Participant Photo: Great Blue Heron on long lunch hour

In April, garter snakes start sunning after a long cold winter. The Herons take advantage of the slinky bounty as they walk the shorelines, This heron caught a big garter snake that was extra long. I watched for about 15 minutes as the heron struggled to uncoil and stop the snake from wrapping around its bill. He would slap it against the water to try to stun the snake, Eventually he succeeded and swallowed the entire snake. It was a ‘long’ lunch hour.