A rather sad follow up to the story of the little cygnet we rescued...

Having taken it to the wildlife sanctuary on Monday evening, the cygnet was put in with 5 much smaller cygnets also recently rescued. The older cygnet at the centre was still too ill to be introduced to a friend at this stage. The centre owner felt that "our" little one would be fine with the others due to its size. The following morning when the owner went in to feed them, "our" little one was dead with signs that the 5 smaller ones had attacked it.

Obviously this was very sad for us, but it does show how strong instincts in the wild can be as the family of 5 appeared to decide that the bigger bird was a threat and ganged up on it and despite their smaller size managed to overcome it.

Having spoken to others at Priorslee Lake, it seems that from a start of 9 hatchlings, only 1 now remains. It is thought that the others were taken at various ages by a mink which lives in the area- again nature in its most natural form I suppose.