Yours is the second case of a swan being caught in a pump in the last two weeks. Glad to know that she is doing okay.

Now, are you absolutely sure that you have a male and a female swan? If so, how do you know this? Have you had them sexed or was DNA Sequencing conducted? Males will pair up with males and females will pair up with females. If you got them from someone else and they told you that they physicially sexed them, this might be the problem. It is very difficult to establish gender until at least 1-2 years of age using physical sexing. DNA Sequencing is the most reliable gender identification process.

There are two possibilities:

1. The second swan did not appreciate the other swan getting hurt and making him stay in the barn instead of having his freedom. He may think that the swan's injury may lead to his being picked up again and placed indoors.

2. If they are both males or both females, mating season is upon us and territorialism may be kicking in. DO NOT separate them for long periods of time as this may aggravate the situation. Having said this, you cannot allow one to be mauled or seriously injured by another, so you must monitor the situation.

Try the following:

Wait a couple of days and see if things might cool down. If they don't, recapture both of the swans. DO NOT LEAVE them alone. If the aggressor starts to pick on the second swan, immediately intervene and say no. If the swans are used to you and consider you the dominant swan, this might work. We have used this technique during evacuation procedures during hurricanes. Sometimes swans will get aggressive for being indoors. If you immediately step in, even gently capturing the aggressor and stating NO, the behavior may work its way out. Swans have major differences in personalities and this behavior may just have to be settled between the two swans. The major key is to MONITOR so that no one gets hurt. If aggression leads to injury, you may need to separate and find another mate and remove one of the swans from your pond (meaning send the second swan to someone else's pond). Good luck. The Regal Swan