State Police troopers 'wrangle' swans off Mass. highway

In the category of “they probably didn’t teach that at the academy,” a new state trooper and his supervisor found themselves “wrangling” a couple of swans that found their way into the middle of Interstate 495 in Westborough Saturday.

Massachusetts State Trooper Jared Layman, a recent police academy graduate, and his field training officer, Trooper Ryan Shepherd, had to get creative to remove a couple of swans from the median of I-495, according to a press release from the State Police Monday.

The troopers devised a plan to get the swans safely into the back seat of a police cruiser and drove the birds to a nearby lake where they were released, the release said.

Mass. State Troopers rescue swans from Route 495 median in Westborough. (Photo courtesy of Massachusetts State Police)

State Police photos show the troopers considering their options as the swans stood in the median. At one point, a line of cars made its way around the swans, which were standing in the southbound fast lane.

The troopers somehow got a hold of the swans and covered them with their jackets in the back of the cruiser, according to one photo. Another photo shows a trooper carrying the swan with a jacket over its head on a beach.

The final photo shows the swans hightailing it out of there, flying over an unidentified body of water.

Despite their ride in the back of a cruiser, it does not appear the swans face any charges.

This was the second swan rescue in the last week, the release said.

The other incident happened earlier in September when two troopers found a swan on Interstate 195 in Fall River, and brought it “to a safer location” after a few tries of trying to rescue the swan, according to a Mass. State Police Facebook post from Sept. 25.

“This marks the second swan rescue in the last week,” said the release. “Great job troopers!”