Great Blue Heron Rescue – California Wildlife Encounters

“For the past week, I’ve been monitoring this Great Blue Heron that had a large fishing lure stuck in his mouth and neck. The heron was very elusive and would fly to an island in the middle of the pond that was difficult to access. I contacted my kayak team members Julie Averill and Cathy Frazee and they offered to help if needed. Greg Grimm also helped monitor the heron so we could come up with a game plan for rescue. This morning myself, Michele Dodge and Laura Morin met at the pond in Meadow Vista at first light to try and rescue the struggling heron. He was weak from not being able to eat for at least a week due to the fishing lure that prevented him from extending his neck. I used my net gun to capture him. I then transported him to Gold Country Wildlife Rescue where they removed the lure. My net gun has saved hundreds of lives where traditional methods of capture failed. I am truly blessed to have a strong network of wildlife hero’s that share my passion to save all things wild. It does take a village to save our precious wildlife.”

– Ben Nuckolls, California Wildlife Encounters