Community mourns beloved Millage Pond swan

FERGUS – Millage Pond will look a little emptier next year, absent a beloved swan that made the waters home.

Acadia the swan was a regular attraction on the pond, a picturesque spot among townhomes on Millage Lane in Fergus.

The swan, which local residents say died after being killed by a predator, was believed to be between eight and nine years old.

“It’s different,” said Eulalia Hockley, one of many people responsible for the swan’s care.

Each morning, Hockley said she fed the swan.

It was her mom who reached out to the Elora Swan Project after hearing a radio ad about the organization looking to find ponds for the waterfowl.

Soon after, Acadia, and a fellow swan named Jupiter, called the pond home.

The Elora Swan Project consists of a group of volunteers who care for and watch over a group of mute swans. The swans are kept throughout the winter and released into ponds throughout Centre Wellington in the spring. They’re banded and have their wings clipped to prevent them from migrating with native swans.

Acadia and Jupiter  squabbled, swan project coordinator Pam Hasson said.

“They would get into a squabble and one would actually walk off the pond and into the street,” Hasson said.

Jupiter was relocated to another pond after one too many quarrels.

Dozens of community members voiced their sorrow about Acadia’s death in response to an Oct. 9 Facebook post by Hockley.

“My son and I would always walk that way to see his friend “the swan,” and it would always make him smile,” stated someone identified as Lydia K.

“My dad will be sad. He always looked for the swan when I took him to Fergus,” posted Laurie Hart Rogers.

Acadia did not have a mate, but Hockley says she doesn’t think he was lonely, as he had plenty of “duck friends” to keep him company, as well as Canadian geese in the spring.

According to Hockley and Hasson, there are no plans to introduce a new swan to the pond.

However, those looking for swans can visit the pond behind the Wellington Terrace in Aboyne or at Whiffletree Farm and Nursery, southwest of Alma.