Well, that’s certainly one way to get rid of the rodents in New York.
Shocking footage has captured a hungry heron swallowing a massive rat in one fell swoop in Central Park.
The remarkable clip was shot by David Barrett, founder of Manhattan Bird Alert, who spotted the incident – which shows the bird killing the rodent before eating it whole – on Sunday morning.
Barrett then shared the video on his Manhattan Bird Alert Twitter account and wrote: “Great blue herons eat plenty of fish, but they won’t pass up a meaty and filling New York City rat—this morning at the Central Park Pond.”
He added that it took the bird “only a few seconds to lift the rat, once killed, out of the water and swallow it.”
It took the Great Blue Heron only a few seconds to lift the rat, once killed, out of the water and swallow it—this morning at the Central Park Pond. pic.twitter.com/E4Vx0ya8od
— Manhattan Bird Alert (@BirdCentralPark) September 5, 2021
Since then, the clip has been viewed nearly 80,000 times with people sharing their thoughts on the heron’s rat snack.
Some praised the heron for its small contribution to ridding the city of rats – with many recommending more herons should be used to help combat the problem.
We need more herons in NYC! https://t.co/aA9YysUp3H
— LAURA (@lauraREAgent) September 6, 2021
This bird doing the lord's work getting rid of rats
— Isaac (@IsaacOpedal) September 6, 2021
That bird should run for office https://t.co/y8enoURgyW
— Brad Gould (@badbradgould) September 6, 2021
Of all the Manhattan Bird Alerts, this might be the most Manhattan. https://t.co/zj1nkl0k58
— Alexandra Alter (@xanalter) September 6, 2021
Just so impressed by the pure NYC spirit of this gorgeous bird https://t.co/iOWiBxdeWi
— Amanda Katz (@katzish) September 6, 2021
They should unleash Great Blue Herons into the subway system https://t.co/pd7OiqP76o
— Andrew Schecher (@REAndrewFL) September 5, 2021
New York should breed a bunch of Blue Herons to take care of the city’s rat problem https://t.co/AAJ7vlrpZB
— Maria (@Sandernista412) September 5, 2021
Who'd a thought? Herons are the best at cleaning up NYC https://t.co/f8ia0kEYNF
— Andrea (@AndyD409) September 5, 2021
Our new ally in the War on Rats! https://t.co/Yv7zENAQ8p
— Helder Gil (@hgil) September 5, 2021
Some compared the heron’s savage hunting skills to that of a velociraptor (the rat never stood a chance did it?)
Great Blue Herons are really dinosaurs and Central Park is now Jurassic. https://t.co/6frcFcul7B
— English Elective (@EnglishElective) September 6, 2021
Further evidence that birds really are dinosaurs, as the heron does its impression of a velociraptor. https://t.co/C4hOWfXEx7
— Tracy (@tracymohr) September 6, 2021
Say you’re a dinosaur without telling me you’re a dinosaur. https://t.co/N8R1mWdLHG
— 🚴♀️ Jim K Millard💉 (@millardjk) September 6, 2021
Meanwhile, others were understandably disgusted at witnessing nature at its ugly best.
https://t.co/diV13qelFy pic.twitter.com/sOCu7b2jzX
— 💗𝒜𝓃𝓰ℯ𝓁𝒾𝒸𝒶 𝒜𝓰𝓊𝒾𝓁ℯ𝓇𝒶💗 (@AngelicaCTorres) September 5, 2021
— Linda Ajello (@mamajello) September 5, 2021
The tail sent me 🤢🤢🤢
— Julia Jacobo (@JuliaTheWriter) September 6, 2021
Does he realize how nasty those rats are https://t.co/yBMgsLtB5f
— Tɧɛ ცƖąƈƙ ཞơʂɛ© (@caramelhunnyVa) September 6, 2021
— Lulu (@lucyeths2) September 6, 2021
The pandemic hasn’t helped with rat matters in New York, with the number of rodent complaints to a city hotline surging by 80 per cent from last March 2020 to March this year, according to Bloomberg.
And, apparently, huge rats are not actually part of a heron’s diet, Barrett told the New York Post. The birds typically eat frogs, crabs and smaller rodents.
Therefore, we sadly cannot expect herons to fix New York’s rat problem anytime soon.
