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<span class="overidecolr">Remi</span><p data-name="Remi"><a data-m="0" class="">I decided to ditch the stilts and just go on foot from here. It’s just a lot easier. I'm a lot more stealthy, I'm a lot more mobile. But what I have noticed is the stilts kind of gave me this idea of getting up higher. And I noticed now when I'm walking, it’s hard to see when I'm water level. I'm trying to get as high as I can. I'm getting on my tiptoes, and I came up, climbed up in this little tree, and I have a much better view. I've seen herons sit up in trees and overlook or, uh, or on tall banks.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="33200" class="">And what I've come to realize is the heron's life is about one thing: Perspective. His perspective on the world is looking down on everything that he's hunting. It’s so much easier to be up higher and to look down on these fish and see in the water. It’s hard for me to do without the stilts, because the stilts gave me an extreme advantage over everything below me. So I guess walking around, what I'm doing is I'm just trying to get as high as I can.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="60300" class="">If I can stand even two feet higher than I can walk, it makes a huge difference. Getting up in a little tree, getting up on a bank, even being on my tiptoes in the water, just trying to get, or even getting in shallower water. Being above everything below me makes it a lot easier.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="94700" class="">I've noticed in this area the fish are few and far between, but I have seen a few other types of animals, like turtles and snakes and frogs. Uh, there's a few carp, a few suckers. But being up high allows me to spot the fish and find 'em where they're at. I could spend all day in one short area if I can't see it, thinking that there might be fish in an area where there is no fish. It’s been pretty tough because there's not a lot of fish to spear here. But this heighth advantage did allow me to see what was around.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="129900" class="">I'd say that the stilts gave me an advantage of that perspective a lot like a heron would have. But for me it just isn't functional. It’s not easy to move, it’s cumbersome, and it’s really hard to stay balanced. So moving on my feet might be a little better strategy today, and still hunting like that heron. It’s so much more natural to be walking around. I really feel like I'm moving and hunting as the heron would, and that just desire to get up higher and look around, it’s so natural. That’s exactly the heron's world, is that it’s a world of perspective.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="163200" class="">He gets up higher, he looks down on everything that he's preying on, and then he makes his move.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="210400" class="">[cutaways — Remi's feet standing on a log, panning up to his face] Walking around, I feel much more like a ninja, a ninja great blue heron. Stilts gave me that added perspective, and that’s really the heron's world. Just the view from the top. He looks down on everything, and it’s such an advantage. The heighth, just getting up in a little tree or getting above the water a foot or two gives me an advantage that I don't get when I'm lower. Trouble with the stilts is the disadvantage — hard to balance, really hard to walk around.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="251700" class="">So now I'm kinda gonna balance out what I did on the stilts by walking around and seeing if I can't still hunt like a heron, get up above the water, and look for fish. Minnow.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="268400" class="">[throws spear, retrieves] [laughs] I might even fall without the stilts. Hey.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="299900" class="">Little froggy. There's still plenty of heron snacks around. Oh, you be lucky I'm not a bird, my friend. Ooh, there he go. [retrieves the frog] All right. Be free, my little frog friend. Lots of frogs back here, holy cow. [stalking]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="352200" class="">There's quite a few frogs around. I should probably show Owen this spot. He'd like it.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="357900" class="">If we could find a little pond, if we could find a little pond back here, where there's maybe some fish trapped in it or something, that would be my best bet. The water's a little bit lower, but definitely see there's channels where the river used to flow. So sometimes carp or whatever will actually get trapped in little spots, and herons and other birds will... Sometimes carp and other fish will get, uh, trapped in these little ponds, and great blue herons will just surround it and fish, because like it’s literally like fishing in a barrel. It’s a great place to find food.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="393300" class="">Quicksand. No more water. Let's go back. [smacks lips] Worth checking out.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="441400" class="">— view and try to catch. Fucking mosquitos. [laughs] I think we'd do all right. [laughs] That one we would have a high success rate on.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="451100" class="">[Holding a snake, putting it in his pocket.] Once they get their head down, then they feel comfortable. Oh, no, stop biting. [trying again, putting in his pocket]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="501200" class="">After last night, putting a fish in my pocket, I've created a new game. It’s called what’s in my pocket? [laughs] I'm here on this beautiful river in Minnesota.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="527500" class="">After last night I caught a fish and had nowhere to put it but my pocket. Gave me an idea. A new game. Apex predators, what’s in your pocket? [laughs] All right. What’s in my pocket? If you guessed snake...</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="557900" class="">What’s in my pocket? [laughs]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="563900" class="">What’s in my pocket?! What’s in my pocket?! [pan down to very ambiguous bulge in his pocket] If you guessed snake, you're correct.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="577000" class="">[pulls snake out] It was a snake in my pocket! [laughs]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="586100" class="">[putting stilts on]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="595400" class="">["bro" voice] So you got a snake in his pocket. [laughs] Whoa, dude! Snake pocket, dude, holy shit! Whoo!</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="604800" class="">Ugh. Now, if there's fish here, this would be perfect. This is pretty [unintelligible] walking. [walking on stilts] Spoke too soon. Over-confidence.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="615700" class="">[focus on feet, walking on stilts] Actually, I'm gonna see if I can't find that carp that was up here.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="621000" class="">I'll tell you what: This would be really good if there were fish like in an area like this, then the stilt thing, be money. It really would. 'Cause I can see so well.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="642900" class="">Yeah, it smell good. [fish on a stick] This may be the best fish I ever eat.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="647900" class="">[in front of tent and campfire] Coming outta here, I pretty much had one goal. That was to learn from the great blue heron how it lives its life, and see if there's anything that translates to my own. I went out with Greg and I was able to observe the blue heron in its natural environment, hunting and fishing and carrying on, and one thing that really struck me is the way that they move, the way that they hold their bodies before they strike. The way that they're so well adapted for being above the water, and the type of view that they get.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="679700" class="">I then keh, went out and started trying to hunt like a heron with Owen, someone that spears frogs and catches crayfish for fun around his house. And while doing that, what really struck me was how natural moving like the heron was. It just kind of came to me naturally. Now, I got this crazy idea that I needed to see what it looked like from the heron's point of view, to have legs way longer than my own. And to be honest, the view is great.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="711900" class="">For this type of aquatic environment hunting, it’s almost necessary. But being human and doing this in a river is extremely difficult for me to get around. What I did learn is that the heron's world is about perspective. It’s about looking down on to the water. And I also learned that as a hunter, the way that they, the heron moves, the way that the heron does things almost feels completely natural.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="737500" class="">There's something in all of us that’s a lot like the great blue heron. Ooh, smoky.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="743900" class="">One thing I noticed about the great... One thing I noticed about the great blue heron while watching him with Greg was that it was moving around and it wasn't just looking for big fish. It was looking for anything it could get its mouth on. It was an opportunistic hunter. And coming out here I had these grand expectations of walking around on tall stilts and spearing giant fish. The trouble was the big fish weren't here. It was seasonal, and it just didn’t happen. But that doesn’t mean that I didn’t learn from the heron.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="777200" class="">The heron has to take every opportunity it can because that’s its world. Its world isn't always go out and find a big fish. I was able to find a small fish and take it. It looks like a meager meal for a human, but this is the heron's life. That’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to learn from the bird. I wanted to immerse myself in its world and see what it could teach me. I've always seen the great blue heron as an amazing hunter, especially in an aquatic environment.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="803200" class="">I remember as a kid watching the heron hunt the shoreline, thinking, "Man, that would be really awesome if I could hunt like that."</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="810600" class="">As a kid, as a kid I always saw herons hunting along the shoreline while fishing and thought that they were just amazing animals. I really thought that their lives were pretty easy. They walk around and they spear fish. How hard could that be? Well, I learned the life of a heron can be pretty hard, and there's a lotta small snacks in between those big fish.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="832200" class="">They have to take every opportunity they can. They're a big animal, and it’s really hard for those type of birds to actually get a single meal per day. They have to take every opportunity they have.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="850900" class="">While I was out here there was plenty of small snacks for me to make a meal out of. Little frogs, little turtles. Small fish. Snakes. There's plenty of food, but I just had to look for it. I couldn’t be picky. I couldn’t just think, "Oh, I'm gonna come out and spear a large fish." If I wanted to live like the heron, I had to do what the heron does, and that’s scrounge for food.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="874400" class="">While scrounging for food, I found out how well adapted it is and how well...</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="881100" class="">While scrounging for food, I tried something completely crazy. I decided to put some stilts on and walk through the river. I got the heron's eye view, and believe me, it was the best view I had of this water. The heron is so well adapted by being up above the water, it’s perfectly... it’s perfectly made for its environment.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="903700" class="">I figured out why you only see stilts in the circus. It’s because it’s ridiculous. [laughs] The thought of walking around in a river, hunting on stilts, was pretty funny in my mind. But I had a good time doing it and I learned a lot. That view taught me exactly what the heron sees when he's looking into the water. There's something to be said for this little fish. It’s not a giant carp. It’s not a big meal. But it’s exactly what a heron would probably have for dinner.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="933100" class="">This for a heron would be a great score.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="936300" class="">What more is there about great blue? [fish is cooking over fire on a stick] The old GBH.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="941800" class="">I mean the heron's life is about opportunity, it’s about perspective. And it’s about... being the master of its environment.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="956700" class="">The heron's life is basically all about perspective. When I got up on those stilts, I had a view that I would not have had just walking around on my regular legs.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="970700" class="">Old great blue taught me a lot. Immersing myself in the life of the great blue heron, I learned what it means to have a good perspective. The great blue heron's life is all about perspective. It sits above the water, it’s perfectly adapted for its environment, and it takes what it can get. There's no being picky as a heron. While he's hunting, while he's fishing, he takes his opportunities. Out here I had a lotta opportunities, but I wanted to try to spear a bigger fish, just to see if I could.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1001600" class="">I ended up with this tiny little suckerfish.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1005500" class="">I don't know what I was thinking. I really don't. Walking in a river on stilts, nah, not my best idea I've ever had. But it was a lot of fun, and I really don't think that I could've learned from the heron had I not done it. To be honest, when I was up there I was thinking this is a pretty sweet view. I got to look down on the water, I could see fish that I couldn’t see while I was just walking through the water. And look, I got a little meal. [laughs] It’s a snack, but it’ll do. [laughs] I like my little fish. My little fish on stilts. This may be the first and last fish ever speared...</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1045700" class="">This may be the first and last fish ever speared while standing on stilts in a river. I'm not gonna recommend it for anyone. The heron, you can keep your long legs.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1059600" class="">The coolest thing about doing this was the fact that I was pretty much sight fishing. I was looking from the air, through the water, and just being able to see the underwater world from an elevated platform is a pretty cool view. I don't think that, uh, I could've got that view any other way but to get up on those stilts and walk around. I'm really glad I had that weird idea to try it, because I don't think that I would've had the same experience had I just crept around.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1084800" class="">One thing that I do know is when I was walking around in the water, hunting, it was very natural to move like the heron. It’s almost something that every person's born with — this ability to kind of hunt and stalk around, just like a heron would. I don't think anyone teaches the heron how to hunt. When I got in the water it was like nobody had to teach me. When I got up on those stilts, completely different ballgame. It was super awkward, it was really uncomfortable, but my view was so good, I didn’t want to give it up. I thought about giving it up, I swore it off, and then I found myself back up on the stilts again at dark.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1119600" class="">I'm glad I did, because I got this great suckerfish that, uh, is a trophy in my book. You might be a awesome fisherman, but you probably haven't speared a suckerfish on stilts in the dark.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1132900" class="">In the future, if I wanted to be real successful spearing fish, I'd probably either use a boat or my paddleboard. I had a great view of the water from there, but I don't think it woulda taught me the same thing as walking around, being patient, not moving, and just jumping into the heron's world. I wanted to essentially become the great blue heron the best I could. Doing that involved getting up on stilts, walking in the river, being uncomfortable, feeling unnatural, but having an amazing view the entire time.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1165300" class="">And I got to be... I am now auditioning for the Blue Man Group. Gotta wear blue all day, blue stilts. [laughs] I feel like this could be a Vegas show, baby. [laughs]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1185300" class="">This is my one-man show. My true passion is walking around the marsh in death traps. [laughs]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1201900" class="">I liked falling in the water. [laughs] As opposed to falling on those stilts on the ground, that’s not bad.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1211400" class="">Yeah, I think he, she’s smoked up. Uh, it needs a little bit more, just needs a little more juice. I don't want to get... I don't want to get the old... Well, mom, I got chlamydia from a suckerfish. [laughs] There I was, right? [laughs]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1250000" class="">[close on fish over fire]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1259200" class="">I just wanted to come out here and do a couple things. One, see what life was like as a great blue heron, and then have a good time. It was... a pretty good time. I think I had fun. You know how I mark fun on my calendar of success? If I can end up at the end of the day, if I can put a fish in my pocket. I did just that, I put a fish in my pocket. [laughs] If you're a great blue heron, you're walking around on stilts, you spear a fish, I didn’t even think what am I gonna do with this fish after I spear it? Until I realized that’s what pockets are for. Storing your fish while on stilts in the middle of a river.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1303000" class="">That’s all this boils down to. [laughs] If I had to do this over again, would I do anything different? Absolutely not. I learned from the heron by realizing that walking around in this environment is just completely natural. I felt like, nah, I coulda done this without watching a heron. It almost felt instinctual. But then getting up on the stilts, I realized that it has perspective over its environment. The perspective is what gives it such an advantage and makes it such a good hunter.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1334400" class="">Now, of course the heron is pretty opportunistic, and I had to be too. It wasn't like come out here and see a buncha big fish, and then just spear to my heart's content. It was tough, but it was pretty fun. I got above the water, I was able to get a monster suckerfish that I skewered on the end of this stick, and am now gonna probably eat whole. I think I could do it in two bites. Heron would do it in one, so that means it’s a big fish.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1363200" class="">Ooh, smoky. [laughs] I'm gonna let it cool down. I think hot, like the, I've heard of hot dog on a stick. This is, this is sucker on a stick. This is, this might be a new thing.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1377000" class="">[mimics eating the fish whole, makes pterodactyl noise] Call to the heron.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1384700" class="">Smoky. I don't know if it’s better than a crayfish, but not bad. I don't know why people don't eat these all the time. I kinda like it. I mean I really like it, I think it’s good. It’s actually not that... Small ones are the ones you want, then you don't have to worry about the bones.</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1400200" class="">Such is the life of the great blue. Sitting on a river, snacking on a fish. That’s what it’s all about. I have to take my stilts and walk on outta here. [laughs]</a></p>
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<p><a data-m="1413600" class="">That right there is what it’s all about. Mm. Down the hatch this last little bit. Pretty good meal. [sighs] [laughs] One for me, one for my blue heron homies. [eats the last of the fish]</a></p>
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