Our Hero

Last night, during our regular evening walk, Jimmy became a hero. As we were cruising down the road, we noticed a “Wildlife Removal” truck speed through the neighborhood. We immediately thought that we were about to see Crocodile Hunter Sr. (he was about 75 years old) wrangle a giant alligator in one of our many neighborhood waterways. (We’ve already had one sighting in the community lake.) We continued walking and happened upon his parked truck. Croc. Hunter Sr. was standing on a dock, waving for us to come over. He said “can you come help me?” I laughed and said “um, is there an alligator involved?” Because he must be crazy if he thinks I’m bring my baby Turtle near a ferocious gator. I mean, she is in her terrible twos, but I still want to keep her around. ANYWAY. He laughed and said “no, I need to catch this swan.” OK, so that sounds a little bit better than a green, scaly, fanged animal with short, but very fast, legs. The swan had a fish hook caught in his foot, which was tangled onto his back.

Long story short, Jimmy and Croc. Sr. spent about 15 minutes trying to corner this poor swan into the edge of the waterway and, after a few hisses of his nasty black tongue, and several attempts to outsmart the two swan wranglers, the little guy was in Croc. Sr.’s possession. He’s now in the care of a vet who will remove the hook and send him to wildlife rehabilitation before he is released back in his hometown of Leland. So, Jimmy, who left the house expecting just a brisk walk with the girls, ended up coming home a wildlife hero. We call him The Swan Whisperer. Making the world a better place, one hurt, hissing swan at a time.