On June 22, 2018, I visited Wildlife Pond at Beaver Brook Reservation in Hollis, NH. It's a beautiful place, partially built by man, but mostly by beavers. The Beaver Brook Association is draining the Pond so they can fix a culvert, so it's attracting scavengers. I typically will see a great-blue heron at this pond, but, now I'll often see at least three of them.
On this day, one great-blue heron found a horn pout in the shallow puddles that remain. It was probably an easy catch. It stood, trying to figure out what to do with this fish while another heron stood nearby, looking the other way. The first heron put the fish down, most likely to stab at it in order to kill it. That's when it happened; the second heron flew in fast, and, after a brief tussle of feathers, the second heron stole the fish off the ground and ran, then flew off, about thirty yards away, while the first heron looked on, seemingly stunned.
While a mother wood duck with one of its young looked on, the perpetrator slammed the fish down to the ground several times, and each time the horn pout wriggled just a little bit less. It appeared to be attempting to swallow the fish, but catfish have spines that they can expand when they're still alive. And, they're notoriously hard to kill. So, if this heron attempted to swallow this fish alive, it would have torn its throat and stomach. Instead it set the fish down and seemed to be pecking randomly at it.
I wondered, did the first heron have the last laugh? Did it set the fish down knowing that it was just too difficult to eat? Was it fine with the second heron stealing it away? It did stand nearby as the perpetrator struggled; perhaps giggling a bit?
Here's the scene caught on film:
