By Meg Peters
Review Co-Editor
Orion Township lake front residents now have a more direct way to participate in the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) Mute Swan Egg/Nest Destruction program.
The resolution, which trustees approved at the previous board meeting Sept. 8, allows any lake front property owner affected by the invasive Mute Swan species to apply directly for an MDNR destruction permit.
Without a township wide resolution, lake front residents were required to attain signatures from 70 percent of the lakeshore property owners for a petition in favor of the destruction program.
Applicants for the permit are still required to notify all other lake front landowners of their destruction activities.
The permit, which is valid for five years, will only allow the destruction of the Mute Swans? nests and eggs on an individual’s private property.
Either the resident can do the deed, or he/she can hire out the services of a permitted nuisance animal control firm or agency.
If a lake association is interested in completing the destruction program on the entire lake, the association could apply for the permit, which would be available to all lake front residents, MDNR Waterfowl and Wetlands Specialist Barb Avers said.
Typically permits are site specific, she continued, and gaining in popularity.
‘It’s definitely growing,? she said. ‘It’s a very controversial thing too, not so much the nest and egg destruction program, but when you start talking about lethal control of the swans, it’s very controversial. It’s being talked about more and more.?
Lethal control of the swans, which the township has not approved through their resolution, is commonly done with a gun. A separate resolution would be needed for lethal control.
Avers said control of the swans? population is definitely encouraged for three reasons: to prevent the displacement of native wildlife, to prevent harm to ecological habitats, and to prevent harm to humans and other animals.
Only five methods are approved for egg destruction.
1. Eggs can be sprayed with or submerged in 100 percent food-grade corn oil. Coat the entire surface of the egg.
2. Eggs can be shaken and then placed back into the nest to prevent swans from re-nesting.
3. Eggs may be chilled.
4. Eggs may be removed and disposed of in accordance to Michigan state law.
5. The nest material itself can be removed or altered to prevent re-nesting.
After any destruction activity, residents must fill out a completion report and return it to the MDNR within 15 days.
Why Mute Swans?
Like certain species of phragmites, zebra mussels and carp, the Mute Swan is not native to Michigan.
The invasive swan, recognizable by its bright orange bill, is from Europe, and was brought to America’s city parks and large estates in the mid-1800s. Michigan’s native species, including trumpeter swans and tundra swans, have black bills.
Now Michigan has the largest Mute Swan population of all of North America, according to the MDNR.
It began with a lovely pair of feral swans that inhabited Charlevoix County in 1919. By the 1940s the flock increased to around 47 swans. They spread through northern Michigan, totaling near 500 birds in Traverse City in 1972, and down to lower Michigan, where the population breeched 1,000 around 1982. In 1990, the count reached 2,000 mute swans, spreading to southeast Michigan, and by 2000 the statewide breeding population was estimated at 5,700.
In 2004, federal protection of the invasive swan was removed with the Migratory Bird Treaty Reform Act.
By 2010, the invasive population rose to over 15,500.
Even with mute swan management activities, that began several decades ago, the MDNR estimates their population growth to increase by nine to 10 percent per year.
Not only are mute swans territorially aggressive towards humans, known for their attacks to people too close to their young, they are also one of the most aggressive waterfowl towards other critters on the lake, the MDNR reports.
Mute swans have been known to displace native species from their breeding and feeding territories, achieved by both physical attacks as well as reducing their food sources.
They are also a concern to biologists because they occupy their territories year-round, unlike many other types of waterfowl that fly to warmer climates in the winter.
After watching mute swan population trends and behaviors, which the MDNR first recognized as issues in the 1960s, thereafter three statewide goals were set.
The long-term goal is to minimize the statewide mute swan population to less than 2,000 birds by 2030. The two short-term goals include reducing statewide growth to zero by 2016, and to eliminate mute swan population on DNR administered lands by the same year.
For more information on acquiring a mute swan destruction permit, visit the MDNR website http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/2012_Mute_Swan_Policy_378701_7.pdf.