So you want to be a Swan Keeper..... Part Two

For the first couple of years our swans didn’t mate or nest. It was wonderful. I had them eating lettuce out of my hand.  I was surprised how tame and gentle they were to me and my wife. I spent most of my business career on the road covering the Southeastern and sometimes the Southwestern states.  To come home after the craziness of the road to these beautiful calming gentle birds was wonderful.  It was the best medicine for a road warrior who needed some quiet time. 

In the third year, I was on the patio and I heard this screech coming from the pond.  I had no idea where it was coming from in the pond so I went closer to see what was going on.  Turns out, they were mating.  They have a ritual they go through and I am not going to take the time to discuss what it is, but they follow it every time they mate.  It lasts about 20 seconds and then it’s over.  In that they only do it at one time of the year, they do it many times a day, every day.

Once I videoed it to show my wife and family as the ritual is very interesting. I thought about putting it in one of those sex books or on the internet, “Swan Porn, See Duke Do Duchess” but I didn’t think it had much of a market.

 Soon they built a nest near the pond. We were very excited as they were finally going to have cygnets for the first time.  That’s when we found out how aggressive a male swan can be towards humans, in particular, me.   The female would just puff up her feathers and hiss.  He, on the other hand, would come after me with a vengeance.  The first time he came after me it totally caught me off guard and I just took off in another direction and hid behind a tree.

I could hardly believe the little bastard wanted to bite the hand that fed him.  I warn him from time to time that Thanksgiving was not far away and he could replace our turkey. From that point on, when they were in season, I carry a broom or an oar from my canoe for defense.  Finally they had their first eggs around the end of March.  Each is a bluish grey, larger than the size of a man’s fist, and weighs about a pound, as you can see in the picture below.

 After about 36 days, or early May, we had our first 3 cygnets.  They were adorable.  It takes about 2 days before they all hatch and Mom immediately takes them in the pond for their first swim as it’s the safest place.  This way coyotes, dogs and cats, as well as other wild animals can’t get to them. Normally she will have 3-4 eggs at a time.  Once she laid eight eggs, only 5 were fertile. 

During their first week of life, we have to catch the cygnets to pinion them.  Now this is an interesting experience.  The little cygnets can dive down about 10 feet to get away, but they ultimately have to come up for air, usually in our net.  It takes 10 seconds to pinion them and put them back into the water. 

Initially, it took up to 4 people, two in each canoe – one in the front to catch them and one in the back to battle Mom and Dad.  The one in the back has the toughest job because the parents don’t give up.  After falling in the pond a few times and getting smacked by Dad more than once, we finally figured out a process that works.

Once, I was mowing the lawn and down the driveway comes a “congo line” of swans.  Mom in front, followed by the cygnets, then the enforcer, Dad.  Turns out they were taking the kids on a walk around the yard.  I had to direct the “line” back to the pond.  It really is funny to see them do this.

From time to time a stray cat will come to the pond to check out the birds as a potential dinner.  They never get close enough as the birds spend most of their time in the middle of the pond.  The swans with their body warmth will keep a small area defrosted so they can have access to the water.

Once when the pond froze, as it does a couple of times a year, a stray cat thought “now is my opportunity.”  He slowly crept up to them on the ice, Duke of course was watching him the entire time.  When the cat got about 5 feet away, Duke stood up and extended his five foot wing span. 

That cat turned around, and like in those old cartoons we saw as kids, tried to get away on the slippery iced pond.  It was very funny to watch.  Interestingly, the cat never came around again to bother the birds.

Once, my wife came down to the pond to see the swans and to give them some lettuce.  She didn’t see them at first and then out of nowhere came Duke and literally scared her to death.  She began to run and fell as he was biting her and hitting her with his wings.  She heard this loud scream and she wasn’t sure where it came from, until she realized it was coming from her.  She eventually got away.  But to this day, is frightened and won’t get near her pets that she so desperately wanted.

This year’s swans were born on the day of my wife’s first chemo treatment.  She was very excited as it was something good on a very rough day.  The following day I went to feed the swan babies (cygnets) and the male attacked me, as usual. Unfortunately, I didn't have my broom to protect me so I took off when he headed for me.  

I know better than to be around them without an oar or a broom.  As I was running away, I tripped on an ivy vine and fell onto a fallen branch.  I scraped and cut myself to the tune of 6 stitches in my hand. What a klutz!  

As I was on the ground holding his neck with my bleeding hand  and with my leg on his body (so he couldn’t hit me with his wings), I had an interesting conversation with Duke.  My exact words were, “You could be dinner tonight if you don’t stop it and leave me alone.  I could wring your neck very easily and I am very tempted to do just that.”  For those keeping score it's now Humans -1 Swans - 2 LOL

What I found interesting is just before mating season the male will kick their children out of the pond and not let them back.  Each year we bring the year old cygnets up to a beautiful Golf-Spa Resort in north Georgia called Barnsley Gardens.  They help keep the Canada Geese off the grounds.

Don’t you wish you could do that with your children at a certain age, like when they are teens?  If you haven’t read one of my previous blogs, “Our Children,” please make it your next read.

So if you are thinking you would like swans as pets, think twice.  Or purchase two females so they can’t mate and go after you.  While cygnets are cute, as all young can be, the protective parents are not worth the trouble.

See you next Tuesday when the subject will be, “People Do Interesting Things While Sitting In Traffic.”  Have any interesting experiences while you were sitting in traffic?  Drop me a line and if there's room, I'll put it in the blog.

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