Trumpeter swan clan raises orphans in Iowa
MAQUOKETA, Iowa (AP) — A pair of trumpeter swans has welcomed five orphans to its growing family in northeast Iowa.
The Telegraph Herald in Dubuque says the cygnets joined “Fred” and Fredericka” and their own cygnet after their mother was killed last month by a coyote that slipped into a protective enclosure in Clinton County. The father was injured by the coyote, and the young swans needed a safe place to stay for the winter.
Jackson County Conservation offered to raise the swans with their own swans in a fenced pond at the Hurstville Interpretive Center north of Maquoketa.
Officials say for the first few days, the foster parents warily eyed the newcomers but it didn’t take them long to spread their wings, so to speak, and welcome the new swans.
