Gus

One of the critters in care this summer kept me laughing and also on my toes.

A nestling Great Blue heron was found on the ground near Asubpeeschoseewagong First Nation. Once a nestling heron falls from its nest high in the tree, it will not survive. Adults do not feed them on the ground and this one was far from self feeding or flying. Fortunately, a kindhearted person found it and delivered it to my foster custodian. Erika stabilized it and it was decided since I had a pond in my front yard loaded with minnows, it would stay with me. I was informed at that time that it had been named Gus. I don’t often retain names for my patients unless they have a very definite personality. And Gus did.

Initially, Gus just needed a substitute nest lined with straw. His method of defecation kept the nest clean, but could sully anything within ‘shooting’ distance, including me. His appetite was unbelievable. Thankfully, there was a bumper crop of minnows in the pond. He was not shy about begging (screeching) for food and anything that passed by…deer, dog, human, large shadow…the rattling kak kak kak kak kak would start. One night he even scared off a bear which had been snooping around the deck where his nest was.

It wasn’t long before he needed more space as his wing feathers started to grow. He needed room to flap. I set up a large dog run complete with a deep tub of water for him to fish from. He was very good at catching minnows within a few weeks of being in care, and could swallow small pike up to 10 inches in length. An unfortunate chipmunk learned too late that he ate more than fish.

Once the flight feathers had hardened and less likely to be damaged, I opened the pen and let him explore the pond and lawn for food. Grasshoppers were plentiful and great sport for him. And frogs and snakes became much less plentiful after his forages.

Despite being able to feed himself, the sight of me in the yard would set off a rattling call and he would gallop towards me. I took to carrying a towel with me when I was out doing chores to ward off his stabs and pokes which could cause considerable damage to flesh and eyes.

When Gus saw me in the yard, he would come a running!

When he was flightless, I could hear him coming and prepare to protect myself from his jabs, but once he started flying the game changed. One minute he would be feeding on the other side of the pond, next he would be beside me checking for food.

It took a few attempts at begging from me without success, for Gus to realize he was either catching his own dinner, or eating the minnows I would leave in his tub. He still flew back to the enclosure every night and I locked him in.

I observed his behavior when an eagle would fly over or land in the trees near the pond and was happy to see he had natural instinct and would shrink down into the sedge and sneak into thicker cover. When the foxes hunted the shore, he would fly out to the old beaver house surrounded by deep water.

Around the first week in August, he would take off over the trees and be gone most the day and night. Most mornings, I would either see or hear him fly in and would leave a meal for him. But it was obvious Gus was now a fully fledged Great Blue Heron and capable of thriving in the wild.