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AIBU?

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Original poster

Are Swans being unreasonable?

158 replies

Glittercloud17 · 14/03/2025 22:23

dance dancing GIF

Genuine question: Are Swans Being Unreasonable?

Has anyone ever actually had their arm broken by a swan? It’s something we have all said at some point, but has it ever actually happened to you or anyone you know?

🦢

OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Haveanaiceday · 14/03/2025 22:24

Apparently they don't really break your arm but I wouldn't risk it.

BatchCookBabe · 14/03/2025 22:24

That's a goose isn't it? (The big white bird... in the gif?)

And no --- swans are not being unreasonable. I have never known anyone have their arm broken by one!

GinToBegin · 14/03/2025 22:25

It hasn’t, and I really don’t believe it, but I’m not willing to put it to the test.

Evolutionarygoals · 14/03/2025 22:25

I'm fairly sure that's a goose

Dreamskies · 14/03/2025 22:26

I’ve apprehended a swan before now (I was helping it, I promise 🤣) and they’re not particularly strong.

They have a bit of a bite on them though if you hand feed them, they have a tendency to grab your fingers with their serrated beaks 😫

XenoBitch · 14/03/2025 22:27

Haha, I grew up being told that a swan could break your arm with their wings.
It is in the same category of things that you were told were dangerous, but they have never been a threat in real adult life... like quick sand.

downbadd · 14/03/2025 22:27

I thought you meant the rugby team 🤣

Evolutionarygoals · 14/03/2025 22:28

And swans are unreasonable. They always turn their beaks up at her oats DD tried to feed them. They prefer crappy white bread even though the oats are better for them. Dumb snooty birds

Original poster
Glittercloud17 · 14/03/2025 22:31

BatchCookBabe · 14/03/2025 22:24

That's a goose isn't it? (The big white bird... in the gif?)

And no --- swans are not being unreasonable. I have never known anyone have their arm broken by one!

Edited

Complain to MN. I typed ‘swan’ in the GIF section

OP posts:
5foot5 · 14/03/2025 22:31

Yes I have always been told that but don't believe it. Nevertheless I am going nowhere near one as they look like vicious bastards to me.

That is a goose. And I won't go near them either.

crackofdoom · 14/03/2025 22:31

Totally unreasonable. I used to live on a boat and they were always turning up demanding snacks with menaces.

The breaking an arm rumour was definitely made up by the swans themselves.

MargaretThursday · 14/03/2025 22:33

That's a goose not a swan, surely?

When I was at uni One of the lads had his arm broken by a swan when he was rowing. The boat for between the swan and its cygnets. He was pretty shocked by it.

BitOutOfPractice · 14/03/2025 22:35

with swans fast approaching us across the park one day, me and a burly looking random bloke got a bit of a peg on to avoid them. I asked him if he was worried about them breaking his arm. He wasn’t but, he said, “they’ll peck your arse!”

I felt there was bitter bitter experience behind that warning.

Dreamskies · 14/03/2025 22:36

5foot5 · 14/03/2025 22:31

Yes I have always been told that but don't believe it. Nevertheless I am going nowhere near one as they look like vicious bastards to me.

That is a goose. And I won't go near them either.

I adore geese 💞 so cute and funny, and they can’t bite anywhere near as hard as a swan, I actually find them very gentle. I always wonder why geese get such a bad rep while swans are seen as the elegant, majestic ones 🤣

TooBigForMyBoots · 14/03/2025 22:37

Swans are always unreasonable. Fortunately they're easily avoided@Glittercloud17.🦢 Geese are only sometimes unreasonable but if they lose it, you're fucked.🪿😵🪿

BatchCookBabe · 14/03/2025 22:39

Glittercloud17 · 14/03/2025 22:31

Complain to MN. I typed ‘swan’ in the GIF section

Show quote history
Swan Lake Hungary GIF by KreativCopy

😆

Funnily enough, when I put SWANS in the gif search bar, I got swans... This was the first gif that came up. (No geese!)

NormasArse · 14/03/2025 22:40

One pulled my puppy into the canal! Fortunately, she had a harness on with a handle, so it was easy(ish) to fish her out.

Middleagedstriker · 14/03/2025 22:43

I feel your OP is confusing due to the goose. Also I didn't understand which way to vote. Swans are quite fierce.i was once slapped in the face by a swan wing as a teen. It proper hurt. But my arm was not broken.

TheChosenTwo · 14/03/2025 22:44

A black swan once chased dd on holiday. She was chasing it first though so totally deserved it 😂
also, that same day I nearly had my arm broken - but it was because the other dd fell out of a tree and I caught her unexpectedly…
I don’t like France for holidays much.

5foot5 · 14/03/2025 22:44

Dreamskies · 14/03/2025 22:36

I adore geese 💞 so cute and funny, and they can’t bite anywhere near as hard as a swan, I actually find them very gentle. I always wonder why geese get such a bad rep while swans are seen as the elegant, majestic ones 🤣

Show quote history

Not quite the same thing, but Canada Geese seem to be everywhere these days. Flocks of them. And each one can produce 700g of poo per day.

DopeyS · 14/03/2025 22:52

I was accidentally bitten by a goose on the leg, it was trying to get my attention for snacks and drew blood.
I've never let a swan get that close, they're a bit hissy.

Never personally known anyone to get their arm broken but read about a man who was cycling and a flying swan misjudged and took him off the bike breaking his collar bone. It could have been a calculated attack.

corlan · 14/03/2025 22:58

Swans can be total bastards. I stopped one trying to drown a gosling by flailing my belt at it - it was pretty intent on murder.A guy came up to help me and told me that the same swan had drowned one of it's offspring earlier that summer.

Needmorelego · 14/03/2025 23:00

I wouldn't trust a swan.
The job description clearly states breaking arms is involved 😂
(may take a moment for picture to be approved....)

Are Swans being unreasonable?
Dreamskies · 14/03/2025 23:04

5foot5 · 14/03/2025 22:44

Not quite the same thing, but Canada Geese seem to be everywhere these days. Flocks of them. And each one can produce 700g of poo per day.

Show quote history

They’re just as sweet, but yeah… goose poo is extreme!

AlmostAJillSandwich · 14/03/2025 23:06

I got an almighty beak open headbutt to the groin off a massive male last summer, was feeding him proper swan pellets and turned my head to reply to my partner who was talking to me, and he took his shot. I very much believe it was a warning.