Young swan rescued by firefighters after getting into tight spot at St John’s College
A young swan that got stuck in a narrow drainpipe on the side of The Old Library at St John’s College was rescued by firefighters in a delicate operation.
The juvenile swan was spotted by a student working in the computer room of the library and he reported it to the college porters.
Head porter Steve Poppitt said: “The trapped cygnet was given time to see if it would be able to free itself but when it became clear that it was not able to get out, we contacted the RSPCA and an animal rescue officer arrived on scene on Friday afternoon with the fire service.”
With one firefighter in the grounds of the master’s lodge, three firefighters crawled through the loft space at the top of G staircase in Second Court to reach the roof of the Old Library.
Having reached the swan, it was carefully tucked into a ‘swan bag’ provided by the RSPCA and lowered to the ground on a rope pulley system.
Naomi Sadoff, animal rescue officer from Cambridgeshire and Norfolk RSPCA, examined him.
She said: “He looked in excellent health considering his adventure and his wings looked fine. Cygnets tend to stay with their parents for around six months and then they are supposed to literally fly the nest.
“In this case, the juvenile swan doesn’t seem to have flown very far! A mute swan’s wingspan can reach up to 2.4 metres once fully grown so once he was in that cosy spot, he wasn’t able to manoeuvre himself out.”
The mute swan, named John after St John’s College by the rescuers, was freed into the River Cam and swam off upstream.
Firefighter Sam Cornwell said: “Animals are unpredictable which means that rescuing them can be challenging but this one went very smoothly.
“It is easier to get a swan back in the river where it belongs than getting a cow out of the river where it doesn’t belong.”
Parents tend to cut ties with cygnets when they are six months old and chase them away.
Cygnets often join up with other flocks of swans and stay with them until the age of about four, when they find a mate and head off.
Naomi added: “It seems to be the season for swan rescues as I’ve been to help with several recently, but none of them have got themselves into such a tight spot as this one.”
