Alas, they were just a little too far away to get a nice photo. Brian and I enjoyed the cool water. Sharkdog, not so much. He's not really a water dog. But he does look good sitting next to the water.
A little later, the swans decided the grass looked tastier near where we were sitting. I was quite excited to see they were coming our direction.
Have you ever watched a swan swim? Half the time, they were swimming like this:
See the little foot sticking up? I think they had their bodies twisted so one foot was in the water and the other one was not. You can see the same thing going on with the mama swan in the top photo. Do ducks swim like this as well? It made the swans very effective at moving sideways.
They were all nice and cute until they actually got to where we were sitting. Then Papa Swan started hissing at us. Hissing! It was the most terrifying Anatidae experience of my life.
I tried to get a video of the hissing, but he was almost finished with us by the time I turned on the video, so doesn't sounds all that scary. And I don't want you thinking I am a sissy. Trust me, it's a threatening hiss.
Finally, Papa Swan was satisfied that we weren't going to attack them (though I'm pretty sure Sharkdog wanted to play with them), and he let Mama Swan and Baby Swans enjoy the lush green grass. After they noshed on the grass for a while, they headed off into the sunset. Well, not so much into the sunset, but they headed off nonetheless.
After the whole hissing incident, I was rather happy to see them go.
2 comments:
I actually had this same experience with a goose the other day. Apparently he thought I was a little close to his babies (although the babies were the ones coming to me, I was standing still). He spread his wings and flapped them wildly while sticking out his tongue and hissing. I don't blame you for being fearful.
Yes, goose hissing is actually frightening. So is turtle hissing. I used to think only snakes hissed, but it isn't true:). I used to live in Skaneateles, NY and I absolutely hated the ducks that lived there. They got fed by people and would always be very aggressive if you were trying to picnic by the lake. And, one of them sat on one of my shoes. Let me tell you, they are very oily and it stained them. I will stick with fussy animals like dogs and cats and horses, thank you:).
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