Tuxis Pond facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Tuxis Pond |
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 Tuxis Pond
Location in Connecticut
Tuxis Pond
Location in the United States
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| Location | New Haven County, Connecticut |
| Coordinates | 41°16′51.3″N 72°35′50″W / 41.280917°N 72.59722°W |
| Type | lake |
Tuxis Pond, sometimes called Tunxis, is a small pond in Madison, a town in New Haven County, Connecticut. It's about 3.58 acres big, which is like three football fields! Three small streams flow into the pond, and one stream flows out to the ocean.
Tuxis Pond is only about 3 feet above sea level. Its edges are mostly rocky, with not much sand or dirt. Many local businesses are named after the pond, like a lumber company, a book store, and even a golf club. Long ago, Native Americans called this pond Tuxisshoag or Tuckshishoag.
You can explore the pond's western side on the Tuxis Pond Walkway. This is a raised boardwalk that lets you see the amazing wetland plants and animals up close. The walkway was built in 1994 and later got updates to make it even better for visitors.
Animals and Plants at Tuxis Pond
Tuxis Pond is a busy home for lots of different creatures! You can find many kinds of fish, frogs, salamanders, and snakes here. There are also mammals that love water, like muskrats, and many different birds. The most common bird you might spot is the piping plover, which is a small shorebird.
The pond is surrounded by trees, grass, and bushes. The trees are mostly deciduous, meaning they lose their leaves in the fall, just like a typical New England forest. You'll also see evergreens, mosses, ferns, and shrubs. The trees give plenty of shade, which helps some cooler plants and fungi grow. Sometimes, when the weather is warm, you might see algal blooms. This is when tiny water plants grow very quickly and make the water look green.
Legends of Tuxis Pond
The Algonquin Native Americans who lived in this area have a cool story about how Tuxis Pond was made. They say a giant named Odziozo created it!
The legend says Odziozo followed a group of geese all the way from his newly made Lake Champlain. The geese led him down through the glaciers to what is now Madison. Odziozo then scooped out a big hole in the earth, which became Tuxis Pond. He threw the dirt he scooped out into the sea, and that dirt became Tuxis Island!
As he threw the dirt, a single rock fell from his hand. This rock is now known as Samson Rock. It even has a foot-shaped mark on top, which people say is where Odziozo stepped when he turned around to go home. The pond then filled up with water that splashed out of the sound when Tuxis Island landed in the ocean.
Sometimes, European settlers told a similar story, but they said the biblical hero Samson was the one who created the pond instead of Odziozo.
