KENORA, ON – A local couple remains puzzled by the recent disappearance of a plastic great blue heron that for three years sat at the end of their Winnipeg River dock.

All that remains of the weather-worn bird are its feet and legs, which were attached to the dock with screws. The heron went missing sometime between July 23 and July 25.

“I noticed the heron was gone when I went down to the dock to begin cleaning it ahead of putting on water seal,” said Kelly McDougall, who, along with her husband John, are in the midst of building a timber frame home on the property. “It had been there a few days earlier. We had friends over to see the progress on our house, and their kids asked whether it was real.”

The not-quite-life-sized replica, which stood about two feet tall, was purchased by the couple to dissuade birds from landing on the dock. While it successfully kept the wooden planks clear of bird droppings and fish bones, the heron had the opposite effect on humans.

“A mother and son recently paddled by on kayaks,” John said. “I could hear them talking about it as they got closer, trying to figure out if it was real.”

Others have tried to sneak up on it to take photos, Kelly added.

Though its paint was beginning to peel, the bird had been intact, with no noticeable cracks or weaknesses.

“I can’t believe someone would take our heron,” John said.

The McDougalls are chalking the theft up to a prank, though they say they can’t help but feel suspicious because the wild blueberries growing on their point of land were also cleaned out around the same time.

“Perhaps someone will return the heron to us with a note about the adventures it had while it was away, like Leopold the garden gnome in B.C.,” Kelly said. “If that’s the case, all will be forgiven – especially if there’s some blueberry jam sitting there too.”