Dont go near them swans they will brake you'r arm!

[robnut06]

has any one else heard this because my nan used to say it to me! any one know what it means??

[DaSwede]

Having once been chased by a swan, I'm inclined to believe she meant it literally! He/she was ferocious. After having survived (barely) this experience, I also had to endure listening to one of my half-sisters explode with laughter at the other end of the phone when I told her.

(You did mean 'break'?)

[naz_nomad]

Not sure if it's true but a swans wing is supposed to be so powerful in flight, it could break your arm ...

So your Nan was being literal, as DaSwede said

[Ethel]

Is it true that a swan's wing can break your arm?

Yes, but only in exceptional cases. If a wing in full span and velocity were to hit a weak-boned person (such as a child or an elderly person) then it is theoretically possible. In reality it is almost unheard of and is never used as a form of attack as swans are a defensive bird. The only time they become aggressive is when they are protecting their nesting ground or cygnets when they will chase off intruders, be they other swans, geese or humans who get too close.


From this site:

http://www.swanuk.org.uk/index%20frame.htm

[RATTER15]

I come from a small town called Dawlish in Devon where we have plenty of swans swimming up and down the local brook, generally speaking it is a lot of nonsense that I have heard so many times, however I agree with Ethel that it is a very remote possibility and that it could happen.

It will be bats going for your eyes next lol

[Don Quixote]

Amazing that you can get at least four spelling/grammar mistakes in such a short sentence!

[crosso]

Where I come from, some people of the older generation used to mean it in the non-literal sense that people should not be taken in by superficial beauty as it can cause pain...mainly used to warn against flighty and over-made-up girls (eg the Footballers' Wives and Desperate Housewives of that generation!) btw I like your rendition of your nan's voice! As for the actual swans, I've read about it a couple of times in local newspapers but only when nesting couples or cygnets were in danger. btw I think people still use the expression nowadays...

[Rock'n'Roll]

As far as i'm aware,there have been no recorded incidents of it happening,that's it's possible,I don't doubt

[saxy_jag]

st interests to get involved in a fight, because that carries a risk of injury to themselves.

They can be incredibly gentle birds. I've literally had tAs a sometime canoeist, I've had several close dealings with swans. They are fiercely protective of their young, and when one of them heads for you across the water at full pelt, hissing and flapping (because in our efforts to avoid them, we had paddled too close to their nests for their comfort), they are frightening birds. I daresay they have the power to snap an arm with a single blow of a wing, but I've never known one to make contact.

In the incidents I've seen, they tend to get their message across without physical attack - they'll keep that as a last resort. It's not in their behe ones down on our local park eating out of my hand.

[robnut06]

thank you guys, didn't expect that many responses!