SWANNING AROUND IN ONSLOW!
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Two of our carers in Onslow, Gordon and Brigette Hughes had an interesting time rescuing some swans. Here is Gordon’s first hand encounter:
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“On Saturday the 30th of November 2004 we got the call from our local Ranger to say that the people at the Onslow Salt mine had found a number of swans that had strayed into the salt crystallising ponds.
The mine people had rescued four which they had put into a machinery pen, but they had seen a couple of others and hadn’t been able to catch them. They thought they may have flown off.
When we arrived at the mine we saw the four they had managed to roundup. At first glance they looked a bit like ice carvings with the all the salt encrusted on their feathers. In other circumstances the sight would have been attractive as the sun glinted off the crystals on their body like some sort of arctic image.
All we could see though was the stress that the salt and heat was causing these poor creatures. We knew that we needed to help them shed their salty coats quick or they would be in serious trouble. Two of them could hardly stand and the others were not much better.
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We immediately loaded them up and took them home where it took about 25 minutes to clean each one of them off. As we were not really set up for this type of rescue mission we had to impose on a nearby neighbour who had an old bath in the backyard. This was carried into the old chook pen and gave the swans a welcome area to soak.
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While my wife and I were busy cleaning the first four swans our Ranger was valiantly trying to get another trapped bird out of the edge of a salt pan. She ended up to her thighs in stinking mud and despite her efforts she was unable to get out to the bird.
In the mean time another swan was located at the mine and this was rescued and joined the others in the cleaning programme. The people at the mine did a great job.
When the Ranger came and told us she couldn’t get to the last bird we went for a look to see what could be done. After clambering over a couple of sand dunes and down to the salt pan we saw the poor creature which was fast becoming bogged and obviously suffering in the heat (As were some of the exhausted rescuers by now!)
We returned home and took an essential break as we racked our brains about how to try and save this last swan. We borrowed some planks of wood from one of the mine people and returned to the salt pan (cursing the flies and the heat as we carried the wood and ropes back over the sand dunes)
Fortunately when we returned the bird had made its way a bit closer to the edge and we opted to try and lasso her. This was good in theory, but in practice revealed that neither of us would star in a rodeo as our rope throwing technique left a lot to be desired!
After about twenty minutes of failed attempts we finally managed to get a rope around the swan and were able to pull her gently across the mud to safety. She was pretty stressed by the time we got her out and we rushed her back home where we washed her and ourselves off.
The combination of heat, mud and flies certainly tested everyone’s will but it all seemed worthwhile when we saw all six birds start to improve.
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We were able to let five free the next day at the Ashburton River , and arranged for the other one to go to Karratha as it needed treatment for an eye injury.
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As we let the five go in the Ashburton River they were joined by about seven other swans who were there. The sight of them all swimming off up the river together was very satisfying.”
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