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Removal of mute swans OK'd by WB board
The West Bloomfield Township Board of Trustees at its Monday, June 18 meeting unanimously approved a resolution to remove mute swans, their nests, and eggs from township lakefront homes.
This move comes after Michael Mankvitz, a board member of the Middle Straits Lake Association, wrote a letter to township Clerk Cathy Shaughnessy on behalf of the residents of Middle Straits Lake regarding issues with aggressive swans in the area.
Mankvitz stated that incidents with swans have included attacks on small boats, watercraft, kayaks, waterskiers and wakeboarders that have resulted in injuries and erratic boating to avoid swans.
He noted that mute swans are not a native species to the state and that the swan population has increased from about six or eight swans three years ago to over 30 currently.
Mankvitz said that the population growth has led to damage to the lake’s natural habitat and ecosystem. He added that ducks, herons and other waterfowl species are being chased away by the swans.
Township Trustee Steve Kaplan said that the resolution applies to the entire township, but lake associations will have the option to opt out if they don’t want the state Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to come in to remove swans.
In the meantime, the resolution will be sent to the DNR, which is then expected to come in to handle the situation at Middle Straits Lake at a time to be determined.
The DNR in January created a Mute Swan Management and Control Program Policy with the short-term goal of reducing the statewide mute swan population growth to zero on all lands, and the long-term goal of maintaining a spring population of less than 2,000 mute swans throughout Michigan by 2030.
According to the DNR, mute swans were brought to the U.S. from Europe in the late 1800s and those swans that escaped from captivity have established populations in a number of states.
In fact, the DNR states that the mute swan population in Michigan originated from one pair introduced in Charlevoix County in 1919.
In 2010, the DNR counted the mute swan population in the state at 15,500, up from about 5,700 in 2000.
Mute swans are protected under state law and can only be removed under a DNR-issued permit.
The way someone can tell a mute swan apart from Michigan’s native swans, the trumpeter and tundra swans, is that a mute swan has an orange bill and a black knob at the top of its bill.
45 Responses to Removal of mute swans OK'd by WB board
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lindsay cooper
June 20, 2012 at 1:31 pm
Oh you mean the pretty ones — those are the swans you want to remove. Not good.
christine
June 21, 2012 at 11:06 am
What? Kill the swans? Are you nuts? There must be a different way to deal with them than to kill them. These lakeowners ought to be ashamed of themselves. And I don’t think just the Lake Association people should have the last say. Maybe get rid of you and keep the Swans huh? Maybe you are bugging them? Maybe you and all your power boats and whatever else you put in the water is a hazard to them? and they are letting you know it!!!!!! Get over yourselves and get on with your life and leave the Swans alone
Barb Harrison
June 21, 2012 at 11:07 am
I can’t believe folks want to kill the mute swans. Perhaps if folks wouldn’t try to hurt them by hitting them with jet skis, boats, etc, there wouldn’t be any problems. They are not hurting the egosystem. Should we remove people, or their favorite dog or cat we don’t like next? We need to protect animals and others who can’t protect themselves – not kill them! Shame on Michael Mankovitz and his Pella Windows and Construction Company. I guess I know where I WILL NOT go for the windows I am planning to replace!! Shame on you Mr. Mankvitz and the West Bloomfield Township Board for allowing the killing of beautiful creatures!! This is a true black eye for West Bloomfield and Middle Straits Lake. What kind of nasty people live on that lake?
GG
June 21, 2012 at 9:36 pm
Shame on YOU Barb for attacking someone personally or attempting to put their job at risk because they exercised their right to voice their opinion on a problem that concerns them. How about you rely on the facts to respectfully support your position instead of resorting to the equivalent of schoolyard bullying?
By the way, it’s not an “egosystem” it’s an ecosystem. Here’ a little suggestion for the next time you decide to leave a lovely comment. Maybe pay a little more attention to the actual issue and less attention to being “nasty”?
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 12:03 pm
GG – and maybe you should take your own advice on the nasty part.
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 4:41 pm
Thank you for letting us know who this Mankovitz character is and what his business is. Last time I looked, this was still America and there is nothing wrong with your freedom of speech in publicizing the name of this person’s business and boycotting it. Anyone who opposes the killing of swans would not want to support the business of a person who thinks he has the right to condemn an animal to death because it inconveniences his jetskiing.
Kim
June 21, 2012 at 12:21 pm
If trumpeter swans increase their population then are we going to kill them as well? Is killing the only option? A lake is their habitat not ours. We are threatening them by polluting the water and recklessly riding a jet ski, etc. Killing is not a solution!!
*******
June 21, 2012 at 6:31 pm
No Kim, Trumpeter swan ARE the reason the Mutes have to go.
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 11:44 am
Actually, NOTHING has to go at all. Mutes and Trumpeters, as well as other species of swans, get along reasonably well (all birds are territorial and aggressive when nesting). In other countries where the swans are not persecuted and manipulated like in the US, there is no problem with them co-habitating.
By the way, Trumpeters are deliberately being placed in areas they have never existed before, thereby making them “invasive species” in those areas and setting them up for hunting.
*******
June 22, 2012 at 6:27 pm
“By the way, Trumpeters are deliberately being placed in areas they have never existed before, thereby making them “invasive species” in those areas and setting them up for hunting.”
Just where would that be? The native range for the Trumpeter swan ranges from Alaska to the Gulf of Mexico.
You are poorly educated AND a liar.
ABS
June 23, 2012 at 1:13 am
Boy, you really know NOTHING about swans. That most certainly is NOT their natural range.
Sharon
June 21, 2012 at 1:16 pm
For those actually concerned about the overpopulation of Mute Swans and the impact on the environment, please read the facts from the State of Michigan and DNR who has authorized the reduction in population. There are also facts on the aggressiveness of the swans toward humans in this brochure. Here is a link:
http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/MuteSwanFacts_final_366761_7.pdf
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 12:09 pm
It might be a lot more intelligent to find material that is not propagated by the same government agencies whose goal is to kill the swans. Their position is highly compromised by the fact that they cater almost exclusively to the hunting population. Therefore, there is a conflict of interest.
Provide scientific material by an impartial agency and that material would be relevant. Anything else is part of a connected agenda. And by the way, Michigan has little data of its own. Its data is taken from Maryland, a state with no natural lakes, and a state whose research was thrown out of a federal court and called “junk science.” Which means it was false and worthless.
Jessica
June 21, 2012 at 1:57 pm
Don’t trust anything from the “government” when it comes to animals, Sharon. The government doesn’t care about animals or the cruelty people inflict on them. It proves itself here in Indiana day in and day out.
*******
June 21, 2012 at 6:32 pm
Indiana? Good God woman, keep to your own business.
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 11:46 am
The business of protecting wildlife from idiots and government manipulation is the business of ALL people whereever they live. And Jeff, you really are showing your mysogynist tendencies.
Charmaine
June 21, 2012 at 3:12 pm
Disgraceful! How dare you want to kill any animal…they were here first…remember that! The people who live around the lake and want this done should go live somewhere else. You idiots live on a lake not a concrete swimming pool!
*******
June 21, 2012 at 7:13 pm
Actually no, Mute swans were not here first. You are either poorly educated or purposely lying.
The larger, less aggressive Trumpeter swan was here first and one of it’s major hurdles on it’s comeback form extinction is the competition from the Eurasian Mute swan.
Charmaine, it’s good to be passionate but it’s even better when you have some understanding of the subject being discussed.
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 11:51 am
Actually, ******* (gutless coward who doesn’t post your name) YOU don’t know your facts. Even if the swans were brought here, they were here before the lake communities were built, so they WERE here first.
There is no reason why non-lethal and humane methods of limiting the population could not be used, rather than slaughtering the swans. In Europe they have no problem with these birds, and they exist in far greater numbers in much smaller countries (with identical habitat and similar wildlife). The reason is, over there, people are taught to RESPECT the wildlife and educated to coexist with them. Here, we just get rid of anything that inconveniences us.
*******
June 22, 2012 at 6:35 pm
“Even if the swans were brought here, they were here before the lake communities were built, so they WERE here first.”
The so called “lake communities” were first founded in 1818 on Silver Lake in Waterford, this precedes the introduction of Mute swans in this area by at least 80 years.
Why do you continue to LIE?
ABS
June 23, 2012 at 1:10 am
Swans were brought to the US from the 1700′s.
DNR Rogue
June 23, 2012 at 3:29 am
Waterford recently voted not to kill swans on their lakes.
GG
June 23, 2012 at 10:27 am
Coward pot meet gutless kettle? I am pretty sure your parents didn’t name you “ABS” so I don’t think you can point fingers here? I wouldn’t use my full name when dealing with crazies like you either.
DNR Rogue
June 23, 2012 at 10:50 am
GG – since you’re using initials yourself, your point makes no sense. Are you related to ****?
As former DNR, I can tell you that, far from crazy, this ABS person knows exactly what is going on. So far, I don’t see any posts from you that indicate any knowledge of this subject whatsoever.
Better to keep your mouth shut and be thought stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.
Good advice for you to take.
ABS
June 23, 2012 at 10:52 am
Oh, I have a finger for you, GG.
Greg
June 21, 2012 at 3:21 pm
It has come to the attention of the Middle Straits Lake Improvement Association, that a board member may have contacted you to request a resolution from West Bloomfield Township that would call for the removal and nest destruction of Mute Swans. We wanted to make clear that there is no unified board position on this subject and that this person’s request should be seen solely as coming from a concerned citizen and not speaking for our association.
We as a board have discussed the matter and have not come to a general consensus on this issue. If in the future we do pass a resolution, I will forward that to you as the Secretary of the organization.
Thank you for your time and consideration in this matter.
ABS
June 21, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Those of you who are questioning the logic of this killing are correct. I have been working on this issue nationwide for the last 8 years and the truth is, there is only one reason why the killing of Mute Swans is being so aggressively pursued: the hunting lobbies and their buddies, the DNR, US Fish & Wildlife and the like are trying to get rid of the Mutes to supplant it with the Trumpeter Swan as the next trophy animal in the bird hunting world – the largest North American waterfowl. The Trumpeter was hunted to near extinction and now they are bringing it back – so they can kill it again. This has been a goal for decades, but it wasn’t until 2005 when the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was secretly amended and removed protection for the Mute Swan. This was buried in another piece of legislation and never voted on by Congress or a committee. Since then, states have been killing off Mute Swans in secret. If you lived on a lake, one day you noticed your swans were gone. Local government told you they flew away. They were actually killed in the middle of the night and dumped in landfills.
While it is true that the Mute Swans were brought here, and are therefore an “invasive species”, they were brought here 200 and in some areas 400 years ago. (How many of us have families that go back that far in America?) Some no doubt did fly here on their own, as they accompany other swans species and migrate over Europe, Asia, the Berin Straits to Canada and down to the upper US. Since we have “Europeanized” the US, it is irrelevant whether the bird came here naturally or not – its habitat here now is identical to its habitat in Europe, and we have made it so. The swan causes no problem in the other countries where it lives, much smaller countries and its population is in much higher numbers. Why does it supposedly cause the problems here that the DNR claims it does, when it does no such thing in other countries, where it lives in the same environment and with similar oither species? Because the DNR is LYING. (As for invasive species, the DNR and USF&W import plenty of invasive species when it serves their needs. In fact, they are responsible for the majority of the invasive species here,)
The population count of 15,500 Mute Swans in Michigan is laughable, as at NO time have there ever been more than 16,000-20,000 Mute Swans in the entire United States, and that was before states started mass killing them. Swan populations had remained stable for years. There has been no excessive growth. The fact is, Michigan has no legitimate scientific redsearch or data on the mute Swans that shows they are a problem in any way. in fact, they are using Maryland’s data – data which was thrown out of a federal court and called “junk science.” Furthermore, Maryland has no natural lakes at all – how can their data be used by a state with 11,000 natural lakes? Maryland bolames the Mute Swans for the decline of their Chesapeake Bay. They had 3,000 swans until they killed them. However, Maryland detonated a phosphorous bomb in the Bay in the 1920′s, they have tons of industrial pollution and pig farm waste going into the Bay, and they have never EVER met the minimum standards in the Clean Water Act, and 2.5 million birds of all kinds go through the Bay…..but 3,000 swans caused all the problems. Now that the swans are gone, the Bay is as bad as it ever was.
Need I say more about what is REALLY going on here?
Please fight this wherever you hear of it happening – go to your townshiup meetings and stand up for the swans. The DNR is falsely villifying the Mute Swan in order to get people onboard with their killing. All animals protect their young. What is needed in lake communities is more education and respect toward the waterfowl and more enforcement of watercraft laws. In a state with 11,000 lakes, the Mute Swans should be able to live in peace, not slaughtered.
This is the bird revered in fairy tales and immortalized in a classical ballet. It should be protected, not killed.
lindsay cooper
June 23, 2012 at 11:25 pm
Thanks for all the helpful information. Only one thing wrong — what’s needed in lake communities is all of what you said AND fewer people — especially those who do not enjoy the wildlife and seek only to destroy it.
AJ
June 24, 2012 at 5:21 pm
ABS: “Swan populations had remained stable for years. There has been no excessive growth.”
The mute swan population doubles every 7-8 years.
This was determined to be true by a 2003 Washington DC Wildlife Society study which noted a rapid increase in the lower Great Lakes population of feral mute swans. “They used 3 independent data sources to estimate the rate of increase of mute swans on the lower Great Lakes: aerial surveys in spring and autumn at Long Point, Lake Erie, Ontario, Canada 1971-2000; midwinter waterfowl inventory of the north shore of Lake Ontario, 1980-2000; and Christmas Bird Counts on both the United States and Canadian shores of the lakes, 1980-2000. The average estimated population growth rate varied from 10 to 18% per year. The most conservative growth-rate estimate of 10% per year indicates a doubling of the mute swan population every 7-8 years.”
They concluded: “the population could reach as many as 30,000 birds within 30 years. Given that the species is normative and its ecological impact potentially could be large, we suggest that control measures be implemented before the population grows much larger.”
Source: Wildlife Society bulletin, Washington DC, 2003, vol. 31, no2, pp. 407-416. Title: Rapid increase in the lower Great Lakes population of feral mute swans: a review and a recommendation. By Petrie Scott A. and Francis Charles M.
————————
ABS: “The fact is, Michigan has no legitimate scientific research or data on the mute Swans that shows they are a problem in any way.”
That is a lie.
According to the University of Michigan’s Museum of Zoology Animal Diversity Website (ADW): “Swans may attack people who approach their nests too closely. There are records of them knocking boaters off of jet skis. An adult swan can seriously injure children. In addition, mute swans are thought to pose a threat to native wildlife as a result of competition for food, territories, and nesting areas.”
The ADW is an online database of animal natural history, distribution, classification, and conservation biology at the University of Michigan.
Source: http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Cygnus_olor.html
————————
ABS: “The swan causes no problem in the other countries where it lives”
That is a lie.
According to the Canadian Royal British Columbia Museum website: “Mute Swans are known to harass and kill native waterfowl, destroy wetland habitats by eating large quantities of aquatic vegetation, and consume fish and tadpoles. In sufficient numbers, their voracious eating habits can destroy food and habitat that native species depend on. While nesting, Mute Swans occupy a large territory which they assertively defend. They will drive off native waterfowl and wetland species, and will also become aggressive with humans.”
Source: http://alienspecies.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/eng/species/mute-swan
Jeff
June 21, 2012 at 4:24 pm
ABS
Now you are going to tell us that 911 was an inside job and we never landed on the moon, correct?
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 11:35 am
Jeff, I have dealt with people like you for 30 years, and your snide comments pretty much prove you to be either a hunter or a government agency hack. It’s typical. When you have no facts, use insults. You all have the same script. And it says nothing.
You assume people are stupid, and you think they believe the government’s completely falsified material. I can tell you unequivocably that they do not and are increasingly fighting back. I know very few people who like or trust the DNR anymore – and with good reason. In one instance, the DNR literally went into someone’s HOME and shot a family of swans on their private lake through the window, right in front of the people, including children. If Bin Laden lived on my lake, I could see some government agency invading my home to shoot him, but a family of swans?
The only lies here are yours, and I certainly see no facts, data or logic supporting your idiocy. In factr, you’ve pretty much said nothing.
The only reliable research or data MUST come from an unbiased source – certainly not the government agencies who’s main goal is to keep their cushy jobs at taxpayer expense.
Oh, and Jeff – by the way, – you might be interested in knowing that WEST BLOOMFIELD TWP RESCINDED THEIR RESOLUTION TODAY TO KILL MUTE SWANS ON THEIR LAKES.
*******
June 21, 2012 at 7:00 pm
” the truth is, there is only one reason why the killing of Mute Swans is being so aggressively pursued: the hunting lobbies and their buddies, the DNR, US Fish & Wildlife and the like are trying to get rid of the Mutes to supplant it with the Trumpeter Swan as the next trophy animal in the bird hunting world”
THIS IS A LIE…
Why is it that environmentalists so freely lie?
Most likely it’s that poster’s hope that you the reader are as poorly educated and informed as they are.
Trumpeter swans were once hunted to extinction; at one time there were only 50 breeding pairs of Trumpeters in the entire U.S.A. This population has not recovered but is growing thanks to FEDERAL PROTECTION. Still, for every Trumpeter that I see, there are at least fifty Mute swans.
I have to ask though, if hunting birds was the true intention, why not just shoot the Mutes?
NOT ONLY DO YOU LIE BUT YOU ALSO FAIL AT LOGIC.
“The population count of 15,500 Mute Swans in Michigan is laughable”
Really? I’ve had them in my yard 50 at a time… We have 80 or so that winter over every year.
That’s on ONE LAKE! By your numbers we have 11,000 lakes…. Extrapolate.
It’s is clearly evident in reading this thread of replies, that the majority lack any actual knowledge or first hand experience with this animal. I invite you to spend some time outdoors; watching Jack Hanna won’t get you there.
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 12:16 pm
*********:
Simply calling statement “LIES” and NOT LOGICAL” without providing a shred of research, data or material to support your comments marks you as a massive jerk.
Which we already could see by the fact that you lack the integrity to use initials or a name. That also makes you a gutless coward.
Add to that the fact that your quaalude diatribe consists mostly of insults makes you pretty much irrelevant.
And if that didn’t make you irrelvant, the fact that West Bloomfield will NOT be killing their swans certainly does.
There’s an expression you should learn, since it will apparently be the keynote of your life: Even God won’t argue with an idiot.
Guess that’s good enough for me.
DNR Rogue
June 23, 2012 at 2:01 am
Swans don’t flock.
They are highly territorial and require large areas per pair/family, so it is simply completely impossible that you would have 50 swans in your yard.
Given only 2 swans per lake, with 11,000+ lakes in Michigan, that is over 22,000 swans without factoring in cygnets. That is more than the swan population in Denmark or Great Britain.
Dude – you’re just embarrassing yourself.
Rob Ritchie
June 22, 2012 at 6:56 am
Two comments I have.
1. I have seen firsthand this swan over on Middle Straits Lake. It is very dangerous. It is going to kill or seriously hurt someone. I have seen it attack a jetski on two different occasions. They did nothing to provoke this animal. It just took off for it and started attacking.
2. To all you people that say the swan was here first, etc. Have you ever killed an ant? A mosquito? A fly? Trapped a mouse? I am sure you all think that is ok, what is the difference here? They are animals. I am not saying to kill them, but human life is more valuable than a swan. I would hope they could capture the swan and take it somewhere away from people where it would be safer and probably much happier.
ABS
June 22, 2012 at 11:38 am
Thanks to the outpouring of intelligent people who responded strongly and compassionately, I am pleased to tell you that:
WEST BLOOMFIELD TWP RESCINDED THEIR RESOLUTION TODAY TO KILL MUTE SWANS ON THEIR LAKES.
ABS
June 23, 2012 at 1:28 am
Your comments are those of someone who knows nothing but tried to act like he does.
Without offering any verifiable facts or details of your own, all you do is call people liars. That hardly supports your claim to know anything. You sound like a moron.
Furthermore, as an agent of the DNR, I will tell you in no uncertain terms that you will be arrested and charged if we find you have been deliberately killing swans. This is still against the law.
I suspect that you are just a loser who is sick enough to get kicks by trolling sites like this and try to aggravate people, but I will be asking this site for your IP address and checking into who you are, just in case you turn out to be a problem.
DNR Rogue
June 23, 2012 at 2:04 am
You will have a visit from several governent agencies if we find out you have been harming swans deliberately.
Who're the Fat Womenz?
June 23, 2012 at 5:00 pm
So which of you are the ogres that live off of William’s Lake Rd.? You know, the hairy old girls with the super nasty duck yard out back. What is that, three solid inches of feces in your yard?
When the wind is right, you can smell that mess from the boat launch.
AJ
June 24, 2012 at 12:04 am
Apparently most folks only care if an animal lives or dies when it’s pretty.
No one has a problem killing the ugly/creepy/strange animals.
But if it’s pretty, out come the crazies to bitch and moan about it.
Talk about a sad state of affairs.
ABS
June 24, 2012 at 2:01 pm
AJ ~
The sad state of affairs is that you really don’t know what you’re talking about, and when people are clueless, they tend to make statments that make no sense.
This issue is about swans. Swans happen to be beautiful animals. While beauty shouldn’t be the only reason to save something (although a little more beauty in this world certainly couldn’t hurt), that shouldn’t be a reason to condemn them either.
The reason for not killing the swans has much more to do with the fact that the state of Michigan or anywhere else has never produced any legitimate data that prove that the swans are dangerous or damaging. The government data is corrupted and false because they have their own special interest reasons for wanting to make gullible people believe the swans are a menace in order to get people behind the killing. But there is nothing in their propaganda to support that. And when asked questions or requested to produce supporting data, they will not/cannot.
If you can’t produce legitimate scientific information to justify what you claim, then you have no right to go killing something. Period.
I would – as would many other people – feel the same way about a so-called “unattractive”
animal if it were being unfairly and wrongly villified. Personally, I don’t consider ANY animal or bird ugly, creepy or strange. They all have their place in the world.
AJ
June 24, 2012 at 4:19 pm
ABS: “the state of Michigan or anywhere else has never produced any legitimate data that prove that the swans are dangerous or damaging”
That is untrue.
A simple Google search will show you many legitimate news stories (and even graphic images/videos) of people being attacked and injured by mute swans. Also, according to numerous legitimate sources (including the DNRs of numerous different US States as well as the governments of several countries such as England, Canada, Germany, France, Ireland, Portugal, etc.) at nesting time the mute swan is especially dangerous and children and dogs coming near the nest of a mute swan are often badly beaten and some have even been dragged into the water and drowned.
Further, numerous news reports and scientific/government sources have shown that a blow from a mute swan’s powerful wing can actually break a man’s leg! As well, mute swans can be so aggressive that they will actually drive other waterfowl out of areas where the swans are nesting.
And again, all of this information can be substantiated with a simple Google search. You’ll find tens of thousands of official reports and documentation to this effect. I suggest you start with Michigan’s own DNR website which has an excellent FAQ all about mute swans.
Finally, it should also be noted that in Michigan, there are many conservation groups that support the Michigan DNR’s reduction of mute swan numbers. They include the National Audubon Society, the Michigan Audubon Society, the American Bird Conservancy, and Ducks Unlimited.
Now in my personal opinion, whether these ‘particular’ mute swans should be killed or not, I can’t say. Such a decision should be left entirely up to the folks who are tasked with managing Michigan’s various species. We elected (or our elected officials appointed) these people to do this job and the rest of us need to give them a bit of leeway in such matters since it’s their job to know what they’re doing.
ABS
June 24, 2012 at 6:59 pm
I appreciate your considerate comments, but I’m going to have to respectfully disagree with you on the validity of the Michigan DNR swan research. It is virtually nonexistent and under any circumstances does not warrant the destruction of a species.
ALL animals can be dangerous, most particularly when protecting their nests. However, with Mute Swans, there is NO educational effort to instruct people not to bother them, and I have also seen people go right up to nests in jetskis and deliberately harass them. (You’ve got to be a special kind of stupid to mess with a bird with a 7 foot wingspan.) The state is calling for a mass execution of these swans. Bears can be dangerous too, but I don’t see a mass execution planned for them. Dogs can bite and feral cats can scratch spread diseases, and and mass executions are not planned for them. There is something else going on with the swans.
The most interesting thing is that the Trumpeter Swan is held to a revered status, while the Mute Swan is painted as a menace and the fact is, the lifestyle of both the Trumpeter and the Mute is identical is virtually every way. In fact, the Trumpeter is actually the more aggressive of the 2 swans species. There is a photo somewhere of one actually fighting and grabbing the wheels of a small plane.
I have yet to read complaints about Trumpeter aggression, but there are endless news articles detailing Mute aggression; however, oddly, critical facts are often left out. For instance, there was a news story circulated several summers ago, out of Indiana, claiming a Mute Swan attacked and held an 11-year old girl underwater until her father beat the bird away. What the article didn’t bother to mention was that the girl had been joining some young boys in torturing the swan’s cygnets by throwing ropes tied into little nooses around the birds’ necks and attempting to drag them and drown them. In Europe, there are signs all over parks asking people to respect the swans and not disturb them. Here, we have no respect for them, and blame them when they defend their families.
There are many incidents of Trumpeter aggression in several pages from Trumpeter Swan Society meetings, one of which was written by the ex-President of the group (all USF&W and state DEP, DNR guys, by the way) in which he states that Trumpeters kill baby ducks, grown ducks and geese and will maim or kill Mute Swans. The other paper was written by Joe Johnson, head swan biologist at Kellogg bird sanctuary at U of Michigan. He was like a proud father, talking about the Trumpeters breaking Mute Swan’s legs, and he comments “My money is always on the Trumpeter, in a swan fight.”)
I have no problems with Trumpeters – I happen to love all the swan species. I just find it strange that people are encouraged to hate the Mutes and are stirred up to create a jihad against them when the Trumpeters do the exact same thing. The invasive species argument just doesn’t cut it in view of the fact that A) Mutes are here 200-400 years depending on area and B) Trumpeters are now being installed in placed they have never nested before, making them invasive in those areas.
As far as “unattractive animals” – please don’t generalize by putting me in the category of people who are not helping them. For example, I have been helping with public awareness of the usefulness and importance of bats for years and active in the current issue of White Nose Syndrome” and with bees with the colony collapse issue.
It is a shame that the general public knows more about the Kardashian sisters than their own native wildlife causes, and yes, I wish people were more involved. And EVOLVED.
I do what I can.
AJ
June 24, 2012 at 9:49 pm
ABS: “Bears can be dangerous too, but I don’t see a mass execution planned for them. Dogs can bite and feral cats can scratch spread diseases, and and mass executions are not planned for them. ”
Bears (and bobcats, wolves, and other top predators) have been continuously hunted here in Michigan – many to near extinction in the State. Now obviously this took place many years ago with the fur trade, but for all intents and purposes it was indeed a planned mass execution, with even the State government giving out bounties for animals killed. Still today, if someone spots a bear, wolf, or bobcat nearby, police are just as likely to shoot and kill it as they are to simply dart it and relocate it.
Also, when most folks want to see any of these amazing predator animals in Michigan, they usually have to go far north and be lucky, or visit a zoo. I personally wouldn’t want to come face-to-face with any of them myself, but it’s definitely a sad state of affairs that so few are left in the State. Especially when you consider the current explosion in the deer population in lower Michigan. It was once kept in check by these predators, and now with so many deer running around, there are so many deer-vehicle accidents each year in which people are themselves often injured or even killed.
As for dogs, there are outright bans on certain ones (like pitbulls) in certain areas and any aggressive dog that bites or snaps at someone (especially a child) is often immediately confiscated and euthanized. Further, both dogs and cats that are strays are often rounded up and if no one adopts them, they too are euthanized. I would personally consider that to be a mass execution with the intent of lowering the populations of both. Now whether such acts are in fact good things or not can be debated, but it’s still definitely a mass killing no matter how you look at it.
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ABS: “with Mute Swans, there is NO educational effort to instruct people not to bother them”
This is true. The same can also be said for the ubiquitous Canadian Geese which can get quite aggressive at times. Speaking of which, we could definitely use fewer of those around the Lakes area. You can barely get a game of golf in without running into a goose with an attitude or stepping on goose poo! Eeew!
AJ
June 24, 2012 at 4:26 pm
ABS: “The government data is corrupted and false because they have their own special interest reasons for wanting to make gullible people believe the swans are a menace in order to get people behind the killing.”
Everyone has ‘some’ special interest behind what they do – whether it’s personal self-interest or actual lobbying. However, that does not mean that the data they collect is corrupt or false. There is no actual inherent causation between the two (one doesn’t always lead to the other), and every study will always have some type of bias within it and will likely be funded by someone with an interest in the results.
ABS: “I would – as would many other people – feel the same way about a so-called “unattractive” animal if it were being unfairly and wrongly vilified.”
That is highly unlikely – as unattractive animals (like snakes, turtles, wasps, mosquitoes, mice, rats, moles, bats, opossums, cockroaches, raccoons, skunks, spiders, etc.) are being vilified, trapped, hunted, poisoned, shot, run over, etc. all the time here in Michigan. Yet there’s not much public outcry about any of them. In fact, just the opposite is true: There’s an entire industry set up to eradicate such critters as fast and as efficiently as possible.
Now don’t get me wrong here – I’m not saying that mute swans should in fact be killed nor that the ones specifically in West Bloomfield should in fact be killed. I personally am not in a position to make such a decision nor is it my job to do so. I’m only expressing my opinion that there’s a huge level of hypocrisy when people complain about not killing pretty swans while at the same time killing as many ugly critters as they can as fast as they can.