Down the street from our house, there is a million dollar property called Indian Acres. It is a peaceful spot with a well-maintained pond, an attraction for all kinds of wildlife.
Throughout the year, we see turkeys crossing the street with their young, deer moving briskly in the distance, Canadian geese landing in droves or stray turtles on a mission. It is an amazing spot, perfect for animal lovers.
Rich came home last week and said there were two swans on the pond. He was excited and said they were the whitest swans he had ever seen.
The next day we drove by and there they were, floating along together. It reminded me of the book, “The Trumpet of the Swan” and I knew they were getting ready to have babies. Now I was excited too.
A few days after that, we were driving by and I told Rich we should get a picture. He agreed, and we hurried home to grab our cameras. I don’t have a zoom on mine, so I asked Rich to get some close-ups. We took numerous shots as cars drove by. We felt like tourists.
Later I was in the kitchen making dinner when Rich came in and said there were a few odd things about the photos. “Like what?” I asked. Rich was trying not to laugh.
“There’s an alligator in the picture.”
“What?”
At that point, I thought Rich was trolling me. He asked me to come and see the picture with the alligator. I assumed he was up to something since he is good with Digital Art.
I looked on his computer screen, and there was, in fact, an alligator in the picture. It was a fake alligator and, it turns out, our beloved swans are fake too. In every photo, it was obvious they were plastic. We laughed at how duped we were and how ridiculous it was that we got excited over fake swans.
After a bit of googling, I discovered that mass amounts of geese droppings could be a problem for property owners, so fake swans and alligators are used to ward off Canadian geese.
WE thought the swans were real, so maybe the Canadian geese will too.
http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/wild_neighbors/canada_goose_guide.pdf
I love your story!
We were getting a pair of ducks that were coming each day to swim in our pool. It was quirky and cute until we realized they were pooping in it. We had to scare them away so they don’t come anymore. Perhaps I should have just used a fake alligator.
Awww…that’s too bad, but we can’t have poo in the pool! We have a mallard duck couple that lands in our pond briefly each year but never stays for very long.
I was ready to drive over and see the swans.
Haha…I know. Was so exciting at first siting!
Best post ever!