Pete the Greek

Pete was a Greek bar owner in the Rouge that was really liked. So when a friend called me with a problem I immediately thought of Pete. I'm sure it's not what you're thinking but said friend was getting ready to leave for a vacation in loan ladden Greece. The problem was he had a visitor that had no intention of leaving.

By having a tell tale orange colored beak it was determined Pete the Greek is a mute swan. He ended up in said friends dog run and well wouldn't leave. He even used the doghouse for shelter. This is unusual behavior for a swan and with their mean streak they are hard to deal with. So I called Joe Robison head of the Point Mouillie State Game Area for advice. He pointed me to the MDNR website for a licensed rehabilitator.

http://www.michigandnr.com/dlr/


I called 2 of the licensees and was told mute swans were an invasive species. Just like gobies and zebra mussels and the black death, cormorants. So they could lose their licenses if they got involved at all.  So I searched around on the MDNR website and found Mute Swans FAQ.   
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10370_12145_59132_59333-263394--,00.html

Bad news for Pete since the MDNR has plans to try and control theirs numbers by culling and anyone with a problem mute swan can get a permit to dispatch them from the MDNR. Before you could say Yipie Cy Yeah my friend called and told me a neighbor had somehow shooed the squatter from the pen and was escorted out of the back yard. He was last seen limping down the street off into the great blue yonder looking for a new place to stay. Good luck Pete you will definately need it.
Get Outdoors Downriver.