The annual Swan round-up at Lake Eola
From OKFC Wiki
The annual Swan round-up is an event that started in 2007. The OKFC has participated since then in the month of the October. The Swans were first brought to Lake Eola in the late 1900's. They have been left to themselves until 2007. The royal swan foundation took them under their protection and wanted to give them medical examinations and vaccination as the city of Olrando had decided to import other species from across the world and add to the lake to create a sanctuary for these majestic birds. The foundation contacted us so that we could round them up and corral them into temporary pens.
Saturday October 18th 2008 7:00 AM – Lake Eola
The kayaks began arriving before dawn broke. The wind was calm, the weather was perfect. The swans had no idea to what was about to happen.
Old fishing friends, some of which had not seen each other in a while, exchanged handshakes and of course their latest stories. We continued to assemble and check out each other’s rigs. It seems that we are all the same, trying to create the ultimate fish slaying yaks. How did you rig that anchor trolley? Nice set of PVC scupper wheels. How did you …
Well, after exchanging ideas and stories, it was time to be rounded up at the amphitheater. Tim, our MC from last year made several announcements about doing the swan wrangling and added a few comedic one liners. Sheila then took over the microphone and told us about the changes since last year. We now have the largest collection of regal swans in the world and they are adding new species, so that Orlando can be known for its swans.
We knew this year could prove to be more challenging that last year. For one, we had far less kayakers, the swans had already experienced our techniques from last year and we also had the addition of several immigrant swans who did not have clipped wings. We were warned about the possibility of receiving a fairly large size bird on its attempt to take off and ending up in our kayak.
At 9:00 we entered the water and began by forming a straight line. The real challenge was to keep that line straight from one edge of the Lake to the other while we coaxed the Swans to swim to the far side towards the pen.
Bit by bit we edged them on. The Black ones were definitely more adventurous and even challenged us at different times, but they did continue. Slowly and steadily we advanced until we began to form a horseshoe and brought them in. Suddenly, a big white swan began to run on the water, flapping it’s wings and picking up speed like a cargo laden 747. Seeing the opportunity, one swan began to follow another until six had successfully flown over our heads. We let them go and focused on rounding up the majority. The DJ from the Walk for Cancer event on shore began to play YMCA from the Village people and KC and the sunshine Band just to give us some background music. After another ten minutes, all the remaining swans were brought into the pen.
We then turned around and headed to the other side of the lake to catch the remaining birds. After several inept attempts and one nearly successful foray, the swans decided to become airborne and keep on flying. These majestic birds flew around the whole lake and even headed towards some of the high-rise condos. Sheila decided that the wild ones should be left alone and the rodeo finally came to an end.
We all headed back to shore looking for a break from the sun and the rumor of a lunch.
“I’m a Swan wrangler, it’s what I do.” Stan Henkle 2007
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