By Saloni Mathur
**WITH FULL PERMISSIONS**
DRAMATIC images show a huge rainbow trout escaping from the jaws of a great blue heron.
Herons, one of the 60 species of long-legged wading birds, prefer to swallow their prey whole and digest it, including the bones.
But, the two-foot trout became too big for the four-foot heron to gulp down, and it was eventually able to escape.
This extraordinary scenario was captured by Decker Nomura, a 55-year-old wildlife photographer from San Diego, California.
From a distance of 25 feet, Decker used a Nikon Z9 camera paired with a Nikon Z 600mm f/4 TC VR S lens.
“I was thrilled and very impressed with the heron’s ability to catch that big of a fish and make an attempt to eat it,” he said.
“Although judging by the size of the trout, I would have been very surprised if he was able to get that one down.
“Great blue herons have a very large range of prey. They eat anything from several fish species to amphibians like frogs, turtles and snakes as well as mammals like squirrels, rats and moles.”
ENDS