When I was a younger person I remember running into the house and telling my grandmother hair raising tales of my exploits in the woods. She would listen patiently and then make one simple remark. She said," I'll swan." Roughly translated it means, "Well isn't that something." Seeing as how I brought up the subject, we'll talk about swans.

      An animal control officer called last weekend to say she had captured a huge swan that seemed to be guarding a small puddle of water along a park trail. He doesn't want to fly away and there seems to be nothing wrong with him. He’s here.

      There are six different species of swan in the world. Here we go: Coscoroba, Bewick's, Whooper, Whistling, Trumpeter and ours, the Mute swan. The mute swan is the most common in North America. This is one big bird. He weighs about 35 pounds, is about five feet long and stands almost four feet tall, (eyeball to asphalt). Mute is a bad name for this bird. He seems to make noise all the time. He grunts and grumbles when he eats and hisses like a surprised bullsnake when he's mad. In spite of his great weight the mute swan is a strong flier. He requires some water runway distance for landing and takeoff. He can't maneuver in flight so collisions with high wires are common. The swan feeds mainly on plants both in the water and grasses on the shore but will consume small fish and insects. He nest near water. He mates for life and nest in the same territory. The female lays 5 to7 eggs in a nest made of dry grass and twigs. Mainly the female incubates the eggs. The parents stay with the young for four to five months.

      Swans overwhelm me with their grace and beauty so I can’t help adding some poetry. As I watched the swan come to me

My heart knew she wanted to see