Chag - Possible heron strike?

[Markey]

Spent the night up North on Thursday,, got back lunchtime today and checked the pond

Found the Chag had what looked like a sab wound on her back.
Got her out and found the following.
One mangled scale hanging out and some loose flesh around it.
Close up it looked like a slash across her back with approx 1cm deep wound through the ripped scale.
Doesn't look like a flashing bruise.

Treated with Mercurachrome and sealer. BTW

I am thinking possible strike by a heron??
She is aprox 24"

[Manky Sanke]

Mark,

I can easily believe that could be a heron strike. At first glance, a 24" fish might seem too big for a heron to pick out of the water and swallow in the way we normally expect but, in the wild, when a large potential target swims close enough, they have a strategy to make a meal of it. They strike and try to disable their victim and then drag it out of the water onto the bank where they can dismember it and eat it.

This isn't hard for them with natural lakes because the gently sloping banks make it easy to drag a disabled fish onto dry land and the shallow water also gives their potential victim less chance to instinctively dive for safety to avoid the sudden movement of the initial strike or subsequent strikes.

The fact that, if the heron had been able to disable the chagoi, it wouldn't have been possible to drag it out of the pond doesn't stop instinctive hunting behaviour.

[Duncan]

mark

that scale needs pulling mate, its dead or dying and will reinfect

dunc

[Markey]

You forget.... I have the book LOL
First thing I did... Was remove scale. Then treated witth mercurachrome and orahesive then used a sealer. No hp used as it was fresh tissue no infection. Just hope she heals ok.