A woman from Leith walked a lost swan all the way back to water after thinking it was 'too close to the road for her liking.'
Arlene Whitelaw was making her way from Carmichael Place to do a spot of window shopping on Wednesday afternoon when she heard a thud opposite the Tesco Express on Great Junction Street. After turning around to investigate, a confused little swan was stood dangerously close to the road.
"Normally I would have just walked away, but I thought you're too near the road for my liking. So me speaking like a human, I said 'come on, keep walking' and it seemed to start following me.
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"I got it away from the road and was just talking to it like an idiot, the looks I was getting were hilarious."
In a situation where most people would run or take a quick snap, Arlene took it upon herself to make sure the swan was reunited with its family and ushered it back to water.
A passer-by told Arlene that the Water of Leith was back the way they came, and with the swan taking lead, off they went.
"There was a gap in the hedge, he went through one bit and I went through the other and back to the water, we must have walked for about 20 minutes.
"I was totally cheesing, I've never done anything like that in my life and I'm not sure what made me that day. Normally I would have ran but I just went up to it like normal."
By the time Arlene made her way back to the water with her new companion, a few more people had noticed what was going on and stopped to capture the event themselves.
"There was a few more people stopping to take photos, I'd love to see if anyone else has other pictures of it."
"I think he understood me. He kept tilting his head and honking at me. I said 'don't start on me, just keep moving.'
Arlene also said that out of curiosity, she is going to go by again and see if the swan is still in the same area.
"I'm going tomorrow before work to see if he's there, if he follows me home I'd happily take him. It was well worth it and I'm glad I got him back to where he was supposed to go."
