I'd better love you

Single, male swan, looking for home 

Finding a home was not easy. It seemed as though every phone call made did not make a difference, except to give me another number or two to call. A couple of folks I volunteer with at Bird TLC gave me names and numbers. I called them, as well as others I found on the Internet. Cold calls. Hey, do you want a swan?

 

Swam, young, needs home.  Any takers?

One place said they'd take the bird, but they didn't have the proper permits (various ones depending on the facility). Another said they had the permits but one had expired and they had to get it renewed. We still have not heard back although I'd made a follow up call. Another said they'd send it to a list they had. It was frustrating and then became critical. I was told we needed to find a home VERY soon. I kept trying.

Voila!!! The list turned up the swan stud keeper. You'd think it was a joke, but there is a person who keeps track of birds who have been on the protected or endangered species list.  That person has places where swans can be sent depending on whether it's a male or a female. 

The volunteer Veterinarian, Karen, pulled blood work that would be sent off to determine the sex, but it would take time to get the results back.

And the bad news … Bird TLC received notice in early-December 2013 that it had to move by the end of the month. I got so scared thinking that after all the time invested that maybe it wouldn't be time enough for the swan to go to a new home. I'd taken care of it, begged for its life, made calls using names and numbers I'd found as well as names and numbers others had given me. What more could I do? My Jacuzzi was beckoning although it sure wouldn't be practical. (Joke …)

 

Volunteers turned out en masse to help get the clinic, and everything that goes with it, moved ... furniture, supplies, mews, kennels, food, tables, birds ... everything.  What a superb group of people are involved with this organization.

 

Moving birds comes down to putting some of the large ones in kennels and transporting them in personal vehicles.

 

This was the temporary holding tank for the swan during part of the move.  The sheets and towels were to help insulate him from some of the noise and motion around him, and during the day we'd move him to another mew to keep him from getting cold as this pond was near the large overhead door being used to move things out of the space.

 

I was heartbroken thinking I'd not done enough, quick enough, and the end result was one that I couldn't think of without shedding tears. But Guy, the Volunteer Coordinator, assured me we'd find a way to take care of it until it got to its new home. But still, I was afraid for it. After all, I'd been telling it that it was the most beautiful swan in the whole world and I wanted nothing to change that.

All the time I'd cared for the swan, I'd called it a her, Willow, for where she'd been found. A few months later? It's a boy!!! New name … Will O. Swan. And the studkeeper has a home for him … at the Baton Rouge Zoo (Louisiana). Best of all, there's a lady friend waiting for him. Yahoo! I hope it works out even if Will O. has a very cozy relationship with a mirror at TLC. But the zoo curator is on vacation until the first of the year, 2014.

 

And then it was time to take the temporary swan pond out ... and the swan moved into a mew until his final move to the new location on King Street. 

The swan settled into the mew but it was not ideal.  As you can see, the swan is not a clean bird.  Maybe there isn't any such thing.  But no matter ... the volunteers are here to be the bird servants, to clean, to feed, to provide medical attention as necessary.  And we all love doing it. 

 

One of the volunteers has vehicles he let us use to move large items.  The swan pond was unwieldy, but finally loaded and on its way to the new place.

 

Volunteers cleaned, moved and did whatever needed to be done.  These folks give unselfishly of their time to do any type of job that needs to be done, and I cannot say enough about how wonderful each and every one of them is.

Last day at the old location ... a little horseplay, a photo bomb, a little levity.  It's always a fun time ... which is one of the reasons we all volunteer ... plus we do make a difference.  And yep, we know it!!

And then it was time to move the last few birds from the old to the new.  Hal, one of the resident education bald eagles , was one of the last three to be moved to the new location.  Channel 2 covered the move.  It's great to get lots of coverage from the media since it may help generate either donations or volunteers.  Thank you, Channel 2.

Channel 2 provided a couple of photos to me.  I moved Will O. from his mew at the old building.

Will O. went into the dog kennel fairly easy, with a little help from Vet Karen and me.  Photo is compliments of Channel 2.

The next problem is where to put the swan until the paperwork is complete and we can ship him out … with the move, space has become limited. He's in a mew, not ideal and not real roomy. Every day new things happen, some quite wonderful. I've prepared his food, and then when walking away heard a different sound, a kind of slurping. I've turned and gone back to see him eating, slurping up his swan slurry, a watered mix of rolled oats, alfalfa pellets, duck and goose maintenance, cracked corn, trout chow, grit, and greens. That is pure joy for me to know he's eating. It's been a very stressful time for the birds, with moving, pounding of nails and things being torn apart, moved, re-assembled in a new location. They all appear to have transitioned pretty well.

The new clinic area was also cleaning up real well, things getting put into place.  It seems that it will be better than what we had at the old clinic, more private for evaluating and caring for the injured ones as they come in, and everyone coming into where the birds are located no longer have to go through the clinic to get to them. 

 

There is a plastic pond at the new location that we may be able to set up once we have room, drainage and a way to get water in and out of it, although it may not be ideal. It matters not … Will O. Swan will have a spot. While he’s not had a pond since the move from the old building, we have been checking those big old webbed feet of his, but they continue to look good.  And at some point soon, he'll be flying off (not under his own steam) courtesy of some airlines and probably some coin, heading for the warmth of the sun and a beautiful new home complete with a lovely live lady of his own (not the relationship with a mirror that he’s had).

While the mew may not be ideal Will O. settled in quite nicely.  The blue food bowl is set inside of a larger one with some water in it as he usually slurps his food then some water.  He also has a tendency to overturn the blue bowl so the larger container helps keep it from being such a mess.  But the other day when I tried to clean he walked into the blue bowl, sat down in it, then tipped it over into the white container.  What ya gonna do?

The mirror that usually faces toward Will and his mew has a sign on it ... no smoking.  He is a juvenile, so you have to make sure he knows all the rules!!!  Haha!!

On January 8, we had not yet been able to put up a pond, so Will O. was still in a mew. There was so much construction and moving about still happening.  I’d gone in early since I had to leave early.  Wednesday is my regular day at the clinic.

BUT …the early morning brought wonderful news.  Guy, the Volunteer Coordinator received a call that the Baton Rouge Zoo was ready for Will O.  OMG!!!  I was so excited I just started to bawl.  We danced around hugging and laughing and crying.  I’m sad to see him go, but glad to see him go because it’s the best for him, out of a small enclosure, able to move around and be with another of his own kind.  Living happily ever after.  That’s how I see it.

Guy asked if I wanted to take Will O. to the airport when it’s time.  You bet, no other but me.  And now we wait to get the export permit. 

In the meantime, a large kennel needed to be prepared for Will O. to travel in, not too big, not too small.  Terri (one of my co-shift folks), brought a proper size one back from the flight center at JBER. 

I cleaned it, bolted it together (although I had to redo it since the wing nuts have to be on the upper side, not the bottom), cut and taped pieces of a sheet over the openings so he couldn’t see out, put webbing inside along with some towels for stability, and put stickers and notes all over it for his safety. 

The webbing and towels are in place inside to try to keep from having any damage to Will's feet during transport

The wing nut on the right is the proper way to put the kennel together.  The one on the left is not.  I had to redo them as I had them installed incorrectly the first time.

 

A sheet covers the openings so Will O. hopefully will not be spooked by anything outside of the kennel.

 

 

Pink tape was all I could find.  But I certainly could find a black marker pen so I could make notes to those who will be handling him during his flights to Louisiana.

I'm hoping the airlines take excellent care of this handsome swan boy.

I reinforced everything with pink duck tape.  After all, Will needs to get in touch with his feminine side since he'll be meeting his lady and he's been used to the mirror relationship with himself.  We’re ready for the shipping date at a moment's notice. 

 

Thursday came and went; Friday came and went … no word.  But the rumor is that Will O. will be flying on Monday … waiting.  And then, no.  Not Monday.  We’re still waiting for the export permit from the state.   Finally ... the export permit.