosaurs would be less scary with feathers. They've obviously never seen a heron hunt. Or been chased by a fucking goose.

[@GHOSTbirdnatureLOVER]

Have you ever read up on the Elephant Bird? It's said to have survived possibly into the 1500s. It's MASSIVE. I wonder what the people who saw them thought.

[@UsingGorillaLogic]

DOUBLE KILL, TRIPLE KILL, QU-QU-QUADRA KILL

[@MassDynamic]

was gonna ace the whole team if it kept going. XD

[@niajef]

no, its ultra kill

[@zimbabwe_twinnedwithanfield]

Pachy The Pirate wipe out !!!!

[@FireBomberBassist]

''She's hunting for sport!''

[@mbukay]

***** I think so! Like a non-hungry cat that chases birds.

[@LightStreak567]

+FR0ZENP0NDproduction "Everyone... remain... calm..."

[@MybeautifulandamazingPrincess]

clever girl

[@larrylink99]

I feel the hunting instinct is strong, so even if heron just ate it will continue to hunt since it may not be successful next time. Could also be something where the hunting is easy but heron does not like eating gophers, so may hunt to get food but more of backup , note leaving gopher 3 in pool, maybe planned to come back, just my opinion

[@leob4403]

@@mbukay you wouldn't know if the cat is hungry or not though. A lot of cats are only fed dry kibble which is severely lacking in nutritional value. They will fill themselves up on it (but some cats refuse to eat the junk) but it makes them unhealthy in the long run

[@Rawflcounsel76]

OMG, I FN loved your video almost die laughing every time the music started and the startling clink at the time it was caught

[@koenvaniersel8713]

POV: This came up in your recommended 7 years later

[@resonatorneuronium5324]

I forgot videos had expiry dates you idiot

[@spork6423]

I feel like I’m watching some sort of horror movie with this music in the background😂

[@mosshark]

Their kill ratio is amazing.. and they also appear to hunt for sport.

[@jeffjensen8]

Not eating prey doesn't indicate they hunt for sport, but, perhaps they do. Wild animals have many reasons to not eat - sickness and disease, for instance

[@tommyodonovan3883]

Everything needs a hobby.

[@Uncagethewild]

@Brandon S ...Yes you are right ✅

[@WobblesandBean]

Many animals do. Cats, dogs, and rats are the biggest causes for decimating wildlife. They simply enjoy killing for the sake of it.

[@joseppi4cinqua]

@@jeffjensen8 yeah, because herons herons go to medical school before they leave the best. Duh

[@CherryPauper]

LOL I thought that after "the next morning," you were going to show a field full of dead gophers.

[@awesomepixie419]

OMG me too!!

[@mbukay]

+Da'San Ardis Interesting thought!

[@mbukay]

On my watch for this video the Heron was a 100% accurate at getting his gophers.

[@Garanon5]

one shot, one kill.

[@stephenjones6030]

I was going to say....I could NEVER eat 4 gophers in one sitting.

[@errolflynn6150]

As a child of 9 to 12 years of age I would catch gophers by hand. My tactic was similar to that of the heron. You’ll notice how the heron keeps it’s head stationary while it’s body moves closer and then the head quickly darts forward for the attack. I would do the same, wait at the hole, when the gopher appeared I would keep my hand stationary while I slowly moved my body closer. This gives the ability to have a greater reach without moving the hand closer and scaring off the gopher. It would work the same in catching frogs. Good memories.

[@frankkolton1780]

I hope this video helps dispel the myth that animals only kill to eat, at least that's the oft repeated myth of graduates from the Disney School of Wildlife Biology.

[@dphilp75]

I thought EXACTLY the same thing when I was watching it.

[@TommyBahamy]

Without a sense of "limited supply", it's probably just natural instinct to hunt when it sees prey...probably an evolutionarily-developed trait of "practice makes perfect" in which those who hunt whenever possible become in the most skilled hunters and pass on those same instincts

[@TheFawfulfan]

Why hasn't there been a Heron Pokemon yet? Unless there's one that I'm overlooking, I have not seen one as of today.

[@mbukay]

Fawful theLEGO Good idea! Is there some way this can be suggested?

[@ICARUS_I]

The closest thing would be Swanna

[@wowthatsawesome2762]

Dugtrio

[@trishinarobinson7065]

so what you care

[@trishinarobinson7065]

go away

[@noahway13]

Imagine having to eat your meal by swallowing it whole... fur, feathers, dirt, etc.

[@Kafari]

and to regard that experience as the equivalent of me or you eating lasagna! A different kind of consciousness and way of being for sure lol

[@john__lemon]

It shows through in the large birds, that the dinosaur lineage is still strong with avians.

[@themaik101]

JR S. fucking moron, birds are a theropod dinosaur.

[@pwtato951]

I know, right! I always think of Jack Horner's "chickenosaurus" project, and wonder what this bird would look like with teeth, claws, and a tail. In my opinion, that's the closest we can get to having a real velociraptor or deinonychus at the moment.

[@adrianaaguilar6308]

birds are dinosaurs

[@mistys7489]

My children and I just studied about pocket gophers in the Burgess Animal book. Last year we studied about the Heron in the Burgess Bird Book. We really enjoyed watching this video. I thought the music was especially fun. The children couldn't quite decide whether to be sad for the gopher or happy for the heron. Thank you for sharing!

[@LamontCranston]

"Didn't see that coming!" - Gopher

[@spiffdandy77]

Very interesting adaptation. As a kid I remember them only in swamp, slough's, and river banks. Now I always see them in farmers fields, esp in Autumn and Winter. I witnessed one capturing and promptly eating a field mouse.

[@ToutCQJM]

Animal rights people must be pissed at this bird.

[@veronicam2942]

😂

[@jeffjensen8]

Goph-fur is murder!

[@rakifeather3428]

Heron is lust for murder

[@DontCloudMe]

Those gophers may have been sick. But that music editing was beautiful. Well done.

[@starn3582]

I need a Heron just like this one in my backyard!!! I like the spooky music too lol.

[@vickybia]

This is by far the best KZbin video I have ever seen. Kudos.

[@mbukay]

Thanks for your generous complement! I think you might also enjoy this one of an egret struggling to swallow a gopher: kzbin.info/www/bejne/e6LTfJmVhb2aoKs Mike

[@mbukay]

Thanks!

[@ferretsage8928]

Ah, the call of the ancient velociraptor reptile ancestors, who also hunted... for sport, is strong in this one .

[@mbukay]

Ferret Sage The sport IS with this one!

[@trucid2]

I wouldn't say the heron is hunting for fun. It likely has an instinct to hunt, but once it catches gophers 3 and 4 it realizes it's not hungry and doesn't eat them.

[@alan30189]

Bill Murry's character needed one of these in Caddyshack. Do a search for "Caddyshack montage (edited)".... that movie was sofunny.

[@mbukay]

+alan30189 I agree.

[@samizdatbroadcasts7654]

This Heron must think like a gopher. And, if possible, look like one.

[@tommyodonovan3883]

The making of CS Documentary was as good as the movie.

[@MrMackanno]

Music choice deserves an Oscar nomination.

[@RoboTekno]

Fascinating. Thanks for uploading. Sometimes I forget animals seem to hunt for sport as well.

[@mbukay]

+RoboTekno Consider the play of cats... and dogs chasing balls and being delighted by squeaky chewy toys. Many of our pets have converted hunting into play!

[@slamminpamn]

1:15 when you try to eat too much bread at once and are pretty sure these are your final moments.

[@mbukay]

Maybe not enough fish; but I think this bird had a liking for hunting the rodents even after it had enough to eat! It would be interesting to put a fish and a gopher side by side and see which one it would prefer. Thanks for watching!

[@datdudecee6298]

Everyone: Oh YAAY!! Spring is coming early this ye.... Heron: **GULP** Me: Nevermind

[@KronicShade]

I wonder if he's really hunting for fun, or if he realizes he was having a good day and planned on saving the other golfers for later

[@bufordt.justice7777]

Herons don’t eat golfers.

[@starguy2718]

​@@bufordt.justice7777 Not *yet* anyway.

[@JeriDro]

I live on a canal on the Texas coast and there is one great blue heron that has lived here for years. in the middle of the night I can hear and see him fly down the canal from my window. it's amazing how big they are

[@erikandersson1647]

Hahaha, he goes and get's himself another one, before the last one has had time to finish drowning in his stomach acid. lol This makes me glad Dino's are extinct. A T-rex waiting patiently for you to stick your face out the front door. Then he proceeds to use your pool to help wash you down!

[@Raison_d-etre]

Dinosaurs are not extinct. Non-avian dinosaurs are extinct. You just watched an avian dinosaur.

[@vodka2432]

Watching this with that music, it was like a peek into the age of dinosaurs, that’s how scary that bird looks while hunting.

[@805fillmore7]

Someones got the munchies.

[@treewalker1070]

This is such a cool video, I discovered it a couple years ago. Today I saw a Great Egret (white heron about the same size as Great Blue Heron) hunting in a grassy field, and got some photographs of it catching and swallowing a large rodent. I went online to identify the prey (gopher or mole) and discovered it was a mole. And, being inspired by this event to take another look at your video, I realized that the animal getting eaten by the heron in your video is also a mole, not a gopher. Check it out -- fur color, naked vs hairy legs, etc. Not that it matters, I'm mainly posting to commemorate the fact that today I witnessed the same thing. Oh, and I also saw the egret swallow a small snake.

[@moek8924]

Very Very Very good music laying with really good filming. Gotta say, if you made this video, you've got good talent there.

[@mbukay]

Thanks Moe, some talent and love of nature certainly. However I'm blown away by the amount of luck I had in being president to watch this amazing bird kill four gophers in a row!

[@dhog41]

Proof positive that nature can, indeed, be quite dramatic. What a wicked , intelligent bird. Fantastic, natural form of pest control.

[@mbukay]

Nature and natural selection is so incredible!

[@jakejones5736]

Yeah right. Gophers don't just die instantly.

[@mbukay]

Jake Jones With a broken neck, I don't think they felt too much pain--especially when compared to a bird or mouse caught by a cat.

[@mbukay]

***** This one didn't shake its prey! And it seemed to use dipping it into water to ensure its death (as well as lubricate the gulp). Barneby, what kind of prey was it that you observed a heron shaking?

[@morenznmurdock]

Michael Bukay Youre all wrong he was right when he said it was drinking water to wash it down and these gophers did die instantly, just like a crane or other birds of prey these type of birds use their long sharp beak to impale their prey even though it kinda looked like he was just picking it up, i mean why else would it be jabbing its head so quickly.. duhh.

[@Naomi1]

He isn't hunting for fun. He senses if the prey is sick or healthy, if it is sick - he will not eat.

[@buffoonustroglodytus4688]

Amazing footage. Well done!

[@mbukay]

+Sir Gus the Mighty Thanks! I was lucky to be their at the right time.

[@CaryBassDeschenes]

Saw a heron in a field nearby today in the Richmond Hills and wondered what it was hunting. Asked Bing "Do herons eat gophers?" and imagine my surprise when this video turned up, and here in my own city!

[@artisansportsman8950]

great sound effects nice video .

[@mbukay]

artisansportsman Glad you enjoyed it.

[@carmelpule6954]

I admire the manner in which the heron first lowers its body keeping the head high as if the he is tightening the tension in the bow before he launches the arrow ( beak). I do not think this Heron is hunting for fun, but to hone his skills for the future when the prey is faster and more difficult to catch. Brilliant Video.

[@mbukay]

+Carmel Pule' You may be right about the heron honing is't skills. I'm glad you enjoyed the video.

[@attananightshadow]

that heron is boss.

[@mbukay]

The situation was unusual in that the ground was saturated after several days of heavy rain which I believe caused the gophers to hang out closer to the ground level. I have watched herons try to catch gophers and they miss a lot under normal conditions.

[@dayancarrillo9450]

Heron boss lol

[@RobertoFoltran]

No teeth; No arms; No claws. Evolution, you did a good job.

[@LyricalXNote]

HERON FOR HIRE

[@mbukay]

I don't think there would be any trouble renting these guys out!

[@1empyre1life]

That heron is a seasoned pro. Lethal first strike every time. The animal kingdom is aware of the importance of practice. If you fail to kill the wrong animal, you could lose a critical meal, or worse... Nicely done video.

[@robn.7426]

The music was awesome with this video. Great job.

[@map09513]

Michael loved the "music" chosen . . . Unbelievable! Never knew Herons chose Gophers as their prey. We have Herons on Lake Como here in the Smyrna area!

[@mbukay]

Hi MaryAnn! Good to hear from you. Whenever you see Herons in a fields or away from water, there is a good chance that they are hunting gophers, lizards, mice, or snakes. All the best to you!

[@Quetzachapin]

You could not have picked a better music before the strike.

[@mohmmedameer4065]

If there was a 5th gopher their then he must have died out of anxiety. "Come death embrace me"

[@spiderjump]

maybe gophers 3 and 4 had some disease?

[@mildredwashington1757]

I was thinking that too

[@journeyquest1]

Not enough meat on the bones.

[@mbukay]

I guess that is possible. That was filmed in 2012. Recently in 2019 I noticed that there are far fewer gophers in this area. Maybe a disease in addition to the herons reduced their population.

[@paulinalagudi8939]

Wow! Those gophers didn't stand a shot! Speaking of shot, I am thoroughly impressed with the footage you shot, Michael!

[@mbukay]

Thank you! I love hanging out in nature and occasionally getting some interesting footage.

[@seanoleary2348]

modern dinosaur..

[@mbukay]

Sean O'Leary Yup! And every bit an awesome predator!

[@tylerlangley1786]

The heron didn't kill for fun. He worked for the golf club.

[@doktorstolat]

love the music !

[@mbukay]

Thanks, Some people think the music was over the top. You can't please everybody. I was thinking of what Alfred Hitchcock might do if he were the producer. This music was a fun experiment!

[@TheGritherr]

@@mbukay Six years later it's still fresh!

[@mbukay]

@@TheGritherr Thanks! Seems like dinosaurs are always in style!

[@ceenote969]

"Do you know what gophers can do to a golf course!!!!!!!?????" ~~~ Judge Smails

[@matthewnegre8736]

Perhaps the heron was feeling rather full on the third gopher, and, after the fourth, decided he just really isn't hungry anymore. Kind of like when you're hungry and you go to a buffet, and after a while you try to continue to eat, but you're full and it's not as appetizing anymore.

[@MrWils25]

“Au revoir, gopher”

[@melaniehiggins1710]

Very cool video, music made it even more compelling. Thanks! The No. 1 question is where was that heron in Caddyshack?

[@harshabiliangady3211]

“This quality of hunting for fun” is a very human trait. Wild animals stop hunting once they have had their fill.

[@stacase]

I watched a Great Blue scarf down a medium size fish yesterday. I didn't know they did gophers. Thanks for a great video.

[@acegamestv]

Why are they motionless and limp when picked up? Is it being impaled by its bill or whatever you call that? I expected this to be much different.

[@mbukay]

The experience was not what I expected either! Four for four in one session!

[@Vigyananand104]

Herons seem to have appetite (by sight, not by taste as they swallow-whole everything they catch!) Too many gophers is like "WOT? A burger all the time? No!"

[@ohger1]

My buddy Carl used to work at Bushwood Country Club, and he had a gopher he couldn't catch. Ended up blowing up half the course with dynamite and still didn't get him. Of course, he was a pothead..

[@GodOfVictory501]

The video title is like a newspaper headline on a really slow news day.

[@dewinmoonl]

I've also seen lesser herons hunting on top of trimmed bushes for insects. It seems they're far more adaptive to non-swamp based environments than they appeared.

[@mbukay]

Yes! And Egrets are very similar. I've seen them on dry California hills in the summertime hunting lizards and snakes. The combination of extreme patience, precision targeting, variety of food sources, and deadly force is extremely adaptive.They aren't without predators such as Peregrine falcons. Thanks for your comment.

[@erikandersson1647]

It's what happens when you leave your Oreo half-soaking in milk unattended; someone else comes and eats it before you get back to claim your soggy reward.

[@shmezyabby]

watched a heron hunt a gopher today in the golden gate park. they are such interesting birds. he did the same thing with dipping it in the water.

[@Elthenar]

Can you see dinosaur ancestry at work here. Picture a velociraptor standing there.

[@davecarveswood2645]

If they were 12 feet tall, there would alot less people around. Also, I love the music score

[@Uncagethewild]

Fantastic video....Thank you for sharing. Moment like this actually make us feel how raw and real natural world is....

[@WobblesandBean]

No one in their right mind would ever think of vermin as "cute". I'm definitely on Team Heron, lol

[@bertdutchie]

it's unbelievable how quickly they strike

[@OBNOXIOUSUSERNAME]

The part that gets me about these animals that eat other animals whole, is they are eating any poop that might be lodged inside of the prey. The thought of poop in my stomach grosses me out.

[@JustEvan7]

"The heron stood for fifteen minutes waiting for other gophers to loot their fallen comrade but to no avail"

[@f2mel2]

I dig the sound track. Nice use building up suspense.

[@StoicForce]

Excellent footage, but I couldn't help but think of FilmCow's 'Ghost House' series when I was listening to the music.

[@The__Outlaw]

I Love the suspenseful score as The Mighty Blue Herring stalks and ATTACKS a horde of oblivious gophers.

[@adenstewart1235]

I watched a heron eating Richardson's ground squirrels in Alberta and they're even bigger than a pocket gopher. No one would believe me. I feel vindicated.

[@TheMythsmith]

That background music every time the Heron strikes 😆