Snowy Egrets don't have the same reach as their larger cousins, Great Egrets, so they probe in the water and mud with those distinctive yellow feet for aquatic animals in addition to fish. The beautiful white feather plumes they grow during breeding season nearly resulted in their extinction during the late nineteenth century, but protective laws passed early in the twentieth century allowed them to recover. This young Snowy was not chasing prey, he seemed to be running just for the sheer enjoyment of it.