more stuff on swans, then. and their ilk, or similar, look you see. no, alas (or sadly, if you will) i have undertaken no further research on to the subject of who "owns" swans one may find on the ways of water across the UK, so anyone looking here, rather than somewhere proper, for an answer to that is going to be rather disappointed. i would, or could, encourage you to just assume they belong to, or are under the protection of, the reigning monarch, and then your mind is free to move on from this quarrel.
it was on an afternoon a couple of months ago, perhaps further away depending on when you are reading this, that i got to observe swans once more. actually, or in truth, this is a virtually daily thing for me to do, since i am prone to taking a stroll so as to enjoy a cigarette (sorry), and there they usually are, swimming or floating or whatever it is they do on the river.
yes, from time to time i would, do, indeed spread some bread for them. ignore the myths and legends of how one should not do so, by the way. every now and then i see others doing the same, in particular those who(m) would appear to be a delightful, lovely couple, living not so far away as you may imagine. they go to the extent of getting some special wild birds of the river seeds for them, which is sensational stuff, as appears to be much of the way of how they live.
on the episode, or incident, of which i write here, mostly, i think, i was in that which appears to become my natural state, which is alone. well, in human terms, or if you will within the sense of the abject terms of the human condition. should other forms of life be bereft entire from this moment, well, little or nothing would be here to write of. perhaps such still remains so.
at first then, as depicted in the above picture, it was not swans which drew my attention. instead, it was some ducks. not sure if one says flock, herd, gathering or what have you of ducks, but some all together. baby ducks too, or ducklings, i think they are called. almost certain that baby swans are called cygnets, but that's not important momentarily.
sure, yes, certainly, as one may well be able to work out, the ducks, ducklings, or if you will duck family also attracted the attention of the swans. this, i would think, is somewhat exemplified, if not outright accelerated, by means of the video below. should that be worded right, i am not sure.
many, and i shall probably have the structure of this all wrong, consider ducks to be the bullies, or if you like exaggerated spelling of such bullys, of the waters. in many respects, they are fairly correct to hold such views. not content with bullying and berating other species, creatures and critters, there are certain ducks what bully other ducks. you may well see where such goes.
going on that one documentary about a 'phantom menace' (which i am still unsure of what it is), there is always a bigger fish. whereas there are some waters where ducks may roam, droog like, and be bullies, not on this river it seems. the swans were having absolutely none of, or nothing to do with ducks, even young ones (once in every lifetime, etc), encroaching on their turf, manor or bit of water.
sometimes i make reference to that "disneyfication" of animals or other such non-human things. indeed a very good friend of mine (oh my t v c one five, oh oh) did tell me the proper word for this, but i cannot recall what it might be momentarily. anyway, so, yeah, what i mean is that thing where, mostly thanks to the magic of Disney parables (or whatever they are, them singing and dancing animated films), people assume that all animals think, ponder and "see" things the way humans do, with particular emphasis on concepts of family, relationships and morality.
yet there is something to it, perhaps. maybe all life follows the same course, it's just that we can make songs about it and also wish that animals, or other forms of life, could also do the same. ducks are supposed bullies, yet get bullied themselves. by swans, who have well north of 50% of the planet covered in water, and still insist on keeping ducks away from a minuscule fraction of it which they all happen to like. beneath the surface, pike roam (or swim), eager to lurch and kill ducklings, or each other, whether they hunger or not. birds circle too, frequently attacking and killing each other. various aspects of the life we have come to know somewhat make sense, then.
rather, or a bit, all too philosophical, this. still, here we are. whereas there is no conclusive rhyme or even reason for that one, inexplicable, primordial thing what all of living have in common - the drive to remain alive - differences appear in death. for non-human things, death is but a means to remove another living thing from a fallen tree, or to provide something to eat, or to pass the time of day. many people have died in pursuit of this, or similar, true, but mostly for us humans, avoiding death for as much as possible appears merely to be a way of avoiding inconveniencing others by our demise.
one can probably add some sort of philosophical musings here, about how our minds are in some way geared towards a quest for survival due to convincing ourselves others may want or wish to have us alive, be it for their convenience or what we deem to define as "care". alternatively, more video.
it is probably quite apparent that i am (somewhat) running out of steam as to what to write here, so another picture, then. this one, who i have not seen around for a while (and there has been a spate of death of swans recently) appears to be one of two ringleaders of the tormentors, bulling other swans as much as ducks and what have you.
why exactly, to go back to an earlier point, one would wish to try and claim a swan as their own remains as much of a mystery as the reason for life. i cannot think of any circumstance in which keeping one as a pet would bring any sort of comfort, reward of pleasure. maybe my mind is just too limited by limitations to see the sense of it.
just a trifle more video, there above, to finish this all off with, then.
considering september is, at time of publication, here, i am unsure how much further swan action shall happen to be recorded for the remainder of the year. as has been proven time and again, i am not really particularly knowledgeable on this subject. for all i know, swans are sort of seasonal, and so shall not be seen again until warmer weather is here.
be excellent to each other!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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