HUNGRY HERON STRUGGLES TO HOLD ONTO ITS CATCH

A DETERMINED great blue heron holds on tightly to its prey as the furry gopher attempts to wriggle free. With all its tiny might, the rodent manages to pull its paw free from the clutch of the huge heron's beak. This moment was caught by professional photographer Daniel Dietrich, 44, in Point Reyes, California. Daniel, originally of New York, says: “The blue heron first attempted to spear the gopher with its beak while the rodent retreated into its burrow.

Other great stories
BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BROUGHT TO LIFE

BREATHING life back into old photographs, these black and white images are transformed by colour .

ORDEAL: RAILING HORROR MAN HAD BEEN IMPALED BEFORE

A man who spent 30 minutes impaled on iron railings after attempting to scale an 8ft fence has told of his agonising ordeal - and how he suffered a similar mishap as a child .

THE ENCHANTING FOREST OF FIREFLIES

WITH the phosphorescent blobs and mesmerising patterns, these spectacular images may look like the hall marks of an enchanted forest but it is in fact the scene of thousands of dancing FIREFLIES .

MILEY MASH-UP

HOTSPOT MEDIA - MILEY MASH-UP: MILEY CYRUS’ naked wrecking ball vid has been lampooned in this side-spitting photo-mashup .

RECORD BREAKING WATERMELON

AN American accountant has grown the world's biggest MELON and smashed his way into the record books with his mammoth 350 .

ADORABLE BEAR CUBS SHARE A HUG

ROLLING around in the snow, these young brown bears take a break from their play fight to share a tender hug with one another .

WOMAN LEFT SCARRED FOR LIFE AFTER HER CHILDHOOD FRIEND BATTERED HER WITH A COSH AND BROKE HER NOSE IN VICIOUS ATTACK

A mum-of-two has revealed how her childhood friend of 20 years attacked her with a cosh and broke her nose in a vicious attack .

ROMANIAN CELEBRATES NEW JOB AS KNIFE THROWER'S ASSISTANT

A Romanian woman is celebrating her new job as a knife-thrower’s assistant after leaving her family behind to move to the UK .

OLYMPIC KNITWITS - KNITTERS STITCHED UP BY RED TAPE

Housands of cushions handmade as gifts for Olympics athletes may go to waste after London 2012 KNITWITS stitched up volunteers by refusing to allow them to hand them out .

VICTORIAN TENNIS RULE BOOK REVEALS GAME PLAYED BY THREE

TENNIS was a game made for three according to the first Victorian rule book .

AMAZING AURORA BOREALIS

A GLOWING range of greens and blues sweep across the sky in a spectacular display of light .

HONEYMOON BRIDE DIED OF HEROIN OVERDOSE

A coroner stunned an inquest into a honeymooner who died abroad today by asking her husband if he was involved in her drugs death .