11/17/2002: Swan rescue
 

http://cellar.org/2002/swan.jpg

Here we see two firemen who have repelled down the side of a falls to rescue this very young mute swan, which had become trapped in rocks.

They promptly strangled the hell out of it for wasting their time.

Believe me if you ever pick up a swan you damn well want to be holding its head or it will bite the shit out of you. The swan's other weapon is the front edge of its wings. It swings them like a club and it hurts.


The way to pick up a swan or goose is to grab its neck right behind the head and pull it forward fairly quickly and get your other arm around its upper body pinning its wings against your side. Keep hold of the head with the other hand. Avoid the feet by keeping them back and way from you. Luckily the critters tend to come at you with their heads forward and extended so they present a pretty easy grab.

Now I'm confused
 

The registration drained all my thoughts about the swans................I probabaly (sp?) had some tho.

Now I remember,............ what exactly is that other guy holding ????
A swan party cloak ?

Based on Beletseri's information (thanks! - stuff I never knew), I would imagine that's some type of "cloak" to keep the wings close to the swan's body (and therefore, not striking at you). But I could be wrong.

Looks like some sort of net bag that they hope to stuff the swan into. It looks to me that they are wondering how the heck they are going to manage that.

Hehe. The guy on the right is looking at it, thinking "Okay. This... goes over that. Sure."

Did they put a helmet on it, too?

It's probably a net bag to act as a restrictive body-sock or something, so all they have to do to haul it back up is watch the head, I guess...

FYI:
 

FYI:
The mute swan breeds in the British Isles, north central Europe and north central Asia. It winters as far south as North Africa, the Near East, and to northwest India and Korea. It has been successfully introduced in North America, where it is a widespread species. It is a common breeding species and permanent resident in various locations throughout Michigan.

Physical Characteristics
Mass: 9 to 13 kg.
The mute swan is a large bird, measuring 57-62 inches. The wingspan is 7-8 feet. The two sexes are alike in appearance, except that the male is generally larger than the female. Its plumage is white, and it is best distinguished from North American swans by the knob at the base of its upper bill, and the color of the bill itself--orange, with the tip and base colored black. The head and neck of the swans may sometimes be stained brown from water and mud containing iron.

it's in the bag
 

That looks like a climber's rope bag. I bet the firemen had a few laying around empty after they set up their rappels, and just brought one down.

And yeah, the one holding the swan is probably saying "What do you think, about fifteen pounds? We're going to need extra stuffing".