Romeo and Juliet of swans split up by jet ski collision on river Shannon
TWO lovebirds for 20 years have had to be split up after a male swan was hit by a jet ski.
Jack Byrnes, who lives on the banks of the river Shannon at O’Brien’s Bridge, said the cob and pen have been together for around two decades
“Their nest is right across the way from us. We call them Romeo and Juliet. It was a really lovely story. We keep a close eye on them. Last year, the female got caught in fishing gear. We had to save her twice so they were too late with their mating. The eggs never hatched.
“This year our couple produced six lovely cygnets and all was rosy after last year’s traumas. However, our daddy swan has had some misfortune. First off we think he was attacked by a mink while protecting his family and he was left bloodied. Then he was hit by a jet ski the weekend before last and his right wing was broken in two places. One of the locals spotted it and he was horrified,” said Jack, who is married to Statia. With the assistance of Michelle Hastings and Edel Ryan they contacted Denis and Rose McCarthy, of Animal Magic in Kilmallock.
“They have all kinds of animals down there. They took the swan for us and called a vet who had to remove the wing. We went up on Saturday to pay a visit. They do incredible work. They are completely voluntary and depend on donations,” said Jack.
The swan will now live out its days in south Limerick instead of the Shannon in O’Brien’s Bridge.
Jack says if he was returned to the wild and to his mate he would die.
“The pine marten or the mink would get him. He wouldn’t be able to fight. We were heartbroken,” said Jack, who along with Statia will be keeping a close eye on the pen and her cygnets.
“We went out kayaking on Sunday morning at 5am to catch the sunrise and we got a picture of the swan and her cygnets. We found her straight way. Two cygnets were up on her back and four were alongside her. It is nearly a month now since they were hatched so it is right good going that they are still alive,” said Jack.
However, he is “furious” that the incident with the jet ski would happen to a helpless creature.
“We will be starting a campaign to highlight this dangerous criminal practice. We will keep monitoring mammy and her brood and hopefully they will be ok,” said Jack.
She is in good hands as last year they came to her aid twice.
”She got tangled in a line and almost starved to death. We got her free and fed her. Only a week later one of the lads saw that she wasn’t getting out of the water. We discovered she had a triple hook in one of her webs. We had Denis and his wife and a few of the locals out on the same day. We corralled her and myself and my wife and another lad went in. We netted her and got the hook out,” said Jack.