Wouldn't be fair if I left out Brett (yes, named after Favre). Here is the tale:
I have occasionally fed the swans in front of my house here and there, if I was outside. This past Feb. I come home from a hectic day at work to find a swan in my driveway. Have never seen them out of the water. I get out of the garage slowly (there things are HUGE), not sure if its rabid or what. It just starts following me. I go in the house, it stays at the foot of the front porch. I notice blood. Ugh, I'm like "wtf", it was so cold, he was hurt, and I felt awful.
Pic of the swan actually trying to get up the stairs:
I managed to coax him under the back deck, make him a bed. I find a pretty deep gash under his leg, so bad that it squirts blood when he tried to walk. Get him under the deck, where he proceeds to eat a loaf of bread and drink almost a gallon of water (in a soup I made). Made him a little "house" out of a cardboard box.
After a few weeks (and TONS of swan sh*t), he starts to venture out into the yard and is gaining strength and balance. I can tap the stop of his head, and he seems comfortable around me.
I finally get him down to the ocean, where he seems to be walking better.
He would sleep in front of the house (you can make him out, his head is buried somewhere in his wing, and he is on only one leg, keeping the hurt one up). NO matter the weather, windy, rain, sleet, that is where he would stay.
Eventually, he left for longer periods of time, until he showed up this summer with a girlfriend. I would sit on the beach, smoke a cigar, and feed him, as he would come right up, while his mate stayed in the water, as she was much more cautious.
Yesterday, he brought over one of his babies, not real little, but grey, and they both ate some bread. So, I kind of consider him my summer smoking partner, and kind of a pet.....