I had a fun ranger assignment today. We periodically use heron decoys for some of our birding programs at the park. We have two, but one went missing and a new one was purchased.
However, when the ranger went to purchase a new great blue heron, all that was in stock was a sandhill crane. The ranger picked it up because we needed a second one. If you look closely at the sandhill, you can see that it has a bit of a heron shape, right down to the crest feathers. All that was done to alter the species of the decoy was that the bill was painted black, some white was added to the face, a red cap was put on and the whole body was gray. I offered to try and paint it into a great blue heron.
I also had an ulterior motive. If you look at the decoys side by side, you might notice that they have unusually large cloacal protuberances. I’m willing to overlook this, however, your average sixth grader is not and sometimes the unneeded part leads to lots of giggling that can take away from program time. I thought since I had the decoys in my possession, I might do some trimming. Alas, my exacto knife was too small to cut it. So I had to put in a maintenance request for a large blade. I decided to be discreet and take it downstairs to maintenance. As I explained what I wanted done and that it was “too hard” that led to uncontrollable giggling on maintenance’s behalf. Fortunately, they found a blade and both protuberances were swiftly and mercifully removed.
Considering all that I had to work with were three cans of spray paint (white, black and buttercup) plus a sharpie, the sandhill turned into a rather nice looking or at least somewhat identifiable great blue heron. Even more impressive, I managed to avoid spray painting my park uniform.
Also, these should be good decoys now that the laugh factor has been removed. I thought it was curious that the local store would only have sandhill crane decoys and not herons. I think this particular store sells them more as lawn ornaments, however in some states, it is legal to hunt sandhills. Minnesota is not one of those states, so it is curious how they ended up here.
Sharon – There are some hunters from Minnesota that hunt Sandhills out of state – Also, some duck hunters place a heron near their blind to make the ducks think it is a safe place to land.
Ah, did not know people used herons for that, makes sense. And I guess MN sandhill hunters need to get their decoys somewhere. From the hunters I’ve spoken to about cranes, they are one of the harder birds to hunt. They are very cagey.
Hunters also use coots and crows as part of their spread of decoys. They are known to be wary and vocal about any possible danger, the other birds, particularly ducks, know that. If there are coots or crows quietly feeding or resting on the ground then there is no danger and it is safe to land. “Confidence decoys” have been used in the northernLake Champlain area where I grew up for over a hundred years by duck hunters. The first decoy my husband made as a kid was a coot.
I stumbled across a life-sized cow confidence decoy on the internet last year, goose hunters use them for blinds in a set of decoys. There is a company out there that manufactures and sells them!
Good job and clever blog title (in noting the URL, I’m guessing the title was an afterthought, and a good one.)
Sharon,
I always love your blog. Just thought I’d add that heron decoys are also used by pond owners to keep other herons away from feeding on their expensive koi. Since herons are territorial, people put up decoys hoping that a heron flying overhead will keep on flying if they see another heron next to the pond. I hear that it actually works sometimes.
Hunters also use coot, gulls and crow decoys as “confidence decoys” with a spread of ducks. The ducks know the other two are wary and vocal about anything perceived as threatening. They have been in common usage on Lake Champlain (where I grew up) for over 100 years. The first decoy my husband made as a kid was a coot.
There is a company I stumbled across last year even creates life sized cows for goose hunters to put with their decoy set up to create a peaceful scene and a place to hid behind for the hunters
I’ve seen the cows and I have heard of using herons decoys for keeping live herons away. We actually use an owl decoy and some crows near Frank Taylor’s banding station to help bring in the merlins.
You also could have removed the protuberances with a chisel and your banana hammer.
What is the deal with the cloacal protuberances? Why include them I mean.