The facts of predication.

The swans taken in February in the snow.

I visited the Wetlands today with Anne my friend. As this was her first visit I was keen to show her the family of swans that I had been photographing over the winter. They were nowhere to be seen. In the coffee shop on the way back I asked where they were. One of the Reserve wardens told me the whole family, with the exception of the cob, had been wiped out, eaten by foxes.

Swans are elegant creatures. We grow up with them on the pages of books, especially fairy tales. Their pure white feathers compliments the lovely curvature of their neck. However, swans can be aggressive birds, and their beating wings can break a mans arm so we are told. They protect their territories from other swans, and from strangers, but it appears that this family could not defend themselves from the urban foxes that prowl the wetlands area at night. They were all wiped out, the pen and the six cygnets. The cob survived the attack - just. We were told he was miserable for a few days but is now making good ground and back on the water.


Anne and I were sad to hear this, but reasoned that predication is all part of the animal kingdom. However, I was surprised to hear that a fox can kill an adult swan, but then I know very little about these things. The Reserve warden explained that if a fox gets the swan by the neck it disempowers the swan. Whatever the circumstances it's a fact of life I suppose, but a terribly sad one.