Injured heron rehabilitated, released back into wild near Manteca

A great blue heron that survived a gunshot wound and a near attack by a cat returned to the wild Friday.

Staff from the Stanislaus Wildlife Care Center in Hughson released the giant bird after treating it for several weeks.

The heron landed on the roof of Manteca residents Tracy and Scott Johnson in December. They might not have noticed him had their cat not jumped on the roof, eliciting wild quacking from the bird.

Scott Johnson climbed on the roof with a queen-size comforter and threw it over the heron, but he got out from under it and jumped to the ground where he sat awkwardly on the back of his legs.

Johnson said he covered the bird with a thinner blanket, then scooped him into a wardrobe box and took him to the Wildlife Care Center.

Executive Director Donna Burt said it appears the heron was shot in its right wing with a small-caliber rifle. There was a through-and-through wound in his ulna, the wing was infected, and he was thin and dehydrated.

She said staff had to force-feed the bird until the antibiotics kicked in and he wanted to eat on his own again – his favorite is shad fish.

Staff had to be extra careful and wear face shields when feeding him.

“Great blue herons are easily stressed in captivity,” Burt said. “They have long beaks and pointed necks, they stab lightening-fast at your eyes and they are extremely accurate.”

She said their razor-sharp beaks are also serrated, so yanking a finger out of their mouth will just do more damage.

The heron’s wound was cleaned but staff otherwise left it alone. Burt said the radius serves as a splint for the ulna and it heals naturally.

After they rescued the heron, the Johnsons were invested in his future. They both started volunteering at the center and lovingly referred to the heron as Harold. He had other nicknames such as Ichabod, but he officially was labeled 2091 because he was the 2,091st animal to arrive at the Wildlife Care Center.

On Friday the Johnsons watched as Harold was released from a crate near a creek that flowed under South Austin Road just outside Manteca.

He didn’t linger but quickly hopped out and flew to the the top of a nearby oak tree.

“It’s a little emotional; it feels really good because I knew he wasn’t doing really well,” said Tracy Johnson.

“Yeah, it was clear he was not going to make it much longer when we brought him in,” Scott Johnson said. “It’s great to see him take off and get back out there in the wild.”

This story was originally published February 19, 2016 at 4:22 PM with the headline "Injured heron rehabilitated, released back into wild near Manteca."