Baby swan gets in a pickle at the Bishop's Palace in Wells

The cheeky new arrival in Wells managed to cause quite a stir when it got stuck. Credit: Bishop's Palace

A cygnet, which only hatched at the Bishop's Palace on Saturday, has already been causing trouble after getting stuck in a fence.

The Bishop's Palace at Wells is famous for its swans that live by the moat and ring a bell to be fed. The resident pair Grace and Gabriel moved in at the beginning of May 2019 and quickly learned to toll the bell for food.

By the end of May Grace had laid four eggs and the first hatched on 6 July.

Gabriel and Grace demonstrate their skill at ringing the Gatehouse bell for food. Credit: Bishop's Palace

By the end of May, Grace had laid four eggs and the first hatched on 6 July.

Within 24 hours the precocious cygnet had taken its first swim in the Palace Moat and just a few days later the youngster caused quite a stir after getting stuck in a fence on the bank. Staff were alerted by people watching on the palace website's 24-hour Swan Cam.

The Head Gardener was called in to come down to the moat to help release the troublesome cygnet. The Bishop's Palace says he had to fend off mum with a bucket to get to the baby.

On Wednesday morning, 10 July, the youngster managed to pull the same trick again. This time the Palace's Swan Trainer Moira Anderson was on hand to do the honours and the fence was removed altogether to ensure no further incidents.

Swan Trainer Moira Anderson comes to the aid of the tiny cygnet in distress. Credit: Bishop's Palace

Staff believe that the other eggs may never hatch. It may come as no surprise that staff have named the survivor "Lucky".

We had a look on the Swan Cam to see if we could spot little Lucky - and we weren't disappointed.

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