In Grantsburg, Wisconsin, a hunter came across a tagged trumpeter swan who was suffering from two gunshot wounds. Locals who were familiar with the swan (tagged 88F) and his mate managed to capture the injured swan and bring him to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota in Roseville.
After 10 days of treatment, the swan grew strong and healthy, and WRCMN volunteers released 88F back into the Grantsburg wildlife area.
But his mate was nowhere to be found.
A few weeks later, 88F was sighted in Hudson, Wisconsin, 60 miles south of where he’d been released! Swimming alongside him was his lifetime mate. They had reunited at their wintering site.
Trumpeter swans are native to the United States and Canada. It is illegal to hunt trumpeter swans in the US because they are federally protected.
For more information about 88F, see: