“The Coldest Day of December”
The interesting thing about mute swans is that they mate for life. They reach maturity around 2 years of age and that’s when they start scouring the pond for available males and females. The pond turns into a veritable bar scene on a Friday night. Female swans swim by, preening their white feathers, coyly bowing their heads, shunning males who seem to be too interested, and wagging their enormous tails only feet away from the male swans. Male swans seem to go crazy over the females when they wag their tails and quickly swim away, returning a ‘come hither’ glance as they make their escape. The male swans are all about keeping themselves immaculate. They have very elaborate bathing rituals where they can be seen dunking their entire bodies under water, then doing flapping dances to shed the water, then dunking themselves again, and finally smoothing the feathers on their heads by rubbing them backwards against their long backs. I have to admit, the first time I saw this behavior, I thought the swan was either drowning or convulsing and I got really panicked. The male swan also has an elaborate dance he performs in front of the female, and the best male dancer wins the hearts of every female on the pond. But, in swan society, males don’t keep harems, so the best female wins, and then they pair bond for life.
Mute Swan mating dance
Swans are excellent parents. Both the male and the female swan sit on the nest while awaiting their eggs to hatch. Once the cygnets are hatched, both parents take equal care in the feeding and raising of the children. When the cygnets are first hatched, their feathers aren’t thick enough and they tend to catch cold quite easily. But, it’s important they get into the water, even on their first day after hatching, so that they can learn how to forage pond plants, which is their natural food source. If a cygnet is too small and weak, the mother swan will place him on her back and take a swim around the lake.
Prince and Princess never had children, but they built elaborate nests and would sometimes drag small stones into the nest and take turns sitting on them. It was quite a sight to see, but I also felt sorry for them because it became apparent how hard-wired the instinct is to have a next generation of children. They did this nesting ritual for 23 years together.
