It was a typical August evening in St. Ives, Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom, when Gill Start went out to the River Great Ouse to feed a local family of swans. As part of Start’s daily routine, she expected the visit to be just like any other — until she arrived at the river and found one of the swans in immediate danger.
The baby swan, or cygnet, was severely tangled in fishing line, and although he tried to wriggle free, he couldn’t remove it on his own. That’s when Start decided to call for help.
“I feed this family daily,” Start wrote in a Facebook comment. “[I] saw the fishing line, and my husband reported it to [The Waterfowl Sanctuary (TWS)].”
TWS received the call late in the evening and rushed to the river the following morning with a kayak in tow. The dedicated rescuer mapped out the swans’ last known location, then jumped into his kayak and began paddling.
“The location was a fair way from roads and required a long paddle to and over a lock until they were eventually found,” TWS wrote on Facebook.
The rescuer soon located the bird and attempted to capture him carefully, but the scared boy kept bolting out of his reach. A few minutes and a brief chase later, he corralled the swan into a wall of river grass using the kayak’s pointed bow.
The rescuer secured the swan by his wings and gently pulled him into the kayak. That’s when he got a clearer view of the wire tangled around the swan’s beak.
“The hook was found in the corner of his mouth, and the line wrapped around his bill twice,” TWS wrote. “Fortunately, the hook was barbless, but it was tiny and not apparent which way the bend went.”
As the rescuer swiftly unraveled the tangled fishing line and removed the hook, he heard a low growl from the tall grass surrounding them. A second swan, the injured baby’s dad, emerged moments later — and his protective parenting instincts instantly kicked in.
“The removal became more exciting when the dad got involved,” TWS wrote.
You can watch that moment here:
The father swan charged at the kayak, hissing at the rescuer and flapping his wings in an attempt to save his son. He circled the kayak with a watchful eye as the rescuer finally removed the rest of the fishing line from the baby’s beak.
Within minutes, the baby swan was freed from the fishing line and able to open his beak freely again. The rescuer checked over the cygnet’s body for injuries, then decided that the baby was overall healthy and ready to return back to his family.
The rescuer pushed his kayak away the river grass, then gently lifted the cygnet back into the water. The swan’s father quickly followed suit and was elated to see his baby return to the river, but he refused to let his protective shield down until the rescuer finally left.
The rescuer pushed his kayak away the river grass, then gently lifted the cygnet back into the water. The swan’s father quickly followed suit and was elated to see his baby return to the river, but he refused to let his protective shield down until the rescuer finally left.
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