January 17th, 2014

Grace still needs help. If you know someone who lives near the 1st St rapids, please email me. No kids please. Note: We do not want her to get used to this and be a pest, or a poorly fed bird, so this is a temporary situation. Thanks. 

Jan 13: Grace on a lawn prior to being forced upriver by the more assertive group of swans farther down the river.

Grace has now been back on the river for a week. She is hanging in there fairly well. She keeps showing some improvement every day. 

She took a very energetic bath a couple of days ago, fully submersing each side of her body in the river and moving about washing herself. After who knows how long with a lure in her mouth and being out of water for two weeks other than a kiddee pool, she was feeling pretty dirty and needing to get all her feathering back into place and clean. That was a great sign.

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Jan 14: Finding peace upriver, Grace is able to really relax, rest, and bath.

While the warm weather is not great for skiers (sorry!), it has been just what Grace needed to continue her recuperation. She was released earlier than I or her vet would have liked, but her other choice was being taken to another much larger facility in WA or CA. Anyway, she seems to be improving. 

She is still a bit tired and more sedate than a really healthy swan, shown by her standing on the sides of the river and not being out on the water or feeding in the water. She also shows some signs of needing to continue her cleaning, shown by her standing above the water on the edges of the river. None of this is surprising what she has gone through; her rehabilitation will take a bit more time. We can all imagine what we might feel like had we had that kind of injury, we wouldn't be all that spunky either. 

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I and a few volunteers continue to feed her. She needs a particular diet, and I provide this to those who want to help Grace. She will continue to be fed until she shows signs that she is fully up and running. We are trying to get another swan relocated so that she does not have to deal with an aggressive male swan. While he is not hurting her outright, he - and his 2 buddies - are keeping her away from the rest of the river, south of where she is now. ODFW wants to move this guy as he is a baby of the other local swan there, and they do want him mating with her or his sister. We are hoping that once he is gone, Grace can team up with the other girls.

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Jan 16: Grace finding a quiet spot just for her. She is still standing above the water line a lot. I would like to see her swimming more, but understandably the Deschutes is cold...yes, even to a swan. Especially when she is not feeling up to par.

Grace needs to be left alone as much as possible so that she can have peace and rest. She is still healing. She also has a special diet, but if you would like to help feed her, just email me and I can set you up with the correct food for her. 

Grace is a sweet, gentle gal. With lots of love, time, and support she should pull through just fine. 

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