Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Herons carry and drop things

It would be my guess that herons are less successful fishing in muddy ponds? Most of the time I scare the local GB heron off my clear pond, although I do see tracks around the edges of the muddy ones.

Edit: changed thread title.

I now have proof that herons carry and drop things. I just personally witnessed it about 20 minutes ago. I came up from below between the ponds, and startled a GBH on the west side of the west pond. It took off to the north over the hayfield just east of the thick treeline that averages about 30 feet tall on the west side of the hayfield, then the treeline turns east about 400 plus feet north of the pond.

The heron couldn't get enough altitude to get over the treeline, as it was only flying about 15 feet high. When it was about 300 feet from me, it dropped a sizeable snake. I attempted to retrieve the snake, but it must have crawled into the thick grass of the hayfield that was cut last month. After it dropped the snake, the heron easily rose up and cleared the treeline.

The snake could just have easily been a fish, in my opinion.

Thanks for sharing your observation! No doubt herons do carry live fish and drop them into ponds, at least once in a while. If there are lots of herons in the vicinity, the odds go up.

I guess the only remedy is to get a pond stocked before the herons do. It's harder for introduced fish to get established if something else is already there.

Twice I've driven up on GBH with larger CNBG in their mouths, and they dropped them in flight. One, I retrieved and he swam away when I put him back in the pond. I couldn't find the other one. Both GBH were still in the water, and my WAG is that both times, the GBH didn't have time to drop and swallow the fish head first.

John,I saw a GBH at my pond for the first time the other day.I hope he wasn't stocking anything in my pond.lol!
A little over a month a go I was at the pond and I saw a Hawk take off from the hill above the pond,and it had a pretty good size snake in it's claws.It keeped flying in circles going higher and higher, probably a few hundred feet.It was pretty cool to see.

I guess GBH cannot lift much weight and still fly well enough to get over trees. It's probably not just humans that startle them and cause them to fly away. Dogs, coyotes, and livestock could also startle them.

Bob, he was likely stocking bullheads or green sunfish. LOL.

John,I'm sure it would be bullheads.I know there is a pond less than a half mile from it that has bullhead,not sure about the green sunfish but it probably has that too.lol!