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Swan Attack!

Because the swan has two 'nicks' cut into its beak to show who owns it. The word 'nick' becomes corrupted into 'neck' somewhere along the line.

The Boddingtons Breweries sign, showing two bees on a barrel, is believed by some to be a misunderstanding of the instruction to the original signwriter to put on two 'B's, meaning Boddington's Brewery.
 
fluffle said:
why is the pub named after the necks of the swans and not the heads? :confused:

It's nicks, you see "The Swan WIth Two Necks" is a corruption of "The Swan With Two Nicks". Ie, one which belongs to the Vintners.



Edit: Sorry. Beaten to it. Two identical explanations for the price of none.
 
Your version is better though as you bring the Vintners into the explanation. ;)
 
Sorry to ressurect one of my own threads and all, but I just found this on that bastion of free reporage, the Weekly World News...

http://www.weeklyworldnews.com/features/suspects/12270


Hmm...

Edit: Oh, and there's this, from the (marginally) more reliable 'Bizarre' magazine...


http://www.bizarremag.com/ask_bizarre.php?id=207

Biut wait, there's this!

http://www.chaffeezoo.org/animals/trumpeterSwan.html

Bring your attention to the section on "Adaptation" - The tird paragraph of which states:

"Man has revered swans for centuries for their elegance and grace, but the feeling is not mutual. Swans will attack any human entering the nesting territory. Every year at least one person working on a swan research team gets an arm or a rib broken. The great birds use their folded wing as a club and they strike at arms, heads and anything else they can reach."

Ahh...
 
Damnit. Even the Bhuddists are down on swans:

http://www.khandro.net/animal_bird_swan.htm

"Its disposition is not as mild and gracious as its appearance suggests. In the breeding season cobs can be territorial and aggressive to intruders, and they have been known to fight to the death. They do not hesitate to threaten other animals including humans who venture too close to their nests, extending their long necks to issue a warning hiss, which again reminds us of the snake. There are many accounts of people who have been injured in encounters with a swan. Some have had an arm or leg broken by the powerful blow of wing or beak, but contrary to popular belief they do not bite. "
 
More reports on swan evilness (with apologies to Swan!) from The Tideway Slug the gossip column of the rowing world. I can't link directly to the reports unfortunately as they are all in a big string.



IT'LL HAVE YOUR ARM OFF...

and talking of swans....

According to the Staines BC website, Tyson the vicious swan that owns the stretch of river near the church downsteam of the club, is back with a vengence.

The evil bird has been rumoured by local residents to have killed twice again this year.

No, not rowers but two other swans that have come a little too close. He apparently drowned them by holding them underwater...

Be careful out there
BIG BIRD?

Tyson the Terror of Staines has apprently been at it again - as he recently tipped their head of rowing out of in his single in an airbourne attack - obviously showing his complete disregard for authority.

Swan attacks are no laughing matter, the largest male mute swan on record weighed 50.7 pounds and they are one of the few species that will fight each other to death. The aggressor "rides" his prey and holds its head under water until it drowns or dies of exhaustion.

Swans kill dogs in the same way, and on at least two occasions, have killed people: a child in Massachusetts around 1930, and in 1982, an Indian fisherman drowned when a swan capsized his boat and beat him on the head and shoulders. One swan has been observed crushing a galvanized bucket and another attacked a 19-foot motorboat. They are also known to attack humans on jet-skis, so rowing boats aren't much of a challenge.

General advice for avoiding swan attacks, seems to focus on making youself look like a "big swan" as they will tend to defer to larger birds - any takers to go sculling wearing the following?

www.funfolly.com/h/mascots/c1783.htm

:rofl: Aye I can just see us all rowing in swan suits! :rofl:
 
Well..... it's happened, but it wasn't actually the swan that did the breaking (though it did cause the fall that led to the fracture.)

From the South Bristol Observer (which doesn't appear to have a website), Friday 23rd June 06 edition, page 4:
Swan broke my arm

A woman from Yate had her arm broken by a swan, which knocekd her to the ground and kept her pinned down.

Sarah Chew, 44, was feeding the ducks and swans at Tyler's Lake, in Brimsham Park, when it happened....

...."I saw one of the swans walking towards me, so I started to back away from him, but all of a sudden he flew at me and knocked me to the ground." said Mrs Chew. "I landed badly on my arm, and he climbed on my chest and pinned me to the ground. I have had to spend a lot of time in hospital and I do not know if my arm will return to normal."

So yes, a swan can cause a broken arm.
 
Whenever I go fishing with my step-dad he always ends up with the swans hissing and flapping there wings at him, trying to act all threatening, even if we have not been to the water before but I have never had problems with swans. I was fishing on a river once and this pair of swans with two cygnets avoided everyone else on the banks yet came up to me and these swans were about three foot away from me and the only sign of aggression was when I took the net out of the water, They hissed and went away but came back after ten minutes.
 
Forgot about this going on here. They've shot 4 so far.



Officials aim to silence attacks by mute swans
By Becky Manley
The Journal Gazette
File
Mute swans have attacked boaters and swimmers in parts of northern Indiana’s waterways.

Sixty-yard tackles, physical assaults and an attempted drowning.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water, a fowl menace has started stalking northern Indiana’s waterways, prompting officials to warn boaters and swimmers to be on the lookout for attacks.

The culprits are described as being up to 60 inches long, weighing up to 31 pounds and boasting a dreamy white wingspan of up to 94 inches.

They’re swans. Mute swans. And they’re known to be packing – attitude that is.

The feathered fiends have people squawking, leading state officials to conduct a special public meeting in North Webster tonight about the birds.

Since Memorial Day, officials have been taking reports of attacks on boaters and swimmers by these aggressive, non-native birds, said Rodney Clear, spokesman for the Indiana Department of Natural Resources.

One report involved a 13-year-old passenger on a boat, Clear said. A nearby swan took flight and began a relentless assault on the teen that ended only when the bird was physically removed from its victim and tossed off the craft.

A witness to another attack watched as a swan took to the air and flew about 60 yards, striking a boat passenger and nearly sending the hapless victim toppling into the water.

Finally, and most harrowing of all, is the report of an attack on a 13-year-old swimmer at Sowles Bay in the Lake James chain. As the girl swam toward shore, a mute swan landed between her and the safety of the shoreline. Then it attacked, pulling her under the water for several seconds until the girl’s father diverted the swan’s attention, allowing the girl the chance to escape.

Officials think the life jacket the girl wore may have prevented her from being drowned.

Some may scoff at the danger. After all, they’re swans. Beautiful, graceful creatures of peace, right? Others might chuckle, thinking bird assaults are funny, right?

Not so fast.

Mute swans are non-native birds that were brought to the United States in the late 1800s to decorate parks and estates. Since then, some areas now have wild populations that are devastating natural vegetation and killing native birds.

Last year in Michigan, jet skiers were the target of one particularly grumpy swan that was eventually relocated to a farm where it was brutally killed – by another mute swan. Then there’s the sobering 1982 death of an Indiana man who drowned at Glenn Flint Lake in Putnam County after being attacked by a mute swan.

Although victims from the recent attacks have suffered only minor injuries, officials want to warn water lovers to be cautious, Clear said.

By the way, none of the attacking birds were injured, Clear said.

Although nesting season might be making the birds more aggressive, Clear isn’t sure what might be prompting the attacks.

“I think it’s becoming more common because there are more and more mute swans,” Clear said.

That increasing population has led to some recent mute swan press, prompted by public protests over the killings of 10 mute swans at Blackwater Lake near North Webster. The birds were shot legally by a man who had obtained the necessary permit, although that permit was revoked after citizens complained.

Officials are seeking a permanent solution to the mute swan problem but want to first provide the public with information, prompting the Department of Natural Resources to have a meeting at North Webster tonight.

In the meantime, Clear is telling people not to tease or harass mute swans. Aside from that, he said there’s not much people can do except to be watchful.

“We don’t want birds to direct our lives on what we do in a public waterway,” Clear said.



http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/journalgaz ... 757405.htm
 
Can you imagine the furore if people started shooting swans off the rivers here?! Something akin to pooing in the Lady Diana fountain I would expect. There would be indignant letters all round!
 
When you hear this hoary tale it's always that swans can break an arm.

Given that the bones in the arm are no weaker than other large bones, why the focus on arms?

And even given the propensity to defend ourselves with forearms, would not the leg be a more viable target? We aren't talking about a full on snap; is not a fractured shin more probable if they do indeed possess such potency?

Seems to be a classic case of extrapolating from and endlessly repeating a single freak occurrence.
 
image.jpg


A swan fends off athletes taking part in the TriAthy Triathlon in Kildare, it was doing so as it had two cygnets close by . Photograph: michaelorourkephotography.ie

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/images-of-the-weekend-1.3518304
 
When you hear this hoary tale it's always that swans can break an arm.
Given that the bones in the arm are no weaker than the majority of large bones, why the focus on arms?

And even given the propensity to defend ourselves with forearms, would not the leg be a more viable target? We aren't talking about a full on snap; is not a fractured shin more probable if they do indeed possess such potency?

http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/environment/swan-reveals-bone-breaking-technique-201205035191
 
On the office park where my office is, there are a number of small ponds. A pair of swans own them. They usually build their nest on the grass verge of the road. Maybe because there is a pond on each side at that point they think its an island. However, the male swan is given to strutting about the road as if he owns it and I'm glad to say everyone takes care to not run him over. However at least twice he's attacked my car while I've been stationary or moving _very_ slowly waiting for him to get out of the way.

Also

 
Here's an article debunking this idea. https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/can-swan-break-your-arm-14867270
I looked it up after reading a comment on the internet from someone from another country: they said that's it's something all British people 'know', and is one of the first facts that they'll reel off when swans are mentioned. But that this factoid is not used abroad, where they also have swans. (This article's from Ireland so presumably they believe it there too).

Also, isn't this legend more rural than urban?
 
You do get swans on urban ponds, so I think it counts as "urban", if we're getting specific.
 
Can't find a general swan Thread so here's the opposite of a swan attack.

An unusual friendship between a Turkish man and a swan he rescued has endured for decades.

Retired postman Recep Mirzan found Garip, a female swan, 37 years ago in Turkey’s western Edirne province.

Mr Mirzan and a group of friends were taking a shortcut in their car when they noticed the swan, with a broken wing, in an empty field. Mr Mirzan immediately took the swan in to protect her from predators and kept her in the car until that afternoon, when he was able to take the swan to his home.

Since then, Garip has lived on the man’s farm in the Karaagac region, bordering Greece. Garip follows Mr Mirzan whenever she is out of her pen, accompanying him when he is doing his chores around the farm or for his evening walks.

https://www.irishexaminer.com/world/arid-40222712.html
 
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