Florida couple Andrew Marshall and PJ Garcia-Marshall have opened their hearts — and sometimes, their home — to a swan named Lola.
“She fell in love with being inside. She thinks she is one of the dogs or one of the cats,” Garcia-Marshall told Click Orlando.
“To say she has completely changed our life would be an understatement.”
The pair, who live in Orlando, said it’s illegal to take a swan from the water, so they transformed their backyard into what they call “Lola’s Cove,” complete with access to a nearby lake, safeguarding it from other animals in the area.
“We’ve essentially created a sanctuary for her,” Marshall explained to the outlet.
The Marshalls, who are experienced in rehabilitating animals, were introduced to Lola after getting a call one day about a cygnet, or a baby swan.
“She was found in the nest alone, and can you imagine getting a phone call that a baby hatched out of its egg and was sitting by itself and had no mother or siblings there? That immediately touched our heart,” Garcia-Marshall told the outlet.
The Marshalls intended to return Lola to the wild, but when they brought her back to the lake where she was found, she was attacked by another swan.
“She sadly didn’t grow up on that lake, so she didn’t know how to navigate the areas where she could and could not go,” Marshall told Click Orlando.
“She ended up in an area where [another swan] had a territory in that area, and she was attacked.”
They decided to keep her, and now consider Lola part of their family.
“She is acclimated,” Garcia-Marshall said.
“And I think she decided that we’re her family as much as we decided that she’s ours.”
