Results of Post-mortem

Dr. Crombie from Windrush did a post mortem. This is a service he provides for Brant County Wildlife Reserve at no cost to the persons who bring in the wild fowl etc. The Wildlife Reserve is supported by donations, one of which was made by Foxboro Green.

The results of the autopsy are that Felicity had lead sinkers in her gizard. She, and Felix, would have picked these up off the bottom of the lake. Once they are in the gizard they are hard to remove and impossible to treat because they continue to leech lead until it overwhelms the system.

Is it absolutely imperative that NO LEAD SINKERS be used when fishing in our lake - or anywhere else for that matter. Because they are toxic they are no longer sold, but some people may be using up their supply in their tackle box. They should be disposed of immediately.

Dr. Crombie also saw that the broken bone was mending well.

Sad News

Today I have sad news to share. Felicity died at 8:45 am. I was with her, to feed her and give her water. She was very unsettled and then started becoming more agitated. Within 15 minutes, she died.
This afternoon I took her body to the veterinarian at Windrush Aninimal Services near Brantford. He will perform a post-mortum and let me know the findings. I'll share them with the community.
Jack

Plans

We are hoping that all will go well with Felicity's recovery program. I will continue to feed her myself since I need to monitor her food, medications and movements. By mid-August she should be back swimming in the lake.

The suggestion we have for introducing a new mate is that we should wait until the fall, which is when larger swan centres such as Stratford sell the swans they don't need (for about $200). If we put the two together for the winter, they will be comfortable together when we bring them back to Foxboro in the spring (2008).

Welcome

This blog is about the swan(s) that live at Foxboro Green.
They are a very special part of our community - adding a sense of elegance, grace and peacefulness to our environment.
Photos by Don Hill

Foxboro residents are invited to add your stories of your experiences and appreciation of the swans, as well as your questions, concerns and suggestions for their care.

History

When Foxboro was constructed in about 1996, two swans were placed in the man-made lake. Because they were both male, they were named Felix and Oscar. They truly were "the odd couple", even building a nest together each spring! Each winter they were taken to a local farm.

Oscar died in the winter of 2004-2005 and a female was introduced. Since she was a partner for Felix, we named her Felicity. After a rather difficult introduction, because she kept wandering away to the ponds in the neighbouring golf course, she finally settled in. Each spring the pair built a nest together but they never produced any eggs - that we saw anyway. The speculation was that she was too young.

In June of this year Felix was found dead on the shore of the lake. There were no signs of attack, such as feathers lying about or injury to the body. The body was buried.

A few weeks later we realized that Felicity had very limited mobility. A veterinarian diagnosed a broken pelvis and prescribed an anti-inflammatory and an antibiotic, along with restricted activity (and protection from predators).