Beyond bizarre: 37 y.o. Man attacked and killed by swans. He was their "caretaker".

[99th_Monkey]

Illinois man dies in attack by swans
By David Ferguson
Wednesday, April 18, 2012 10:25 EDT

A man whose job was to maintain and care for the swans at a suburban condominium complex in Des Plaines,
Illinois was killed yesterday in what appears to have been a freak attack by one or more of the birds, according
to a report at KSDK.com.

Anthony Hensley, 37, paddled his kayak too close to the nest of a mother swan, who knocked the man from
the boat and pursued him as he tried to swim for shore. Witnesses reported seeing two of the birds circling
where Hensley went down for the last time.

Approximately 30 minutes after the attack began, Hensley’s body was pulled from the water by police. The father
f two was described by family members as healthy and athletic, but he was thrown into the water fully clothed
and wearing boots.

MORE: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/04/18/illinois-man-dies-in-attack-by-swans/

[Kaleva]

1. This belongs in the "When good swans go bad" group.

[99th_Monkey]

3. LOL - my bad. nt

[MrScorpio]

2. Swans don't kill people...

Hmm, wait a sec.

Actually, they do.

[Posteritatis]

4. Swans are jerks. (nt)

[geckosfeet]

5. Why is it bizarre that animals defend their territory? They probably have young

in the nest - or at least a nest full of eggs this time year.

on edit - wild animals are not to be trifled with

[99th_Monkey]

8. It's bizarre because SWAN KILLS MAN

is about as unusual as MAN BITS DOG.

I challenge you to show me another such case, where a swan
kills a human and I'll retract the b-word; otherwise it stands.

[geckosfeet]

18. The poor guy drowned. He was not pecked to death by a swan.

Use your head.

The swan attack got him in the water where he floundered and probably got caught in the weeds. Struggling to get out of the water and avoiding swan pecks exhausted him and he drowned.

Keep the b word. Animals must defend their territory. I never suggested that you remove it in the first place. I just do not think it was so bizarre.

[99th_Monkey]

20. I suggest you check out some of the other posts on this

Swans can be very aggressive
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002579999#post12

I had a swan try to go after me at an office park pond.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002579999#post7

This site says drowning is a swan tactic
http://www.itsnature.org/what-on-earth/10-deceptively-dangerous-animals/

No this is not a joke, the Swan is indeed our number one this time round! The reason the Swan has claimed the title for most deceptively deadly is because it really is just that. Although the birds are generally revered as graceful creatures and a symbol of love, they are very aggressive when it comes to protecting their young. Swans will literally fight to the end to protect their young from predators and won’t hesitate to bite you and hit you to try to deter you. The sneakiest trick that the Swan has is to try and drown would be predators by attacking from above and forcing the predator underwater with the hopes of drowning the predator. This goes for humans as well.


How can you just ignore all this anecdotal evidence.

You should be very afraid of swans.

Do not be deceived by their seemingly calm exterior, as it's just a ploy to go on a killing rampage.


PS - Oh, and if you haven't figured out by now that I'm just having a little fun with this, and am not really 100% serious, then God help you.

[stuntcat]

6. they knocked him over for going near their nest :}

being good parents! His boots and heavy clothes kept him from swimming out. Someone probably gunned down the birds anyway, the animals are always killed whenever mistakes happen.

[Starry Messenger]

7. I had a swan try to go after me at an office park pond.

They are scary fuckers. I wasn't even looking at it or leaning into its space.

[no_hypocrisy]

9. Some ugly ducklings grow up to be ugly swans.

What Hans Christian Anderson didn't tell you . . . . . .

[angstlessk]

10. He actually sacraficed his life cause he did not want to kill the swans that wanted to kill him

He should be hailed as a hero...he love the swans more than he love his own life!

[jp11]

11. More like man knocked from boat by swan(s), unable to swim he drown, clothing and boots blamed.

[Yo_Mama]

12. Swans can be very aggressive

My mother waitressed summers at a restaurant in PA, Bucks County when she was a teen. This would have been in the 40s. The restaurant had a patio, which overlooked water. It was at least 50 feet from the water. When the colony of swans in the water became irritated, not only would they chase everyone away from the water, they would chase all the outside diners into the restaurant.

My mother described irritation stemming from a boater coming down the river and invading their territory. She saw boats capsized, and several rescues. Usually they'd be able to get away in time.

Swans are big and tough and can do damage when they go after you. My mother got badly whacked at that job, and she saw the swans draw blood from the diners. I believe they were a colony of mute swans, which are supposed to be the most aggressive.

1960s Illinois naturalist's letter:
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/natbltn/600-699/nb616.htm

The instinctive behavior is to attack and drown invaders in the water, so that's probably what they did to the guy. Swans will kill geese that way.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=T70utOcrMG8

Also dogs and swimming kids. It's not safe to be in the water around swans when they are nesting or have young. They get really vicious then. I don't think this residential area is an appropriate place for swans.

[jus-theFACTS]

13. they can be a bit aggressive. nt

[Edweird]

14. The swans didn't kill him - he killed himself. A clearly weak swimmer with no life jacket.

Swans (as well as other waterfowl) are HARMLESS. Their 'bite' has less pressure than a clothespin and THEY HAVE NO TEETH. It like textured plastic. All they have is attitude. It's completely psychological and it obviously works on a lot of people.

[99th_Monkey]

15. It isn't just the biting beaks, is also flailing wings and scratching feet, all at once. eeek ~nt

[99th_Monkey]

16. This dude murdered by swans, absolutely KNEW HOW TO SWIM

And i KNOW it's true, cuz I saw it on TeeVee.

[Edweird]

22. Africanized Mexican vampire swans.

[Frank Cannon]

17. Swans are basically gorillas with wings

Seriously, I've heard of several cases where swans have put broken limbs and put people in the hospital. Obviously, the swans were just defending their territory and their young, etc., and they can't be blamed, but don't think that they're absolutely harmless. Like a lot of creatures in the world, they need to be treated with respect and more-or-less left alone.

[Edweird]

21. You're telling me that a swan waddled up to someone and broke their bones? Seriously?

Do the swans where you live have opposable thumbs and carry baseball bats or something? Or did the people injure themselves fleeing a bird? I've dealt with swans and I'm pretty sure I could take one in a fight if need be. I've also been 'bit' by them and it was roughly similar to a plastic clothes pin - slightly uncomfortable at worst.

A cassowary can hurt and kill you. A swan is no cassowary. A swan is just a big stupid bird with a rounded off Plaskool beak and a lot of attitude and not much else.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

27. A co-worker of a friend of mine was hospitalized from a swan attack.

My buddy works at a hospital in the area of the OP story. Their grounds maintenance man ended up in the ER and admitted. He was even embarrassed to admit it was from a swan attack. My buddy says the guy was beat to shit.

[XemaSab]

25. You ever been attacked by geese?

There's more than one of them, and things get freaky fast.

Hell, I have had cardinals draw blood, and that seriously hurts.

[Enrique]

19. this site says drowning is a swan tactic

http://www.itsnature.org/what-on-earth/10-deceptively-dangerous-animals/

No this is not a joke, the Swan is indeed our number one this time round! The reason the Swan has claimed the title for most deceptively deadly is because it really is just that. Although the birds are generally revered as graceful creatures and a symbol of love, they are very aggressive when it comes to protecting their young. Swans will literally fight to the end to protect their young from predators and won’t hesitate to bite you and hit you to try to deter you. The sneakiest trick that the Swan has is to try and drown would be predators by attacking from above and forcing the predator underwater with the hopes of drowning the predator. This goes for humans as well.

[BlueIris]

23. When swans attack.

Damn.

[Ron Obvious]

24. How to deal with an angry swan

"Every young man starting life should know how to cope with an angry swan, so I will briefly relate the proper procedure. You begin by picking up the raincoat which somebody has dropped; and then, judging the distance to a nicety, you simply shove the raincoat over the bird's head; and, taking the boat-hook which you have prudently brought with you, you insert it under the swan and heave. [...] That was Jeeves's method, and I cannot see how it could be improved upon."

[Prometheus Bound]

26. Why, that's pretty good advice for us older folks, too.