We (Valle Vista Golf Club and Conference Center) have a pair of (I assume) Mute Swans. We do a lot of weddings (298 ceremonies last year) and there is a pond behind our clubhouse (see attached picture) where the Swans frequently are a "backdrop" to wedding pictures.

Our problem is that the Swans frequently exit the pond and either come up to the club house or wander down a golf course fairway. We need to find a way to keep them from exiting certain areas around the pond (about 90 percent of the pond's perimeter). We could then "fence in an area where we would allow the swans to exit the pond, thus controlling where they can and can not go.

Of course, since the Pond frequently serves as a wedding photo backdrop, the 'swan containment system" can't detract from the beauty of the Pond.

Do you know of any "swan pond containment systems" or ideas that have been successfully used? Is there an system available similar to the Electronic Fence Systems that are available for dogs?

I've been thinking about a system where I would drive steaks into the pond to where the top of the steaks would be just at water level. Then I would run cables or ropes (one about an inch below water level and a second about 5 inches below water level) so that (hopefully) the swans would not be able to swim past the cables to reach the shore. Or, instead of cables, maybe run between the steaks some type of wire mesh or screen about 6 inches wide.

Do you have any thoughts about the safety (to the Swans) or probable efficiency of a system as described above?

Tom Kern
Valle Vista
Greenwood, Indiana