Seven Swans-a-Swimming

This past Christmas, I went to Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, which was covered in a blanket of white from a fresh snowfall. I was very fortunate to see a few different protected species, like the Bald Eagle and the American Bison, but the one that made me stop and think was the American Trumpeter Swan. While visiting Yellowstone, we saw 25 trumpeter swans at varying locations, and every time we saw them, we got out and stood silently on the bank of the river watching them. The first thought that struck me was how beautiful they were, and the second thought was how I had never seen them before. I'm only 19 years old, but I travel a lot, and it seems odd that I had never seen a swan in the wild. My third thought was how lucky I was to be in this beautiful national park, where these magnificent creatures could swim safe and free from hunters. Swans continue to face dangers, mainly human related, so seeing so many that day in that protected habitat reminded me how important it is for our government to continue funding our state parks. We were visiting on Christmas Eve when we say these “seven swans-a-swimming.”