We got a mated pair of mute swans about 10 days ago for our neighborhood pond. The pond is a few acres in size, has an island in the middle ideal for nesting and is 75% fenced. The swans looked content and we were supplementing their diet by feeding them 2-3 scoops of cracked corn flock mixture every other day and some bread every day. Yesterday, they left the pond and before we noticed, and then they were spooked by some dogs and went to a pond 1/4 mile away. We tried to retrieve them from the second pond with 2 kayaks but were unsuccessful. They are pinioned but can scamper from one end to the other when we get close to them.

Questions:

1. Is the best way to capture them with some sort of throw fishing net?

2. And, do we need to feed them more initially to get them acclimated to our pond?