Famous swans in Stratford, Ont. rounded up early for winter
Swans moved early to prepare for maintenance on R. Thomas Orr Dam
It wasn't exactly a rodeo, but this year's annual roundup of Stratford's big swans was no small feat.
The city's famous birds are now safely tucked away in their winter enclosures. But it took a great deal of coaxing to get them there.
The birds are usually moved at the end of October, when they can be easily tempted with food.
But this year, park officials had to move the swans early to prepare for maintenance on the R. Thomas Orr Dam. And with plenty of grass still on the ground, the birds were decidedly unreceptive to the move.
That caused some complications for the employees tasked with catching the birds, according to park manager Quin Malott.
"Usually at the end of October we'll put food in that pen one day, and get them used to it. And the next morning we'll put food in and catch probably 25 of the 30 of them within half a day," says Malott.
But not this year.
"We got about six of them inside the pen, but once the rest of them saw that they got caught, they didn't have any interest in going in," says Malott. "Because there's so much food still around, we couldn't entice the rest of them."
Instead, the park staff had to get a little more creative to capture the remaining swans. Some were tasked with chasing the stubborn birds to shore in boats. Once the birds were on dry land, other employees were there to snag them by hand or capture them with nets.
Swan roundup
Some birds proved more resistant than others to the friendly capture exercise.
"We have some big strong male birds out here that don't usually want to get caught. You almost have to wear them out," says Malott. "We've chased them halfway to London before."
All told, it took the employees about a day and a half to get all the birds safely corralled in their winter enclosure.
"They're in there, eating the grass and swimming in the pond," Malott says. "It's like they remember being in there from last year."
Now that they've settled in, the birds will stay put until spring.
"We march them out in the spring for our annual Swan Parade. But they don't march back in like they march out."