98 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



a heron take three fish, then I crawled up and 

 shot the bird. It contained seven trout over six 

 inches in length — fish with which we had stocked 

 the water. Eels and roach were also there, but it 

 was the trout that the heron was specially after. 



As a boy, my cousins and I, one summer 

 holiday, caught several hundred trout in a 

 mountain stream, and turned them into a 

 shallow pond. Very soon we noticed a heron 

 used to come down to the pond each evening. 

 We thought it was probably after the trout, but 

 never realised how this bird was taking out the 

 fish as fast as we put them in. The pond was 

 emptied soon after, and only three trout re- 

 :mained ! Not only can the heron deceive small 

 trout, but it is equally successful with large fish. 



The question as to the extent of damage done 

 to trout and salmon fisheries by herons has often 

 been discussed in the Press. The amount of 

 damage entirely depends upon the nature of the 

 water. Herons .will take trout whenever they 

 get the opportunity. The time when they are 

 most harmful, however, is during the spawning 

 season. Many a trout too large for the bird to 

 swallow has been speared by a heron as it 

 struggled through shoal water on its way 

 upstream. 



