Adele Ferguson - State game policy for geese keeps swan solo

ON LITTLE SYLVIA Lake in Gig Harbor lives a lonely old mute swan, lonely because his companion went to that great watering hole in the sky two years ago, and efforts to replace him have been thwarted by the Darth Vader of mute swandom, the state of Washington. Hiss! Boo!

Fie on mute swans, declares the state. They have a bad habit of beating up and sometimes killing native waterfowl. They have even been known to attack and seriously harm people in their territories. Which is why in 1991, the state added them to its Deletorious Exotic Wildlife list, meaning hurtful, noxious and pernicious.

In o...