Great Blue Herons are superb predators and impressive birds. They stand about four feet tall. A Texas game warden was confronted with a difficult Blue Heron rescue. He solved it with a .22 rifle. From texas.gov:
A Llano County game warden had to resort to extreme measures in order to rescue an injured great blue heron stuck in a tree in the Kingsland area. Upon arrival, the warden quickly realized he faced a significant challenge as the heron was hanging from a limb by his right wing approximately 40 feet up in the air. Climbing up to the bird was ruled out after the warden determined the tree could not support his weight. Plan B was scratched after the Kingsland Fire Department explained they didn’t have a 40-foot ladder available. The warden then tried to dislodge the bird using several lengths of PVC pipe fashioned together, but that, too, was ineffective. That’s when he employed a last resort option. Using a .22 rifle and his sharpshooting skills, the warden shot the limb the heron was hanging from enough times that the limb broke, allowing the heron to fall through the tree where it was safely caught and transported to an awaiting wildlife rehabilitator.This reminds me of a similar rescue that was done by a private party after all the government agencies found themselves to be bound up by red tape. In that case in Minnesota, the rescue was of a Bald Eagle.
It wasn't an easy shot. It was actually about 150 shots. But who needs more than seven, right? The wind was moving the branches, there was little clearance between the eagle and the branch. It took perseverance and marksmanship, but Jason was up to the task. He finally shot through the branch, about two inches in diameter, and the eagle fell from its entangling, deadly predicament. It was taken to the Raptor Center. They named the eagle Freedom, and the Center says it will make it.
Jason Galvin used a Ruger 10-22. We do not know what rifle the unnamed Texas game warden used.
Both instances show that firearms are used to project force at a distance, not just to kill.
©2017 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice and link are included.
Gun Watch
I had a run in with a large bird up river near Needles. I had just caught a large trout when out from under a near by tree, what appeared to be some kind of heron or pelican rushed out and scooped up my catch. I had to get it away from the bird because of the fish hook. He finally let go. I took the hook out and tossed the fish to the bird. He scooped it up and ran back under the tree.
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