Barb Deeg and some of her neighbors have grown accustomed to seeing two swans and their babies swimming near their homes on the shores of Lake Orion. But now, Deeg said some of their neighbors are petitioning to have those swans euthanized, claiming they are overly aggressive.
‘The people on the other side of the lake want to euthanize the swan,? said Deeg from the deck of her Park Island home. From that spot, Deeg has a clear view of the swans? nest, which sits just across the lake. She said doesn’t know who actually started the petition.
‘There’s a male and a female swan…the (Oakland County Sheriff’s Department) Marine Division mentioned wanting to euthanize one, but then someone told me both,? Deeg said. ‘They said the swans are being aggressive…that’s not their natural way. Those of us that stay out of their way don’t have a problem.?
Deeg said the swans have often swam near her yard, and she even has a picture of her grandchildren standing near one. She said the swans have never shown aggression towards her or any of the neighbors she’s talked with.
?(The swans) don’t like the jet skis,? she said. ‘This pair of swans have been here for several years. Last year they had a couple of babies…I was told they were killed by jet skis.?
Deeg and Nancy Vona, who also lives near the lake, said they have seen jet skiers taunting the swans.
‘These jet skis are out of control, they have no respect for (the swans),? said Vona. ‘It’s not the swans? fault…I think this is wrong (wanting to euthanize the swans). I don’t care that (there are jet skiers), but they need to respect the wildlife.?
Deeg said she believed a jet skier was attacked by a swan, which led to the petition for euthanasia being circulated.
‘The swans have been around my property, they just do their swimming,? she said. ‘I’ve been on the lake for 12 years, and this is the first time I’ve ever heard of such a proposal.?
It’s was Deeg’s understanding from what she learned from an OCSD Marine Division deputy sheriff the euthanasia was all set to take place this past week.
‘The swans are still there,? she said.
Deeg said her neighbors who live across the street, there for 25 years, were also upset about the proposal to euthanize the swans.
‘I’m not sure what we can do,? she said. ‘I don’t know if this will make someone aware of the problem we’re having. I hope whatever comes out of it is positive.?
Deeg wondered if it would be possible to relocate the swans if they were causing a problem, instead of euthanizing them.
‘Like what they’ve done with Canadian geese,? she said. ‘I just think (euthanasia) is the wrong approach.?
Sherry Klopp of White Lake Township, who works with the Save our Swans swan rescue group, said she investigated the petition and was told by Mike Bailey, Director of Wildlife for the State of Michigan, that mute swans, like the kind in question on Lake Orion, were protected under the federal Migratory Bird Act and could not be killed.
‘They would need a permit to (euthanize),? she said. ‘They are federally protected birds, not just state-protected, so they can’t do that.?
Klopp said the only thing the petition had brought about was not a permit, but a report from David Marks, an inspector with the Michigan Agriculture Department.
‘He’s the investigator of this incident,? she said. ‘There are alternatives to euthanasia. They could move the swans, but they’d have to move them out of state, otherwise they will just return to the same lake.
‘They do not have to be killed. They are not born to hate jet skis, but when they are harassed so much…they can become aggressive towards them.?
‘They won’t attack unless they’re attacked first,? added Vona.
Deeg added that inlets, like the ones where the swans are, are no-wake zones.
‘So jet skiers shouldn’t even be acting like that here in the first place,? she said.
According to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources website, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled in 2001 that mute swans are migratory birds, affording them protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, a federal act, and that mute swans were previously not protected under federal law.
The site said before 2001, protection was left exclusively up to the states, and that Michigan had a long history of affording all swans, including mute swans, protection under state law.
The site said an amendment in 2004 to the Wildlife Conservation Order, said that mute swans could be taken as provided by a ‘federal depredation permit, if the permit is countersigned by a state wildlife biologist.?
The order further stated that state wildlife biologists would not sign the permit if it allowed for the swan to be released back into the wild in the State of Michigan.
The order also said a person issued a federal-state depredation permit could take and dispose of mute swans only as provided by the federal-state depredation permit.