Cheeky swan torments neighbourhood by hammering on doors
A cheeky swan has been tormenting a neighbourhood for the past five years by hammering on doors with his beak.
Comical footage shows ‘Cedric the Asbo’ swan rattling the letterboxes of a row of houses opposite the lake where he lives in Northampton.
Nobody has been able to work out why the bothersome bird keeps poking his beak through their doors.
Locals have been left in a flap by Cedric’s bizarre behaviour which sees him noisily clanging the metal letterboxes, sometimes for up to three hours.
Grandfather-of-four Stephen Legg has tried and failed to deter the antisocial visitor on numerous occasions.
The 70-year-old, who works as a county councillor, said: “At the side of our houses there’s a small lake which was dug out 20 years ago for drainage.
“The swan has been there for seven or eight years with its mate.
“Around this time of year five years ago the male swan started messing around my front door.
“It rattles the letterbox with its beak and stands in front of the glass.
“The RSPCA have been a few times and reckon it’s trying to scrape insects off the glass, but there aren’t any inside the letter box.”
Mr Legg explained that the swan acts seasonally.
“He does it every year until the summer then doesn’t bother for the rest of the year,” he said.
“It is a flipping nuisance.
“He starts by rattling the letter box then bashes the metal with its beak quite loudly.
“The racket reverberates through the whole house. It doesn’t do any damage, but it’s extremely irritating.
“Sometimes it does it for three hours at a time, other times only once or twice.
“It really is very loud because it flips the letter box up and down with its beak.
“I have been very careful not to feed it and certainly don’t feed it through the letter box.
“Everyone who walks past the lake seems to give the swans something to eat.
“They must be the best-fed birds in England. The last thing it could be is hungry.”
The problem has got to the point that Mr Legg covers the front door and leaves his conservatory window open so the postman can put letters through.
Mystery surrounds why the pesky bird keeps knocking on people’s front doors but it is believed it could be territorial behaviour or he is looking for food.
Retired nurse Wendy Howard, 63, who also lives nearby, captured the hilarious footage after seeing the swan on her daily walk.
The married mum-of-two said: “The swan has been been doing it almost every day recently and I still think it is pretty funny to see when walking past.
“But I’m glad it isn’t my house because it is very noisy, it would depend on how early it started.
“It’s like a postman opening the letterbox to drop the post through. It puts its beak through their letter boxes, raps the metal and carries on and on.
