I attend Iowa State University and we have a pond on campus that is home to two mute swans named Sir Lancelot and Elaine. They are a tradition at Iowa State and a symbol to the university and many of its festivals, but contrary to their names, they are both females. This fact is little known among university students and I found this out just myself not too long ago. I also learned not very long ago that female swans do in fact lay unfertilized eggs. Every spring students and faculty make a big fuss about the nest that the swans make and the eggs that they lay, but no one ever seems to care or notice that no babies ever hatch. My question is, do the females notice? And if so, do they have emotions such as humans and get sad or depressed that their eggs aren't hatching? Because they spend a lot of time and effort sitting on that nest and keeping it up, so I'm wondering if they're able to notice that they aren't going to hatch and if this upsets them?
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