Photo: Beatriz Pitarch / Moment / Getty Images
(Lakeland, Fla) - Lakeland officials are trying to reassure residents who are worried the city's swans will be bothered by the Christmas parade.
Due to construction, the parade has been re-routed around Lake Morton which is home swans and their nesting sites.
A Change.org petition wants the city to avoid the area to protect the lake's swans and their nests from noise and trash pollution.
Sally Bendele, who grew up feeding the ducks on Lake Morton and tells Newschannel 8, “I was just pretty upset by it. I was really shocked that that was the decision that was made.”
Lakeland recently conducted its annual health assessment of the swans and found 52 live around Lake Morton.