The Two Brothers

 

 

Meet the Swans: Precious/Marlika | Papa/Mama | Boy | Lady | Boulika | Tristan | Brothers

 

The latest about the Two Brothers:

 

Doing very well: As of October 2005, the Two Brothers are doing very well. They spend much of their time with The Baby (Lady). They’ve learned to give Precious lots of room, and still have plenty for themselves.

 

 

Try the 20-Question Quiz about the Brothers

 

 

 

 

The Two Brothers - near the water - with Baby at the forefront.

 

The new kids on the block! Beside Tweety who was born in the Spring of 2005, the Two Brothers are the newest arrivals at the Lagoon.

 

They were originally three siblings - two brothers and one sister - when they arrived at Lost Lagoon in December 2004. The female died in the summer of 2005 (attacked by an off-leash dog who mutilated her all over on her head, neck and body), leaving the Two Brothers.

 

Swan life can be very hard: Their previous location was surrounded by raccoons and the swans could not put one foot on the ground for fear of being eaten by a family of raccoons. Their previous location was also surrounded by pines that shed their needles into the water. Since swans eat in the water, they got pine needles in their mouth, stuck under their tongue. Over time, the needles formed an ever-thickening cushion that finally blocked their mouth and prevented the swans from swallowing their food. One female swan had died of starvation and the remaining three were also close to death.

 

At the bird hospital: They received good care from their vet and after a week of treatment, were ready to be released in the Lagoon. Ziggy, the Wildlife Technician in charge of wild life at the Lagoon, made sure to release them outside the territory of Precious - who was kept busy by a volunteer on the other side of the Lagoon - so he would not chase them right away upon arrival.

 

New home: They established their new “homestead” on the East side of the Lagoon and stayed together.

 

One full week on the ice: January 2005 - shortly after their release in the Lagoon - was exceptionally cold and the whole water surface froze except for a small patch in Precious' territory. All the swans of the Lagoon walked across the ice to this patch of water but Precious chased them away (he was half-crazed during this period, with so many swans invading his minuscule water patch). While all the swans except these three new ones retreated to the ground around the Lagoon (they normally don't like to be on the ground because they are easy prey to dogs, coyotes, raccoons, etc), the three new swans went to the ice in the middle of the Lagoon. They remained on the ice in sub-zero temperatures, with nothing to eat, for more than a week. The Management of the Lagoon had to intervene and take away Precious and his mate Mrs. P until the ice melted. This allowed the three swans to - very slowly, because they were afraid of Precious reappearing - come to the small patch of water with all the other swans AND EAT!

 

 

 

 

The Two Brothers on the East side of the Lagoon, Oct. 2005

 

As of October 2005, the Two Brothers are doing very well, perfectly adapted to their new environment. And they eat as much as they want!

 

  Mute Swans Quiz

20-Question Quiz about the Two Brothers

(Scroll down to see your results: Number of 'Tries' and number of 'Correct')


 

Number of Tries:  Number of Correct:

To re-start the quiz, reload (refresh) your browser.

Teachers: You may wish to keep score of the 'Tries' and 'Correct' answers.

 

 

Photos courtesy of Fiona Sinclair


Visit our gallery of pictures

Visit our photo gallery

NEW: Swans building nest in inappropriate area  by: Victoria
We have a male and female breeding pair. This year they built a nest in our garden area which is totally inappropriate due to easy access for predators. There would be no protection for them..
NEW: Grieving behaviour after chased cygnet is killed?  by: Maxine
Hi, a lone cygnet swan that was being chased away by its parent (the male swan) sadly got hit by a bus yesterday and killed whilst both were tussling with each other in the air. Today the male swan..
NEW: Re: Swan flight  by: The Regal Swan
Hi Keith Yes, a swan can take off on land or in the water as long as there is approximately 100 ft or more of clearance, i.e., no trees, buildings, electrical wires, fencing, etc. The Regal Swan
Wild swans at Lost Lagoon?  by: Miki and Fiona
I found your website about the swans of stanely park, great site ! I was wondering if you had any info on whether or not, now that the swans have been moved to a wild life reserve, there are any..
Fiona and the swans   by: Message from Karen
pic I have just been in Vancouver for a couple of days and just prior to leaving I took a 5 mile stroll around Stanley Park culminating at Lost Lagoon. There I saw Fiona feeding the swans and I have to..
Royal swan fight  by: Just trying to kill each other!
I got down to the Lagoon on Sunday Nov 27 and things were pretty calm - Tristan and Isolde came up to eat at this end. Then... Bijan came closer - he must have been pretty hungry, and decided he'd..
We’re Walking on Air!  by: Fiona
pic Having just returned home from a trip to see our former Lost Lagoon swans Tristan, Marika and Bijan in their new location, our happiness cannot be measured. We already knew they were in an ideal..
"Attempted Murder"   by: Jørgen Bjerring
pic Yeasterday - May 22 - I saw two Mute Swans in close contact. During the foreplay the biting was not very aggressive and after a couple of minutes it could look like a mating. But after 15 seconds the..
Elephant and Dog share their love of water   by: Admin
pic The relationship of Bubbles and Bella developed because of their shared love of the water. The pursuit of "aquatic antics" instilled a strong bond between these unlikely pals. Watermark on..