2 hunters kill Rosston marina swans

[Donna]

MANOR — Reema Anderson said she misses the two swans that once made their home at the Rosston Eddy Marina and Rosston public boat launch area on the Allegheny River. Her dog Molly keeps looking out across the water for them and her 4-year-old her son Mason wants to feed them, she said.

But the two tame swans, mates for life, that had been the local favorites of residents, boaters and visitors around the marina for as long as 15 years by some accounts, while nesting on an island in the middle of the river, are no longer there.

They were killed by two men who shot them from their motorboat Saturday morning.

"Everybody is saddened and shocked," said Anderson. "It was a day of mourning. There were many people down there crying and angry."

"I really do miss those swans," she said.

Anderson moved into a townhouse at the marina earlier this year.

"The swans were the first to greet us," she said. "They marched right up and said hello. Every morning we would wake up and see the swans. Molly and I would come down to see them."

"We're thinking of them right now sitting here by the river," she said.

The swans would come out of the water and hiss at Molly.

"She was definitely afraid of them," Anderson said. "They let her know it was their territory, but they were friendly with every person. People would feed them all the time. They were like pets. They were a familiar part of the marina for years. The kids are really going to miss them."

Local resident Jim Bowser said the two men who shot the birds were kept there by people around the marina until Manor police could be summoned there. Bowser said that police did not charge the men and allowed them to leave with the dead swans.

Manor police could not be reached for comment.

Bowser said he has been in touch with an official of the Pennsylvania Game Commission who is investigating the incident to see what laws may have been broken.

"They (Game Commission and Manor police) are pursuing anything they can charge them with, but there hasn't been any charges yet that I know about," Bowser said.

"Apparently it is legal to shoot the swans, (mute swans are not currently a protected species) but not from safety zones, like near homes or buildings or out of a (running) motorized boat, I was told," he said.

No one at the Pennsylvania Game Commission could be reached for comment.

"They were so tame," said Bowser. "They would come over to eat from everyone. They never left the marina. They were always in sight. Everyone took care of them."

"It's a damn shame," he said. "Everyone is so upset."

Bowser said the men who shot the swans are believed to be in their 20s and are not from this area.

No one was able to provide the identity of the men.

"We'd like something (charges) to happen to them," he said. "I pity those two guys if they have a hearing up here."

Maryanne and John Jackovitz of Monroeville have been boating out of the Rosston Marina for more than 40 years.

"For years and years those two swans would eat out of my husband's hands," said Maryanne Jackovitz. "They always swam up to our boat. I think they could tell my husband's voice and knew they would get a handout."

"They were so lovely," she said. "We will miss them."

[Annette]

 

[DebInTexas]

I bet these two will be bragging on Youtube or Facebook soon.  We should start googling to see if we can catch them.  I can't type what I think of these punks!

[Bobbie Ireland]

The police let them go?!

[MAK]

&#@%$&*(?!     

[Bird Crazy]