Staffers at the Winthrop National Fish Hatchery in the Methow Valley rescued a trumpeter swan this week, trapped in a water-filled ditch in temperatures below zero.
Hatchery workers gave the bird a place to warm up inside the facility, then blindfolded it to keep it calm, and drove it all the way to a Spokane veterinary hospital where it could be looked after.
The swan appeared unable to fly, but hatchery workers said it’s undergoing tests and seems otherwise healthy.
