Beware the shifting moods of swans. Mary Ryan, whose wrist was broken after a swan knocked her to the ground and battered her in a Dublin park, has lost a $32,600 injury action against the state. The 71-year-old told a court in Dublin, Ireland, she had just fed the swan -- a resident of the central Phoenix Park for the past nine years -- and was walking away when she heard a heavy flapping of wings. "When I turned around I couldn't believe what I was seeing," she said. "He was coming for me and started beating me on the legs with his wings. He knocked me to the ground ... and tried to peck my head." Ryan escaped after a passing motorist distracted the swan by sounding his horn. Judge Kevin Haugh ruled that park authorities were not guilty of negligence as they could not be held responsible for a swan that had flown on to their land. He said he was satisfied that swans were not given to menacing behavior but accepted that this particular one had been having "a very bad day."
A Swan's Bad Day
Beware the shifting moods of swans. Mary Ryan, whose wrist was broken after a swan knocked her to the ground and battered her in a Dublin park, has lost a $32,600 injury action against the state. The 71-year-old told a court in Dublin, Ireland, she had just fed the swan -- a resident of the central Phoenix Park for the past nine years -- and was walking away when she heard a heavy flapping of wings. "When I turned around I couldn't believe what I was seeing," she said. "He was coming for me and started beating me on the legs with his wings. He knocked me to the ground ... and tried to peck my head." Ryan escaped after a passing motorist distracted the swan by sounding his horn. Judge Kevin Haugh ruled that park authorities were not guilty of negligence as they could not be held responsible for a swan that had flown on to their land. He said he was satisfied that swans were not given to menacing behavior but accepted that this particular one had been having "a very bad day."
