Lethal Reminder

I am grateful to the member of the public who alerted me to the near disaster in the harbour this afternoon. I was told that the cygnets and Pen were tangled up in fishing line in the harbour, so I gathered some of my rescue gear and headed down there. The entire family were at the northern end of the harbour on the grass which gave me a chance to see the offending line which was caught around the legs of two of the cygnets, the pen appeared to have freed herself. I managed to approach the family as they headed to the water and catch the cygnet which was leading the way - with the line trailing from it's leg. The parents were none too happy which I expected, but turned my back to them to ward off the inevitable wing blows. I cut the line and freed the first cygnet, and quickly grabbed the other which was heading for the water. The line was looped around the leg joint and would have cut into the leg if pulled, it could not have freed itself because of the loop. The parents took it in turns to beat me with their wings across my legs, but I managed to cut the line and free the cygnet anyway. This was a close call that ended well, but could have been much more serious if they had been in the water. To win back their trust I fed them right away, and within 10 minutes the trauma had subsided. With that the SSPCA arrived, for someone had called them - showing that the public are alert to our wildlife. The SSPCA agreed with me that fishing within the harbour was a bad idea and really should not be allowed. I hope the harbour authorities and our local councillors will take steps to ban fishing within the harbour area - it is not suitable and a serious threat to our wildlife. Fishing from the smoke shed entrance to the harbour, should not be allowed because those fishing can't see the swans coming down the river close to the wall and entering the harbour. They are always liable to hit the fishing lines which are often unattended and left hanging over the harbour entrance ! Angling Boat owners should be careful not to have fishing line or rods hanging over their boats in the harbour, swans are curious and will nibble at most things.

With the school holidays coming up I hope parents warn their children to be very careful with fishing tackle and withdraw it from the water if the swans are close by. The Swans cannot see the line and the onus is on those fishing to be responsible and not discard any tackle either ! The Swans are beautiful and a major tourist attraction, and must be protected at all times !