Swans vs coons

[J3172]

I work at a place with a lot of swans and we always seem to find dead raccoons by the water in the swan pens, I think distemper, but co workers think that the swans are killing them. I personally can't see a swan killing a raccoon, what do you think?

 

[dacjohns]

I do know I guy I worked with once said he was attacked by a swan. He said the foot was the size of a dinner plate and coming at him fast.

 

[Teach97]

I would bet a swan could get the job done....

 

[LAMchop]

An adult swan can do a mean number on a person. I could totally see a swan taking out a raccoon, especially during breeding season. Swans are kinda scary...

 

[LizzyJo]

I worked at a place that had a large pond and a pair of beautiful black swans. When the female was nesting, the male would go up on the road and try to chase cars away. Scary for sure.

 

[Ibicella]

Swans can and have killed people before by bludgeoning them to death with their wings. They are also very aggressive and don't tolerate much getting into their personal space. I would be totally unsurprised if they were killing coons, who would probably see their cygnets as a tasty meal if they can get their paws on them.

You could always do an autopsy on one of the coons and look for bruise marks and broken bones.

 

[JROOSTER]

My mother who lives in Alaska saw a swan knock a Bald Eagle out of the air and into the water by her house.

The swans were in the water when the eagle swooped in to grab one and my mother said it was amazing the swan stood up in the water spread its wing and poped the eagle and sent it tumbling into the water. The swans just swam off and the eagle had to flounder its way to the river bank and sat on a stump for about an hour to dry off.

 

[J3172]

well the pair of black swans had three babies but now only one because of raccoons. So the black swans which have raised over 30 cygnets in their life time couldn't protect them from a raccoon so if swans could really kill a raccoon why wasn't it dead in the pen with them?

 

[babyblue]

swans, black ones in particular are very viciously protective of their eggs and young. if the raccoons manages to get a baby or two there was more then likely several raccoons. adult coons don’t travel in groups but a mamma will keep her babies with her until they are adults to show them the ropes.

friends of ours have a pair of black swans, it seems to be the male is infertile, which is a shame because they try their best to hatch out babies every year. they are kept in their pen all incubating and for a while after because they will go after everything near their pen.

 

[Mama swan]

Swans can and have killed people before by bludgeoning them to death with their wings. They are also very aggressive and don't tolerate much getting into their personal space. I would be totally unsurprised if they were killing coons, who would probably see their cygnets as a tasty meal if they can get their paws on them.

You could always do an autopsy on one of the coons and look for bruise marks and broken bones.

This is the biggest fallacy I’ve seen! Swans have not killed anyone. There was one instance where a guy was chased by a swan and fell in the water and drowned. They claim the swan attack and kept him from getting back on his little kayak and he drowned, but the swan didn’t not directly kill him. There are no other cases of swans killing people. Swans are only aggressive when they feel threatened or protecting their cygnets. Swans are actually very sweet and beautiful. I’ve been around a lot of swans and cygnets and not once gave I ever been attacked. Stop spreading lies.
But yes, a healthy swan is capable of killing a raccoon.