AN INJURED swan from Lochmaben’s Kirk Loch returned home on Tuesday after a short stay in hospital.
The mute swan was admitted to the South of Scotland Wildlife Hospital at the Barony last week tangled in fishing line, with two treble barbed hooks embedded into her foot and her wing.
The team began treating her injuries but soon found that they were more severe than first thought.
A spokesperson for the wildlife hospital said: “The one in her wing was also embedded into her body. She has tried so hard to free herself, she snapped the hook, leaving part of it in her body and the rest in her wing. We can tell by how hard it was to cut the barb end off the hooks to remove them, just how hard she has tried to get free to actually snap the hook. Her skin in this area has lost all feathers and is very inflamed and some of her skin is torn.
“Before we even started work on her, she was given pain relief and we have cleaned up her wounds. She was also covered in lice, which didn’t help us while trying to remove the hooks and clean her up, but, we treated her for the lice after the rest of her care was complete.”
After a few days of rest and recovery in one of the hospital’s enclosures the swan was realised back into Kirk Loch on Tuesday morning.
The team took to social media to celebrate another successful recovery, stating: “Today we released the swan that had the fishing lures and treble hooks embedded in her. She was extremely happy to be home. She was definitely one of the most feisty swans we have had in our care. But, we must keep them wild and we prefer them that way. Hopefully she won’t find another hook in the loch.”
