Swan rescued from the ice today! (with pics)

[Kirsten]

Today, I went downtown to take some pics. The rivers here are frozen which doesn't happen too often so I thought I could make some interesting winter photos (posted them here (http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?p=2110814#post2110814)). But while I was taking the pics, a woman approaced and showed me a swan that was frozen on the ice. She said a while ago, some teenagers threw stones at him to make him stand up and walk, but he didn't. Well, obviously he couldn't.

There he sat, with his belly flat on the ice, montionless and sad. It looked like he has already given in to this fate. :( I promised the woman I would do something about it, even though I had no idea who to contact in such a case. As far as I know, we don't have a local animal rescue group here. (Some years ago, I called the fire brigade when a cat sat in a tree and couldn't come down, and they said I would have to pay for the rescue mission, at least $400, which I couldn't of course. :( So I thought the fire fighters would be no option for the swan.

Decided to call my mother from my cell phone. She knows a guy who works for a nature protection group that also includes the wild life so I thought it would be an option to call him. While I was waiting for her to call me back, I approached the swan and talked to him, trying to make him get up, but he didn't. To my surprise, a couple of minutes later the fire fighters came. Obviously somebody else had called them already. They had a crane on their truck which helped them to get near the swan. When they came closer, he was so afraid that he finally managed to get out of the ice! He swam away, and I hope he's not too weak from cold and hunger. And I hope he won't sleep on the ice again!


The poor swan with his belly frozen on the ice
http://www.catmom.de/pix/winter25.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pix/rescue1.jpg


Help is coming
http://www.catmom.de/pix/rescue2.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pix/rescue3.jpg


Here, he just got up
http://www.catmom.de/pix/rescue4.jpg


Free!
http://www.catmom.de/pix/rescue5.jpg

http://www.catmom.de/pix/rescue6.jpg

Kirsten

[Barbara]

I hope you sell the pics to your local newspapers- they are great!
Swans need a lot of food in the winter.
Here on Ammersee where we used to have our boat there are also swans. The fisher in front of whose area our boat was moored used to feed about a ton of grain to the water fowl in winter. It happened every now and then that the babies were not big enough to leave in winter, then the family staid and ate and ate and ate.
We always funded some grain as well :)

[Kirsten]

I hope you sell the pics to your local newspapers- they are great!

Thanks. :) Well, never thought about selling them to the newspaper, actually... :o

I really wonder if all these birds are getting enough food right now! People came to feed the ducks, but I don't know if there are any rescue groups here that care for them, and feed them with grains. Maybe I should try to find out more about this.

Kirsten

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

:(I wonder if the swan was really frozen to the ice? If yes, she sure lost a few feathers by getting up! Poor thing!

[Freedom]

Aw, dear one, I do hope it is alright and will survive. Should do, now it is free, as long as there is plenty of food about.

Sometimes have to wonder about Mother Nature, turning on her own!

Those idiots, throwing stones at it! Two years back we had some kids throwing stones at swans in a local park, they hit several, killed one. Someone -- an adult -- who had tried to stop them with no success, took a video of them. So the police were able to identify them, and they were arrested. Good!

Kirsten, I bet you could sell those photos, give it a try!

[kuhio98]

I've never see it myself, but some of men I work with say that they have sometimes come upon swan and duck bodies who have been eaten by foxes after getting stuck to the ice. :(

So, that this Swan's story had a happier outcome.

[momcat]

What a relief to know that beautiful swan was able to free itself and swim away, hopefully to a well stocked food source.

[Emeraldgreen]

Those pictures are amazing! Thank you for caring about the swan and taking action.
I guess the rocks around the swan are from the kids that threw them at him. How awful, some of them are pretty big rocks. I hope he manages to get over his bruises and lack of feathers from where he was stuck and goes on to live a long wonderful life! :)

[Kirsten]

I guess the rocks around the swan are from the kids that threw them at him.

Yes, I guess so, too. I do not think the kids meant to hurt him, they just wanted him to get up, but he must have been so scared! :(

Kirsten

[pitc9]

Wow!! GREAT pictures!
Was he really frozen?
Did the people that came to rescue him ever even touch him???

Wow!
It's so wonderful that you got it all in pictures!