Boston Swan Duo Are Same Sex

[Walt Starr]

Boston Swan Duo Are Same Sex

Beloved Swan Pair Are Both Female

Aug. 13, 2005 — Boston sure loves its swans.

Each spring when they return to the Public Garden the Mayor leads a grand parade and hundreds of kids arrive dressed as swans and ducks. They even nicknamed one swan duo that never leaves each other's side "Romeo and Juliet."

Only, it turns out neither swan is Romeo — they are both female.

This happy same-sex couple exhibits all the behaviors of two heterosexual swans that have mated for life, said Dr. Frank Beall, general curator Zoo New England, where the swans live in the fall and winter.

"They build nests together, incubate eggs together and defend their territory together," he said. "They're deeply bonded."

<snip>

http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/Science/story?id=1034434&page=1

Looks like the old canard of "homosexyalty is unnatchel" has to be thrown out the window.

[nosmokes]

1. i blame it on the liberal politicians. n/t

[Walt Starr]

2. This is GOD telling Taxachussets it's EVIL!!!!

:sarcasm:

[KarenInMA]

3. Umm..we found this out last year,

when the eggs weren't fertilized.

BTW, those things are NASTY. They will bite you.

[BattyDem]

4. Awwww ... they remind me of Central Park's "Roy and Silo"

Central Park Zoo's gay penguins ignite debate

Whether the RW wants to admit it or not, homosexuality occurs throughout nature. This is a very interesting book on the subject: Biological Exuberance : Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity

:-)

[Deja Q]

5. 2 days from now we'll hear about the k00k who shot his dog thinking it was

gay. :eyes:

[TayTay]

6. Has anyone told Santorum?

I just know he will blame this on Boston's liberalism, and on Kennedy and Kerry, and on, ahm, something in the water.

[HockeyMom]

9. Guess he can add NY in that too

We have our PENGUINS!!!!!!

[Ian David]

7. We should rename them Ruth and Naomi

Let me know if anyone gets the joke.

[Walt Starr]

10. BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

How Biblical of you!

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

8. I used to have ducks on a half acre property

The ducks split into two separate family groups of a couple of males and a few females each and warred on each other from different parts of the yard.

The female ducks in the same bonded family occasionally had sex, mounting each other and appearing to have orgasms. By mounting, I mean that one duck would submit and let the other duck come on top of it, grab its neck feathers in its beak, and move itself around on its partner. I never observed the males in the same family group mounting each other, but males of one warring family would try to mount the males of the other family during raids on their terrority.

[A Simple Game]

11. You're trying to tell us that

you had a real life X rated Animal Farm on your property?

Outstanding, I have about 40 Canadian Geese on my 4 acres, and all I get for the trouble is a lot of Goose fertilizer.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

13. I don't know - the most sexually adventurous ducks were ones I had hatched

in my house on an electric blanket. Those ducks followed me around like their mother and even came indoors by themselves (they found a way to use their beaks to open the screen door when I left it slightly ajar). I even trained them to fly up a few feet in the air like helicopters and grab pieces of lettuce hearts from my hands. They formed a separate family to the other family in my yard.

Maybe by being partly raised in my house, something might have rubbed off on them. Who knows?

[LisaL]

12. Birds do peculiar things sometimes.

I watched a program (on animal planet) about a swan in love with a swan shaped boat. The park keepers took that boat away in hopes he will pick a real swan as a mate, but he got depressed. So, they brought that boat back, and he was so happy.