(tranquil classical music) (tranquil classical music continues) - So the swans have a very interesting history in Lakeland.

I liken it to like a made-for-TV movie.

There is a lot of drama and intrigue.

(bright music) (bright music continues) (engine ticking) (background chatter) - I am the Swan Lady.

I've been working with the swans for almost 20 years now on a daily basis.

They've become a part of my life.

They're like my little kids and I call 'em my babies, you know?

So they're very, very close to me.

- Swans are not native to Florida.

They were brought here by some of our seasonal guests.

They were used to seeing swans on their local waters and so they would bring them down here as pets.

So by 1926, there were maybe about an inventory of about 20 to 25 swans.

And so the city of Lakeland decided to create a swan department to help manage these swans.

- I feel like I've had an emotional connection to my swans since I first started to work here.

Being a type of person that loves animals in any kind of way, to be able to be on this route, you'll learn to love these animals if you work with them on a daily basis like I do.

- So when new baby swans are born, Samantha the Swan Lady will bring them into us.

We'll collect blood sample for sexing.

We'll make sure that they're healthy and don't have any birth defects.

We'll also place a microchip so that the city knows that who's who, and in case any of them wander off that they do belong to the city, and we also do pinioning.

(vehicle engine humming) (swan honking) - By the 1950s, however, due to disease, attrition or just you know, being hurt, the swan population quickly died off, and there was an organized effort about 1954 to bring the swans back to Lakeland.

An interested former resident had connections to the Royal Swannery in England.

Queen Elizabeth granted a mated pair of mute swans to the city of Lakeland.

All we had to do was pay shipping and handling.

Sounds easy, right?

But unfortunately, along that way there was a lot of things that happened.

Before the swans were taken, a barge overturned in the Thames River and coated all of the birds with oil.

Flash forward to 1957.

The swans were ready to come to Lakeland.

They are met at the Tampa Airport by our city manager and our mayor.

They have a police motorcade coming into Lakeland.

So once they arrive here at Lake Morton, unboxed the crate and the crowd took a step back, (people gasping) because the scent of oil was still present and everybody was, whew, those birds!

But the next day, both of the swans had gone missing.

(bright music) - [Samantha] It's all right, babies.

All right.

Are we all ready to see the doctor?

- [Staff Member] Inside now.

- [Samantha] That one's trying to get out.

- [Staff Member] Oh, look at his little beak pumping.

Oh my goodness.

- [Person With Samantha] Two of them were trying to get out.

- [Staff Member] Oh!

- [Person With Samantha] They had their little beaks sticking out.

(cygnets beeping) - The Lakeland has two different types of swans.

The one that are affiliated with the Queen of England are the European mute swans.

We also have Australian black swans on the lake as well.

- In case you didn't know, swans have some really interesting names.

A male swan is called a cob.

A female swan is called a pen.

Baby swans are called cygnets.

And a group of swans is called a bevy.

(newspaper clip whizzing) One of the things in all of the excitement they had not done is clipped their wings to let them kind of gradually acclimate to this area.

So they were able to capture the female swan pretty quickly.

But the male swan evaded for three to five days.

There was helicopters involved.

There were boats involved.

Everybody was on alert for looking for this swan.

When they finally see him, instead of chasing after him, they grab her and bring her to him, and he comes and he's like, "Oh, hey, I know you."

So Sir And Lady Swan were reunited.

They brought them back into Lake Morton, and at the same time they also purchased another mated pair of swans.

And that formed the basis of our wonderful swan program that today has produced over 200 swans of all varieties here for the city of Lakeland.

- [Veterinary Staff] Honestly, just taking history.

(cygnets peeping) - Being the swan veterinarian gives me an opportunity to interact with these birds in a much more intimate way than I would otherwise.

Being able to be out on the lake and feed them is wonderful, but being able to actually put my hands on them, examine them, check for any illnesses, it really gives you a window into how these birds are living and what their problems are like.

All right, kiddo.

What do you think, huh?

This is actually a smaller version of the same microchip we use for dogs and cats.

Oh sweetheart, and it goes right next to the right leg here.

Hey.

Hi, hi, hi.

Good job.

Good job they are.

She says, "No."

You are feisty.

Oh, hi, where you going?

Where you going?

Good job.

Good job.

All right, let's go get pinioned, kiddo.

(machinery whirring) (chains rattling) - As a little girl, when I was growing up, I never really envisioned I'd be working with swans on a daily basis.

I feel very honored and grateful because it has been an awesome experience.

I brought them back.

(cygnets peeping) No.

I bought 'em back to you guys.

Look at that.

And they are okay.

Hopefully, in the future until I'm not able to, I would wanna keep on working with them.

Safe and sound.

- Swans are very like people.

There are swans that like each other.

There are swans that don't like each other.

And swans do tend to be monogamous.

They will pair off and pretty much mate for life.

There's been a couple of cases of a swan where their partner has passed away, finding a new mate, but it's the same with people, they generally will wait some time to grieve.

They're called mute swans because they're so quiet.

The phrase "swan song" is because there's an old legend that when swans die they sing a very beautiful song before they die, and that's why they're so quiet their whole life.

It's because they are saving all of their music to the end.

I think that's a beautiful story.

(mellow music) (bright music) (bright music continues) - [Announcer] Greater Lakeland is supported in part by Lakeland Regional Health.