My wife and I were at Prairie Oaks Metro Park in Mid Ohio at sunrise this morning.

I saw something I’ve never witnessed before and I have photographic evidence. We watched a Great Blue Heron stalking and eating baby muskrats.

The heron would grab a muskrat baby and bring it to the pond, after drowning it, he would swallow it whole. I know that heron will only take fish they can swallow whole. I’ve also seen them take big bullfrogs, but, I’ve never seen one take rodents before.

Here is the proof…

I’ll be keeping these images in my catalog. They are evidence of this unexpected behavior, but I am sure they will never be considered wildlife art.

So much of science is based on observation. I don’t know if this has ever been documented before, but it is now.