Man's Love Of Animals

The mighty Blue Heron in a staring contest.

My neighbor Ken has fed this blue heron for 5 years, now. He makes a home of their yard. Three years ago, he came in for the day with a large, nasty hook snared in his neck, partially exposed, partially buried.

Ken told me that the bird wouldn't let you try to remove it, and the wound was severe enough that he would have slowly died.


Luckily, this blue was smart enough to sense bird lovers in Ken and his wife, who hand-fed the heron for a year straight, every day. He told me that the bird's skin and feathers grew over the hook, and he behaves like any other blue heron to this day. Only a slight hump in his neck belies the injury.