The truth about the famous Bostonian swan couple
Boston Marriages yay!!
Thou art no Romeo
Famed swan couple is all-female
By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | August 12, 2005
Boston's beloved pair of swans -- feted by city leaders, residents, and
tourists alike as one of the Hub's most celebrated summer attractions
-- are a same-sex couple. Yes, scientific tests have shown that the pair,
named Romeo and Juliet, are really Juliet and Juliet.
The city's Parks and Recreation Department conducted the tests months
ago, but didn't announce the results for fear of destroying the image of a
Shakespearean love story unfolding each year in the Public Garden.
''Each year when the swans go in, the kids immediately come to us and
say, 'Which one's Romeo, and which one's Juliet?' " parks spokeswoman Mary
Hines said yesterday in response to a Globe inquiry. ''It's just like one
of those fairy tales; why spoil it?"
This year and last, the swans have laid eggs in the spring and then stood
guard at the nest as visitors and nearby residents made regular
pilgrimages, hoping to see the eggs hatch. Neither batch did. Turns
out, that's because they were never fertilized by a male swan.
The news ignited something of a debate among swan spectators in the Public
Garden yesterday, with some insisting the city now should buy a true Romeo
and others saying the city should embrace the two as a couple.
''If these two swans are happy together, they shouldn't have to have a
guy," said Emma Stokien, a 15-year-old from New York. ''It's good to have
the swans as a symbol of the acceptance in Massachusetts."
Some advocates involved in the heated debate on same-sex marriage took the
opportunity to rejuvenate their argument, with a touch of levity.
''I think this proves that there's something in the environment in
Massachusetts," Brian Camenker, director of the Article 8 Alliance, a
Waltham-based organization fighting same-sex marriage, joked in a
telephone interview. ''Maybe it's the water that's causing all this
lunacy."
The city has kept swans at the Public Garden lagoon for 16 summers.
City parks officials adopted the current Romeo and Juliet a few years ago,
after others died. The breeder told the city that both were female, a good
fit for the Public Garden because specialists say male swans tend to be aggressive.
But when the eggs showed up last spring and the swans began acting like
future parents, park rangers thought the breeder had made a mistake. They
began preparing for the first-ever hatching of swan babies, or cygnets, in
the Public Garden.
Park rangers constructed a fence around the nest of nine or so eggs and
began making regular checks, trying to monitor the progress of the
eggs. In mid-July, though, the eggs began to disappear, one by one. The swans
themselves had been seen kicking some of them into the nearby lagoon.
Speculation abounded that maybe the swans had been inattentive. They
tended to abandon the nest for hours on end. Maybe the public attention
had disrupted their parenting, some said.
Rangers managed to save one egg with hope of getting to the bottom of the
mystery. After testing, they discovered the egg had never been fertilized.
And when the swans returned to their winter home at the Franklin Park Zoo,
parks officials decided to have their genders tested. Not an easy task,
specialists said.
It's not just a matter of turning the birds upside down, said
aviculturalist Frederick Beall, general curator of Zoo New England, who
performed the tests. It requires inverting the bird's rear quarters and
performing a detailed examination of reproductive organs. While there
is a small margin of error, Beall said he has no doubt that both Romeo and
Juliet are female. ''We are 100 percent certain," he said.
Swans will pair up with members of the same sex if there are no
opposite-sex mates available, and one will act out the role of the
opposite gender. They tend to stay with the same mates until death,
typically between age 20 and 30.
''You could have two males, and they'll go through all the same
behaviors, building a nest and sitting on it, but you won't have the eggs," Beall
said.
Within an hour of the swans' return to the Public Garden in the spring,
Romeo or Juliet -- rangers aren't sure which one -- laid a single egg,
built a nest to house it, and began the pre-parental behavior. One
would sit on the nest while the other shooed ducks away or went off to drink
andfeed. Sometimes they switched roles. After a week, though, the swans
abandoned the nest, and the egg was found destroyed. Rangers removed
the nest and fence, without grieving for the egg that would never hatch.
(Swans typically lay only one clutch per year.)
As Romeo and Juliet, who are between 6 and 7 years old, stood on the
rim of the lagoon yesterday, where swan boats glided by only yards from
their nesting ground, spectators snapped pictures and commented on their
beauty.
"They should have a Romeo," lamented Laura Elsheimer, a Hudson
resident and owner of Sunshine Taxi Cab.
A visitor from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., suggested that the city should
try to have one of next year's eggs fertilized so that Romeo and Juliet
could become same-sex parents. ''I'm sure they'd probably be perfect
parents," said L.D. Hollingsworth, smiling as he watched the swans grooming
themselves.
Some same-sex marriage advocates hoped the swans' celebrity would not
be diminished by the revelation of their same-sex status.
Marty Rouse, campaign director of MassEquality, said in a telephone
interview: ''We should still cherish and love our swans, no matter whom
they choose to swim with."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.
© [ http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright ]Copyright
2005
The New York Times Company
Thou art no Romeo
Famed swan couple is all-female
By Donovan Slack, Globe Staff | August 12, 2005
Boston's beloved pair of swans -- feted by city leaders, residents, and
tourists alike as one of the Hub's most celebrated summer attractions
-- are a same-sex couple. Yes, scientific tests have shown that the pair,
named Romeo and Juliet, are really Juliet and Juliet.
The city's Parks and Recreation Department conducted the tests months
ago, but didn't announce the results for fear of destroying the image of a
Shakespearean love story unfolding each year in the Public Garden.
''Each year when the swans go in, the kids immediately come to us and
say, 'Which one's Romeo, and which one's Juliet?' " parks spokeswoman Mary
Hines said yesterday in response to a Globe inquiry. ''It's just like one
of those fairy tales; why spoil it?"
This year and last, the swans have laid eggs in the spring and then stood
guard at the nest as visitors and nearby residents made regular
pilgrimages, hoping to see the eggs hatch. Neither batch did. Turns
out, that's because they were never fertilized by a male swan.
The news ignited something of a debate among swan spectators in the Public
Garden yesterday, with some insisting the city now should buy a true Romeo
and others saying the city should embrace the two as a couple.
''If these two swans are happy together, they shouldn't have to have a
guy," said Emma Stokien, a 15-year-old from New York. ''It's good to have
the swans as a symbol of the acceptance in Massachusetts."
Some advocates involved in the heated debate on same-sex marriage took the
opportunity to rejuvenate their argument, with a touch of levity.
''I think this proves that there's something in the environment in
Massachusetts," Brian Camenker, director of the Article 8 Alliance, a
Waltham-based organization fighting same-sex marriage, joked in a
telephone interview. ''Maybe it's the water that's causing all this
lunacy."
The city has kept swans at the Public Garden lagoon for 16 summers.
City parks officials adopted the current Romeo and Juliet a few years ago,
after others died. The breeder told the city that both were female, a good
fit for the Public Garden because specialists say male swans tend to be aggressive.
But when the eggs showed up last spring and the swans began acting like
future parents, park rangers thought the breeder had made a mistake. They
began preparing for the first-ever hatching of swan babies, or cygnets, in
the Public Garden.
Park rangers constructed a fence around the nest of nine or so eggs and
began making regular checks, trying to monitor the progress of the
eggs. In mid-July, though, the eggs began to disappear, one by one. The swans
themselves had been seen kicking some of them into the nearby lagoon.
Speculation abounded that maybe the swans had been inattentive. They
tended to abandon the nest for hours on end. Maybe the public attention
had disrupted their parenting, some said.
Rangers managed to save one egg with hope of getting to the bottom of the
mystery. After testing, they discovered the egg had never been fertilized.
And when the swans returned to their winter home at the Franklin Park Zoo,
parks officials decided to have their genders tested. Not an easy task,
specialists said.
It's not just a matter of turning the birds upside down, said
aviculturalist Frederick Beall, general curator of Zoo New England, who
performed the tests. It requires inverting the bird's rear quarters and
performing a detailed examination of reproductive organs. While there
is a small margin of error, Beall said he has no doubt that both Romeo and
Juliet are female. ''We are 100 percent certain," he said.
Swans will pair up with members of the same sex if there are no
opposite-sex mates available, and one will act out the role of the
opposite gender. They tend to stay with the same mates until death,
typically between age 20 and 30.
''You could have two males, and they'll go through all the same
behaviors, building a nest and sitting on it, but you won't have the eggs," Beall
said.
Within an hour of the swans' return to the Public Garden in the spring,
Romeo or Juliet -- rangers aren't sure which one -- laid a single egg,
built a nest to house it, and began the pre-parental behavior. One
would sit on the nest while the other shooed ducks away or went off to drink
andfeed. Sometimes they switched roles. After a week, though, the swans
abandoned the nest, and the egg was found destroyed. Rangers removed
the nest and fence, without grieving for the egg that would never hatch.
(Swans typically lay only one clutch per year.)
As Romeo and Juliet, who are between 6 and 7 years old, stood on the
rim of the lagoon yesterday, where swan boats glided by only yards from
their nesting ground, spectators snapped pictures and commented on their
beauty.
"They should have a Romeo," lamented Laura Elsheimer, a Hudson
resident and owner of Sunshine Taxi Cab.
A visitor from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., suggested that the city should
try to have one of next year's eggs fertilized so that Romeo and Juliet
could become same-sex parents. ''I'm sure they'd probably be perfect
parents," said L.D. Hollingsworth, smiling as he watched the swans grooming
themselves.
Some same-sex marriage advocates hoped the swans' celebrity would not
be diminished by the revelation of their same-sex status.
Marty Rouse, campaign director of MassEquality, said in a telephone
interview: ''We should still cherish and love our swans, no matter whom
they choose to swim with."
Donovan Slack can be reached at dslack@globe.com.
© [ http://www.boston.com/help/bostoncom_info/copyright ]Copyright
2005
The New York Times Company