Rescue Complete

Friday, October 3, 2001

By Kate Grusich

Daily Herald Staff Writer

Their amphibious mission was simple, yet so complex.

Aboard paddle boats, a flotilla of Hawthorn Woods police officers joined forces with public works officials Thursday to cast a floating dragnet across 5-acre Lake Germaine.

Their target? An injured swan.

Their game plan? Surround and capture.

"The chance of success on this is less than 50 percent," said Garon Fyffe, director of the A-B-C Humane Wildlife Control in Arlington Heights. "But these guys are dedicated. I don't know many police officers that would do this."

And the Hawthorn Woods rescue team beat those odds, successfuly completing "Operation Swan Rescue" within two hours.

The men in blue received word Monday that one of the neighborhood's two beloved swans had a fishing line wrapped tightly around his leg, potentially causing serious injury. Police Chief Mike Sliozis said the pair of swans had made Hawthorn Woods their home the past three summers. The department has gone as far as escorting the birds across Old McHenry Road in times of tight traffic.

Concerned about possible infection and the bird's inability to fly when migratory season hits next month, police officers moved into action.

 A few attempts to assist the swan earlier in the week proved futile, so Fyffe, a wildlife expert, was called in Thursday.

The crew used the ropes to barricade the swan into the corner of the lake, providing Fyffe with the opportunity to shoot the animal with a tranquilizer and get him on shore.

 It took two tries before Fyffe got a clear shot at the bird.

"Those fishing lines act as death traps to animals," he said. "Always pick up the line because it will get caught on them."