I live in a private community of single family homes and townhomes. As part of our association fees, we lease pairs of swans each season to nest and habitat the waterways among our homes. The last few years have been bleak for the pair. Within just a few short days of them hatching, the babies are getting gobbled up and sometimes severly injured including having there legs bitten off by snapping turtles. The turtles have found there way in through natural water ways that connect or are close by to our man made beauties. It appears that they get in through ditches and grating, then once grown, can't or don't leave. Unfortunately the new hatchlings make for an easy meal for the turtles. Is there any way to safely and humanly relocate them to more of a natural habitats and save the baby swans as well??? Please advise ... Thank you, Laurel Lehman

To relocate the turtles you'd need permits from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources as well as someone trained to handle snapping turtles. But with the habitat there, really you'll be wasting your money to try relocation. New turtles will keep coming in. Sad as it is for the swans, that is the way of nature. I'm going to list the IDNR district wildlife biologists' number in case you want to give one of them a call. Joe Rogus and Bob Massey at (815) 476-0256.