Mass. Firefighters Run `Swan Taxi`

Feb. 14--Boston police made way for ducklings, and Peabody firefighters provided taxi service to a swan Friday.

The swan decided to "make itself comfortable" in the driveway at Engine 5 on Lynn Street, in front of the truck garage door.

Firefighters said that the swan was uninjured, but had chosen a "nice, sunny spot" and wasn't eager to move. Firefighter John P. Spofford came to the rescue to get the bird to its proper home.

"We didn't have a box or anything, so I managed to pick her up, put her on my lap, and we drove to the pond in the truck," said Spofford.

Spofford is often asked to get involved in such situations because he is a licensed wildlife rehabilitator in Salem. He happened to be out on a routine fire truck detail when the call came in about the swan. Since the Animal Control officer was unavailable, Spofford headed the rescue mission.

He made the call that the swan was OK to be released into the appropriate wild environment.

"The best we can hope for is to put it back in the wild," said Spofford. The firefighters brought the bird to Brown's Pond, where Spofford carried it to a snow bank and guided it towards a spot of open water.

"As soon as her eye caught sight of the water, she went right in it and she was fine," said Spofford.

Staff writer Amanda Ostuni can be reached at 978-338-2660 or aostuni@salemnews.com.

Copyright 2015 - The Salem News, Beverly, Mass.