It’s that time of year again. Fall brings mildly cooler weather, all things pumpkin flavored, and in Lakeland, the annual Swan Roundup. Similar to the UK’s Swan Upping, the Lakeland Swan Roundup allows the city’s government to get a count of how many swans are currently living in the city. It’s also a way for the swans to get their annual check-up. At 7 a.m on Tuesday, October 18th, spectators can watch this unique Lakeland event.
The Lakeland Swan Roundup
During the Lakeland Swan Roundup, Parks & Recreation employees will carefully gather the swans to get them ready for their annual veterinary check-up. The swans will be confined in large holding pens on the south side of Lake Morton for their annual wellness examinations. Examinations are done in partnership with My Pet’s Animal Hospital. The Roundup allows the City to closely monitor the health and vitality of Lakeland’s swan population.
During the wellness exam, vets weigh the swans and look them over for any signs of deteriorating health. Sometimes, the swans receive inoculations based on results from the exam. Baby swans, or signets, get a micro-chip.
After the Roundup, the City will know just how many swans are living in Lakeland. Each year, mating swans produce signets and over the past few years, the birds have produced a lot of offspring!
The history of Lakeland’s swans
As all local Lakelanders know, the first two swans were a gift from Queen Elizabeth II in 1957. But Lakeland had quite a large population of swans even before that. In the 1920s, seasonal residents of Lakeland (aka Snowbirds) wanted to have swans as pets or as nice animals to adorn their winter homes. By 1926, Lakeland had over 20 swans and their numbers continued to grow for the next few decades. However, by the 1950s, the last two swans passed. The swan population had succumbed to things like dogs, alligators, and human interactions.
Enter Queen Elizabeth II. In 1956, a former Lakeland resident who was living in England decided to a make a plea on behalf of his hometown. The Queen of England, among many other titles, is also the Seigneur of Swans. Although now just a formality, the royal family technically owns all the swans in England and has since the middle ages. The queen responded to the request for new Lakeland swans and donated a pair of mating swans from the royal swannery.
Unfortunately, later that year, the male swan was fatally injured. Eventually, the widow had to take a commoner swan as her mate. This makes the swans of Lakeland only half royal.
The UK’s Swan Upping
Lakeland’s Swan Roundup is a similar exercise to the UK’s Swan Upping. The Swan Upping is the annual census of the swan population on a particular stretch of the River Thames. Participants are called Swan Uppers and they form a flotilla of traditional Thames rowing skiffs. They row steadily up the Thames, lifting swans out of the water and checking their health.
The Swan Marker’s iconic five-day journey upriver has been an annual ceremony for hundreds of years, and today it has two clear goals; conservation and education.
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