This is the breeding period for swan, which can result in some unusual behavior, according to Barnstable Senior Animal Control Officer Charles Lewis.
BARNSTABLE – Animal control officers have to deal with a host of issues this time of year, from wayward swans to injured sea ducks, to foxes and coyotes warming up in garden sheds.
Barnstable Senior Animal Control Officer Charles Lewis said over the weekend, a swan that he has had several dealings with this winter was holding up traffic on Short Beach Road at the intersection of Craigville Beach Road in Centerville.
Animal Control Officer Cindy Sherman got a call from police that the swan was blocking the road. “What they did was they brought it down to the water,” Lewis said.
Lewis said he has seen this behavior before and he believes he has even dealt with this same swan. “Normally, once a year when swans decide that they’re going to mate, they kick out their young. They send them away. So, my opinion is, the swan probably was just pining, because its relatives said, you need to move away because we’re going to have another family here,” he said.
And this is not the first time this has happened in the past month, according to Lewis.
“I’ve had problems with the same one a couple of times now, I believe,” he said.
There was also a swan in nearby Craigville Village pecking at the side of cars.
Lewis has an explanation. “It sees its shadow and it thinks it’s a mate so it wants to have company,” he said.
He also blamed the fact that people feed the swans for some behavioral issues.
But it is not just swans that are acting out this winter, Lewis said.
“Wildlife has been an issue in that everything is seeking shelter and a lot of coyotes and foxes will appear all of a sudden under someone’s shed in the backyard,” he said. “They’ll dig a small place and go right under there out of the weather.”
Lewis said his department gets a lot of calls from people thinking the animals are sick, but, he said, they are actually just trying to get warm.
“It’s also breeding time for them as well. That’s why we see more of them. And the weather doesn’t help, because with their colors, they stand right out against the white background,” he said.
Another winter issue involving animals is that high winds can bring sea ducks in to shore. “They are all over the place,” Lewis said, explaining, “A sea duck can’t fly from the ground. It actually has to fly from the water.”
The department has rescued 20 to 25 sea ducks this winter and taken them to Cape Wildlife in Cummaquid for veterinary care. The birds are given fluids and then released back into the saltwater. “They are dehydrated,” he said.
