One day last week, I was puttering around in our garage, and the side door was open. I looked up to see “Antoine, The Swan”, standing just outside.
I recorded this little video of his visit. A couple of notes before you view it: 1) The galvanized garbage can to the left of the door is where we store the corn we feed to the ducks and swan. 2) I apologize for the humming noise in the background. Our air conditioner units are located in the garage. And 3) Watch toward the end of the video as he turns to his left and gets his big ol’ feet tangled up.
I was curious about the snorting sound he makes, so I did some research and found this: “Although they don’t have a “call”, they have a remarkable assortment of sounds to convey a broad range of emotions, from a gentle ‘bleat’ through a range of puppy-like barking notes, and a head-to-tail long snort sometimes combined with head-raising and feathers fluffed, to register delight.”.
Isn’t that cool? Antoine The Swan is delighted with me.
Some other facts about mute swans *:
Swans are highly intelligent and remember who has been kind to them, or not.
Mute swans have sharp vision and hearing.
A mute swan’s neck has 23 vertebrae, more than any other bird.
A swan has some 25,000 feathers.
A swan in a protected environment might live as long as 30 years.
Hmm… I guess we’ll be keeping that garbage can stocked with corn for many years to come….
* Info found on Stanley Park Swans web-site.
~These Days Of Mine~
these days of mine 