Here’s something to make you “awwwwww”. A mother swan is leads her babies around a pond when one of them decides to hop on their mother. Suddenly, all the babies start rushing mom to climb aboard as well! It’s one of those cute nature moments that momentarily makes you forget the gross poop they leave all over your local park.
Female swans average three to nine offspring a year and can live anywhere between eight to twelve years in the wild. That means it’s possible for a swan to have over 100 children in it’s lifetime! That’s a lot of videos of baby swan riding on your back.
Unlike most geese and ducks, swans don’t mate for life. They do, however, tend to roam with their mate for a couple years before moving on to the next one. It’s not known why swan pick different mates as opposed to following the tradition of their brethren. Perhaps divorce is more accepted in the swan community.
Swans are known for their aggressive behavior. Their beaks are strong enough to kill or greatly injure predators, and their wings are powerful as well. Due to it’s large size, Swan don’t have many natural predators save humans, whom they cannot kill with their beaks. I can say from first hand experience, however, that a Swan bite hurts like hell.
Maybe you’re a fan of the movie Black Swan and you thought the title was a metaphor. Well you’d be correct on that assumption, but Black Swans do exist in Australia. Curiously enough, they swim with only one foot. Black Swan then use their other foot to steer around the water quickly, as if it were a boat propeller. This is unique as they are the only species of Swan to exhibit this behavior.
I feel like I’m giving you way more information on Swan than you’re comfortable with. Breathe easy, I’m done, but if you do want to know more check out this page.
