The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Smallholding => Wildlife => Topic started by: goosepimple on January 03, 2013, 07:41:14 pm
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Well, had a post on previously about a swan who brought back another swan to our mill pond and they stayed and I hoped they would leave as they were already acting a bit aggressive. Today OH found one of them at the end of the pond where it is very shallow at its inlet, dead.
We think it possibly died and then was fed on by a heron (of which there are many here). It looks like it has had its heart plucked out - just a hole about the size of the palm of your hand. That's what the herons do to the ducks here. He also saw the other swan up on the river (where we never see them, they're always on the pond) possibly looking for its mate. Dead one is ringed and so we will call the SSPCA tomorrow if they need to collect it. Didn't look like there had been a battle. We thought that the swans were taking it turn about to come up and feed, the other one staying on the pond as they were 'claiming' it. Perhaps it was always the same one feeding and the other starved to death? Don't know. Doesn't look like foul play (excuse pun) but odd all the same. :thinking: Glad they will not be there I must admit, but didn't want to see it like that either poor thing, very sad.
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Poor thing. :'(
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Vampires pull the living heart out and eat it still beating :roflanim:
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That would be a Heron with fangs then ;) other swan is still here, let's hope he doesn't find another pal.
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As a teenager I went on a canal holiday with friends. All was wonderful apart from the swans which were vicious :rant: I grew to dislike them intensely. On the other hand they are amazing flying past so fast, or just looking stately.
Did the SSPCA person will have some idea of what happened to kill the dead one? Don't they mate for life? Sad :(
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We didn't contact the sspca fleece, we had been in touch with Berwick Swan and Wildlife Trust who said if they hadn't moved on then the sspca were the only ones who could get a license to move them on.
We think it was the male that died (he was ringed) and the female flew off a few days later - she wasn't ringed - we were judging by the size of the bump above their bill as to the male or female. Unless it was 2 males of course (the younger the survivor with less of a bump) and he drowned the other - there was feather plucking at the base of the neck and then after death a heron got to it and made a big hole in its chest. It was in the shallow end of the pond where the water enters from the river - very shallow in fact unless it had been dragged there by one or two herons so hard to drown it there I would have thought.
But in answer to your question, unless it was by drowning or disease or old age, we will never know. They are much lighter in weight than I thought a big swan like that would be.