This bird could be yours for a measly $400
Need a swan or two for your castle moat?
Lakeland, Florida, is having a sale on used swans. The city’s swan population has **multiplied** and the city fathers want to unload the surplus on willing buyers. At $400 apiece to qualified buyers, well below market price, the birds are a steal.
“We currently have 80 swans … to feed and care for, so we are looking to sell around 30 to 40 …,” Bob Donahay, Lakeland’s parks director says. Prospective buyers will be vetted, and “everyone who buys a swan has some body of water in or near their homes.” So, if you have a castle with a moat, you probably qualify.
That would put you in company with King Ludwig II of Bavaria, dubbed the “Swan King,” who liked castles so much he built more of them. He met his end by either jumping or being pushed into one of his swan ponds. Kings always have enemies, which is why they need castles with moats.
I’ve heard swans make lousy pets — gorgeous to look at, but nasty temperaments, like some queens. But that makes them good guard animals, ideal for castle moats, because they’ll attack anyone who tries to swim across.
Read story here.
