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I don't know if you were aware of this, but there was a front page story in last week's Detroit Free Press about a male mute swan on Devil's Lake in Lenawee Co. which had become very aggressive because of years of harassment by jetskiers/boaters. The MDNR had decided to capture and euthanize the male swan, even though a significant number of residents on the lake objected and felt it was not the swan who should be punished for the bad behavior of humans. Since over 50 citations for wildlife harassment against boaters there in the past 5 years had not resolved the problem, the MDNR decided that this was the only solution. At any rate, a MHS member who has a farm with ponds that are aerated so they don't freeze in the winter graciously offered to have the swan and his mate relocated there if we could persuade the MDNR to allow this. I began working on this last week and despite all my efforts with a variety of people, I was not geting them to change their position. I finally went right to the Director of the MDNR this week and was finally able to get them to agree to this plan.

Within the next two weeks the swans will be live-trapped, pinioned, and relocated to the private pond to live out their lives in tranquility. (Their eggs will have to be shaken each breeding season to keep them from reproducing---a MDNR requirement since they are a non-native species). All in all, I am very relieved and gratified that we were able to save his life.

The MHS and I are especially thankful to Dr.Jim Sikarskie of MSU for offering to do the pinioning for free, and to the Lenawee Co. Sheriff for backing us up when the MDNR didn't want to change their decision.

Governor, others save cranky swan from death sentence

The misbehaving swan that was scheduled to be captured and killed by federal and state wildlife officers will instead be moved from his home on Devil’s Lake near Adrian onto the Ann Arbor farm of General Motors Corp. Vice Chairman Bob Lutz and his wife, Denise.

The deal to spare life of the swan was finally settled Tuesday, after nearly two weeks of negotiations between the Department of Natural Resources, a Lansing legislative lobbyist working on behalf of the Lutzes and Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s office.

The swan’s death sentence was his punishment for attacking personal watercraft users who dared tread too close to his cove, his mate for life or their five cygnets. The Department of Natural Resources settled on the capture and kill plan after the Lenawee County Sheriff’s Department asked for help in solving the dispute that was turning neighbors against neighbors and creating a divide between people who own personal watercraft and people who don’t.

During the last three years, the sheriff’s department had received at least 50 complaints about the swan attacking people and people attacking the swan.

“I really was about to give up hope,” said Eileen Liska, a lobbyist for the Michigan Humane Society who late last week turned to Granholm’s office after striking out with DNR officials.

Bob and Denise Lutz are honorary board members of the Michigan Humane Society. Even after being told no thanks to her offer to take the swans more than once last week, Denise Lutz said she knew it would happen “because we have reason on our side.”

“We are looking forward to welcoming Mr. and Mrs. Grumpy to the Lutz Farm and feel fortunate that we have the room for them here,” Denise Lutz said Tuesday. “We are confident that they will love the farm and will fit in well with our eclectic mix of people, swans, donkey and horses, cats, dogs and various woodland creatures….I love happy endings.

Penney Melchoir, the acting assistant chief of the DNR wildlife division, insisted late last week that the state would not change course because it was following its policy for handling dangerous wildlife. She said Tuesday that it was satisfying that an agreement to save the ornery bird was reached.

USDA wildlife officers may launch their capture in the next day or two. From there, the swans will go to Michigan State University for medical exams and wing-clippings. From there, they’ll be transported to the Lutz Farm, where they can stay year-round on the one of two ponds that don’t freeze. The Lutzes had to agree to shake the swans’ eggs each season to prevent them from hatching.

“It was a lot of work for one bird, but in a situation like this the amount of work is worth it” Melchoir said, “There was a lot of public involvement in and you have to take that very seriously and make sure you’re doing the right thing.”