David Barrett, an avid birdwatcher who runs the popular Twitter account Manhattan Bird Alert shared a photo and video showing a Great Blue Heron eating a fat New York City rat.
“Great Blue Herons eat plenty of fish, but they won’t pass up a meaty and filling New York City rat,” Manhattan Bird Alert wrote on Twitter.
According to his post, after the Great Blue Heron killed the rat, it only took a few seconds to lift it out of the water and slurp it down, nearly in one big gulp.
David said it happened in the morning at The Pond in Central Park while he was there birdwatching with his camera.
The rat appeared to have been swimming in the lake at the wrong time when the heron got him because New York City rats are usually only spotted during the night.
Rats like the one in the video are actually phenomenal swimmers that can swim up to one mile and tread water for up to three days.
Experts say there are around two million rats in New York City and the most dominant species of rat is the brown rat that weighs one to two pounds, which is what the heron was eating in the video that you’re about to see.
Great Blue Herons only weigh four to eight pounds, however, they can stand as tall as five feet and have a wingspan of seven-foot. They will certainly overpower and eat any rat that gets too close to them. Below is the proof.