Swans frozen in Prospect Park Lake....

furrygreyboy · January 2009

The 2 swans on the lake (near the peninsula) appear to be stuck in the ice. One was visibly struggling to free itself but not having any luck - 311 have put me through to Animal Care & Control - after waiting for 10 minutes to speak to someone, the line went dead.

About to try again - any suggestions?

witch-king · January 2009

It's called natural selection.

opossumqueen · January 2009

ASPCA?

ASPCA’s Humane Law Enforcement department at (212) 876-7700, ext. 4450

ljnd · January 2009

This is from the Brooklyn Vet Group website:

For Wildlife rescue and rehabilitation:

1. SEAN CASEY ANIMAL RESCUE Brooklyn, NY - (917)734-0442 (also has pets for adoption)

2. The Raptor Trust (Birds only) Millington, NJ (908) 647-2353

3. Scales and Tails Pet Rescue serving the tristate area: www.scalesandtails.org

MOD · January 2009

Yes, please help them!

furrygreyboy · January 2009

witch-king wrote: It's called natural selection.

Looks like it might just have to be....

ACC only deal with domestic animals
Prospect Park hotline directs you to call 311....

The ASPCA hotline seems to be more for animal neglect/abuse... not sure frozen swans are covered...

The Raptor Trust suggested calling none-emergency police... next call.

Maybe the swans will free themselves as the day warms up and the ice melts? I just couldn't do nothing but realize it's a tough call since swans can be aggressive when threatened - and then there's the difficulty of actually getting to them on the ice... aargh.

furrygreyboy · January 2009

The 78th Precinct gave me a number for the police in the park - the guy I spoke to is going to advise the Parks Department people "when they get in"

Hope the sun does it's thing and fast.

modsquad · January 2009

Unfortunately... (an article from circa 1932)

ljnd · January 2009

You know, you're so great for making these calls and really trying. Not all good work ends in good results, but that doesn't diminish the value of your attempts.

modsquad · January 2009

What's up with the ducks FurryGreyBOy. Are you getting your nachos all in a row for the Superbowl???

flo · January 2009

Damn. Had a thought that maybe birders(http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ebirdsnyc)
would know where to direct you.

I found this info on NYC Audubon's website:

"NYC Audubon is pleased to announce the launch of our new bird information hotline! If you have any inquiries about rare birds you have seen, need help identifying birds, or have general bird question you can call 212-691-2003 or send an email to [email protected].

http://www.nycaudubon.org/home/

flo · January 2009

Prospect Park Audubon Center (718) 287-3400

Only other thing I could think of is the Audubon center in Prospect Park.

furrygreyboy · January 2009

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I got a call back from a guy at the Parks Dept (2nd 311 call message was directed to them) and he was going to send some park rangers to see if there was anything they could do. Guess I'll see if they're still there tomorrow.

BTW. Ducks may be smarter than swans - not a duck in sight. So much for the nachos :-)

flo · January 2009

That's great. Glad to hear 311 came through for you.

bullyboy · January 2009

Thank you for your persistence and your caring.

clementine · January 2009

I had the same thing happen last week! One swan, quite apparently stuck; I tried throwing some bread at it, but it couldn't compete with the more active seagulls. I spoke to 311, who filed a report with the Parks Dept. While I was on the phone I saw a fire truck in the park and asked the firemen to do something--at first they demurred, since they had no way to cross the ice, but as I was leaving I saw them go to the swan's location. And when they got close it got up and walked away. I felt kind of idiotic. Anyway, the Park Dept. called me an hour or two later.

hamilton · February 2009

The question is, why doesn't the Park Dept. collect the swans knowing they can't survive the winter in the park .

I would recommend bringing this problem to the attention of Tupper Thomas and ask why the swans havn't been rounded up ,as they have been in the past.

Or is she waiting for the stimulus package to take affect..

comfortably smug · February 2009

This thread is worthless without pics

easilyfound · February 2009

For now, this will do: http://uservideo.weather.com/video/Frozen-Lake-Katrine-With-Swan

easilyfound · February 2009

veets · February 2009

Comfortably Smug wrote: This thread is worthless without pics

Hey watch that video and re-post and take away what you said. You don't really need a picture to imagine the suffering of a creature but if you did.... you got it... and matters not at all that the swan in the video was frozen to the surface of another lake and Not Prospect Park.

This thread was far from worthless.

It certainly brought my attention to a situation that I did not knwo existed and I do go to the park in the winter to walk the dogs. Just never realized. Screw survival of the fittest! there must be a way to make sure this doesn't happen every winter.

furrygreyboy · February 2009

Veets - thanks to your comments I didn't click on the link - doesn't sound like something I needed to see..

Update : the swans were gone today. It looked like the ice had been broken, so maybe they got help. Hope so!

veets · February 2009

Furry.. certainly sounds like good news!

veets · February 2009

Smug, That is terrible new but you did the right thing letting us know.
Furry still did the right thing by being tenacious with trying to get the Swans some help and even earlier this morning the report "might" have indicated a better outcome.

Very sad to hear.

carnivore · February 2009

Comfortably Smug wrote: This thread is worthless without pics

Does this count?

Sucks about the swans.

dominodo · February 2009

Here is a pic taken December 8 in front of the Boathouse. This swan appeared to be stuck too.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34967385@N02/3244482053/

"Lithuanian Society for the Protection of Animals (LGGD) would like to draw the public's attention to the grim consequences of feeding swans in autumn. People are advised not to feed these birds before Christmas.

Swans feed on water plants and algae. Whenever they experience food shortage, they migrate to warmer regions. However a considerable number of swans stay in Lithuania just because people keep feeding them, most often with bread products that provide an incomplete diet and cause exhaustion for swans. Hungry and weak, they then fail to fly and get stuck in the ice that later forms in the water." From http://www.animalrights.lt/214.

flo · February 2009

http://peters-prospect-bird-sightings.blogspot.com/

I still think birders might have the best info on this. My guess is that people who are following the birds in P. Park or C. Park might know if the swans (and what type of birds these two specifically are) are around more lately because of global warming or feeding or what their pattern has been in recent years. The Audubon folks at P. Park might have info.

arock75 · February 2009

Why can't someone put up signs to let people know that the swans, geese and ducks can not properly digest bread? I have heard that popcorn is a much better alternative. Almost seems like the authorities know better and choose to ignore all the people feeding bread to these birds and could not care less.

Swans frozen in Prospect Park Lake....

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