Thread: OMG! Kayaker Drowned by Swan

In the Chicago area there are companies that own swans and rent them out for the summer months in pairs to homes, businesses and parks.
Some people use them as decoration for their ponds while othere rent them to keep the geese away.
The geese are considerd protected/endangered, unfortunately there are large numbers here and anywhere there is a pond or lake you will find geese making a mess. Imagine the small flat mess Sam makes times 100 solid pieces. It is a big problem for golf courses. Some golf courses run a dog by the ponds, this seems to keep the numbers of geese down since they are messy and damage the course by pecking and making holes. The company will regularly check on the swans and the nest they float in the lake or pond since they also will own the offspring. This guy was just checking on them. Probably did it hundreds of times before this accident happened.

im be damn/they should be pillows by now.

That's a sad story. Just a few days ago I saw something on TV about some unlikely animals that were deadly to humans and swans were one of them. I thought it sounded a little out there at the time. Now this. As far as ponds not being deep, the one I fish regularly is 29 feet deep in several areas according to my depth finder.

I guess I would be using
a swan as a flotation device

^^^ Thats what I said Blacktip.

I used to feed the big white geese down at Fhope pier all the time. Several times, they attacked me from behind and it hurt. Couldnt imagine one of those swans getting after me.

Sad story for sure!


I use to bream fish every day in the bayou in front of my house as a kid. There were tons of swans that would lay there eggs around there. Me being the the kid I was, I always had an interest in getting their eggs. Needless to say, those damn things are mean. It took me a while but I finally learned the mallards and wood ducks weren't as aggressive.

Wow that's crazy. Talk about attack of the birds. Had to be some kind of freak accident. Just a scenario but imagine it could happen. If he were to panic, he tips the kayak, it flips up and hits him in the head. He's disoriented and gets hit again by the bird trying to swim to shore. Imagine a 30-40# bird on top of you attacking. He panics as he goes under and takes a breath of water and its all over. My condolences to his family and poor daughters who will grow up with out a dad.

Too sad