Starting from number eleven there are five new photographs on the Photo Page.
Shires which my friend had to send to the horse trust because of ill health. Mary.
Me and my favourite Rosie having a cuddle. Mary.
Rosie again -aka as miss big bum because the next biggest is on an elephant. Mary.
Me and duchess – her party piece taking a polo mint from between your lips any children watching you must NOT do this. Mary.
TRYFAN the baby. Mary.
Rosie if there is any mud or muck she would find it. Mary.
One of the Black Swans has needed an operation to remove a fishing hooks from its throat. Last Thursday it swallowed the hook after it tried to eat the bait as it was cast into the Lake. To be honest I am not best pleased with any part of the incident. The person fishing wasn’t that experienced. His Father asked if I would loan them a Fishing Rod. I did, If I hadn’t it would not have happened. The next mistake was that when the Swan got hooked they cut the fishing line leaving yards of line hanging from the Swans beak that got tangled in dense trees near to the Kingfisher branch. We eventually managed to release and capture the Swan.
As I had never experienced a hook in a Swans throat I phoned my Veterinary for advice. The advice I got was wrong and what I was told that there was a good chance that the hook would dislodge and find its way out. It would also be unlikely that an operation to remove the hook would be successful. So we cut the line tight into the beak so that there was no line hanging from the Swan.
On Monday evening one of this weeks Holiday Guest told me that a Swan had a large swelling on its neck. It was to late to try to catch it, so we left it to yesterday morning. That was easier said than done. I must have rowed our dingy up and down the Lake over half a dozen times before we managed to capture it, and that was only because the Swan was worn out and we had the help of our Guests.
The swelling was large and it was obvious that the Swan needed urgent treatment. I took advice from an Animal Sanctuary and used their Veterinaries who’s advice would have been completely different from that of my own. The hooks could have been removed under an anesthetic by Endoscopy as soon as possible after the hook was swallowed, for the operation to have a chance of success. If not there would be infection caused by the Lake water and food that the Swan had eaten. There was also a chance of the injury turning into an abscess.
The operation to remove the hook was carried out successfully yesterday. There is a lot of infection that will need strong antibiotics. The Swan is home and will need to be confined for a few days so that we can treat it with the antibiotics. There is no guarantee that the infection will get better. The biggest danger is that the scar tissue may cause the Swans throat to close. We have medication to try to stop that happening, but it cant be guaranteed to stop it. it is a case of waiting to see the outcome.