Hardly a week goes by without someone asking me, "Is anything wrong with the Swans legs ?"
From time to time people actually phone the SSPCA saying they have seen a Swan with a broken or injured leg. This is due to the Swans habit of occasionally holding one leg up over it's side and giving the appearance of having a damaged leg!
Worry not, there is nothing wrong with the swans legs and they often chill out with one leg in the water and the other one acting like a sail. They use their webbed feet to sometimes warm up when the water is cold, with the blood supply being heated by the sun. If you enlarge the photo's you will see the substantial network of veins in the foot. The webbed foot acts as a sort of thermostat.
In the olden days they used to make purses from the webbed foot of the Cob, as well as quill pens from the feathers. 
No comments:
Post a Comment