Wild Black Swan Reunites With Paddle Boat Love

[Omaha Steve]

http://cbs5.com/watercooler/watercooler_story_092232940.html

Apr 2, 2007 8:28 pm US/Pacific
Wild Black Swan Reunites With Paddle Boat Love

Video at link too.

(CBS News) For Petra, a wild black swan, it was love at first flight when she flew into a German swan lake last year and spotted the mate of her dreams through the woods, CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports.

http://llnw.img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_092233035/lg
Petra the swan has found "love" with a paddle boat in a German lake.


Petra had a weakness, it seems, for the big, strong, silent type. And to a swan. what could be bigger, stronger or more silent than the plastic paddle boat she had fallen for.

They spent a happy summer together, and when winter came and the other swans flew south, Petra refused to leave.

Local zookeepers actually tried to drive the couple apart, introducing Petra to single male swans. But she wasn't interested, and the keepers gave up. They didn't want to stress her, they say.

So when the time came to take the boat out of the boathouse and put it back in the lake, the press swarmed in. Petra was there waiting. The question: Had she gotten over her love boat? Had she realized the relationship was going nowhere — that she and the boat were just too different? Or had love survived the long cold winter?

The boat was put back into its natural habitat, and towed to a quiet corner of Swan Lake, their corner.

They couldn't hold her back.

Frankly, the reunion of Brad and Jennifer might have caused less fuss. But this is a celebrity romance that looks like it will last.

(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)

[hang a left]

1. Silly girl

http://llnw.img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_092233035/lg

[aquart]

2. At least he won't beat her.

And perhaps she never really wanted children.

[Cirque du So-What]

3. I used to live next door to the fellow who makes these boats

Here's his website. His family also operates a paddle wheel tour boat on a local lake. It's shown on the website too.
http://www.adventureglass.com/index.htm