The police usually whip out their riot shields during formidable events that require them to be fully protected in order to do their job. You know the drill - unruly football crowds, violent protests, swan manoeuvres, that sort of thing.
Hang on. Riot shields to shift a swan? Surely this doesn't happen - well, apparently it does in the small Scottish town of Greenock, as you can see in the clip below:
The hilarious footage shows a rogue swan that had ventured around 200 metres from its normal home in Murdieston Park. Sounds nice, why would you want to relocate?
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The police were contacted (imagine being that call handler) and the cavalry arrived. Two of them, in fact, and they armed themselves with riot shields and bread before spending around half an hour shepherding the bird back home.
At least one other officer and two police vans were also involved in helping the swan safely navigate the main road on Tuesday evening.
The old joke about 'how many people does it take...' springs to mind.
Alison Robertson, who filmed the bizarre operation from her home, said: "From when it lands on the main road to getting it back up to the dam, the whole thing lasted about 30 minutes.
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"I grew up on that street and this same thing happened every so often. If it wasn't swans, it was ducks."
The video shows the officers, one on each side, using their shields to try to keep the swan on the pavement.
At one point the swan stops and the female officer gently uses her shield to nudge the bird's tail feathers and get it moving again.
The bird then starts to move further along, making a car wait as it goes, and then the brains of the proceedings arrive in the form of a pedestrian who tries feeding it bread.
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The undeterred swan walks at its own pace along the street as police attempt to return it back to the reservoir. Each time it stops, the next piece of bread is delivered.
Sort of makes you wonder why it was walking so slow, doesn't it?
Alison uploaded her clip to Facebook, and one person responded: "It's not just the gals in Greenock that cause the drama then."
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Anyone else think Greenock sounds like an interesting place to venture to?
Another wrote: "Honestly, riot shields. It's laughable."
Featured Image Credit: Deadline News
Topics: News, Animals, Scotland