They are calm… by German standards.
Weirdly, the notion that swans are particularly aggressive is one I learnt on the English-speaking part of the internet (so I instantly assume it’s an USianism). Any references to swan behaviour that I can find in German talks about how they’re associated with calm and serenity.
Duamerthrax@lemmy.world 1 day ago
Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 20 hours ago
i have to wonder if americans uh, get them confused with geese… Because geese can absolutely have a tendency to actively harass you, while swans don’t get close enough to interact with us in the first place.
Unless american swans are just suffering from lead poisoning like the general population?
sukhmel@programming.dev 22 hours ago
Don’t know, I’ve seen swans being total assholes in Finland, in Estonia, in Czechia, so maybe in Germany around Baltic shore they are also not seen as calm
There are a lot of animals that are seen completely not how they are, based on vibes, like wise owls, or cunning snakes, etc
echodot@feddit.uk 6 hours ago
I was think it’s funny how people go on about majestic horses. They’re not majestic, they are uncoordinated panicky idiots.
My aunt has a horse and I’ve seen him run into a tree, there’s one single tree in his paddock and it’s a giant oak, and he’s running into it at least three times. He panics if he can’t see his friend, often because his friend is behind him, and then runs madly around until he crashes into something, or stumbles into the pond.
This is the horse and had a panic attack because the farmer had bought a new wheelbarrow and it looked different to the one he was used to.
cazssiew@lemmy.world 15 hours ago
In my experience it’s more of a specifically British phobia.
rumba@lemmy.zip 21 hours ago
That’s because the Germans have enough sense and morals to leave them alone :)