Tuxis Pond,
occasionally spelled Tunxis, is a small pond located in the town of
Madison Madison may refer to:
People
* Madison (name), a given name and a surname
* James Madison (1751–1836), fourth president of the United States
Place names
* Madison, Wisconsin, the state capital of Wisconsin and the largest city known by this ...
in
New Haven County
New Haven County is a county in the south central part of the U.S. state of Connecticut. As of the 2020 census, the population was 864,835, making it the third-most populous county in Connecticut. Two of the state's top 5 largest cities, New ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
.
The pond is in area. Three small streams run into it, and one runs out to sea. Tuxis Pond is about above sea level.
[ The shores are mostly rocky with little sand or soil. Many nearby businesses have taken the name of the pond, including a lumber company, bookseller, grill, highway, golf club, art show, and assisted living facility.
The pond was previously known to Native Americans as ''Tuxisshoag'' or ''Tuckshishoag''.]
Flora and fauna
The pond is home to a vast array of fish, amphibians, and reptiles, as well as semi-aquatic mammals and birds. Other native birds and mammals use the pond as well. The most common bird seen there is the piping plover.
The pond is surrounded by trees on most parts, as well as grass and shrubs. The pond itself is host to several varieties of water plants. The areas surrounded by trees are a small, typical New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
forest, mainly deciduous trees with some evergreens. The underbrush, too, consists of all the expected grasses, mosses, ferns, and shrubs. The canopy provides adequate shade for some cooler climate lichens. There are many fungi, as well. There are often algal blooms in the warmer months.
Folklore
The Algonquin
Algonquin or Algonquian—and the variation Algonki(a)n—may refer to:
Languages and peoples
*Algonquian languages, a large subfamily of Native American languages in a wide swath of eastern North America from Canada to Virginia
**Algonquin la ...
in the area claimed that Odziozo Odziozo, also called Oodzee-hozo, is a giant in Algonquin (specifically Abenaki) legend. His name means "He who Created Himself," or "Transformer." He is attributed with the creation of Lake Champlain, Tuxis Island and Pond, Rock Dunder, and Sams ...
, the great giant, created Tuxis Pond after following a flock of geese from his newly carved-out Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec.
The New York portion of t ...
. They led him down the glaciers to what today is Madison. He scooped out some earth, forming the pit that would become Tuxis Pond, and flung it out to sea to create Tuxis Island. As he flung it, a single rock fell from his hand and is now known as Samson Rock. This rock has a somewhat foot-shaped groove in the top, supposedly from when Odziozo turned around to go home and stepped on it. The pond filled up with the water that splashed out of the sound
In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid.
In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' b ...
when Tuxis Island hit the water.
This same legend was sometimes told by Europeans with the role of Odziozo being given to the biblical Samson
Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...
.
See also
* Tuxis Island
* Samson Rock
*Lake Champlain
Lake Champlain ( ; french: Lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater lake in North America. It mostly lies between the US states of New York and Vermont, but also extends north into the Canada, Canadian province of Quebec.
The New York portion of t ...
*Rock Dunder
Rock Dunder is a tiny rock island extending just above the waters of Lake Champlain roughly southwest from the Burlington, Vermont ferry dock. The water level averages above sea level, and the rock protrudes only a few feet above that. The isl ...
*Odziozo Odziozo, also called Oodzee-hozo, is a giant in Algonquin (specifically Abenaki) legend. His name means "He who Created Himself," or "Transformer." He is attributed with the creation of Lake Champlain, Tuxis Island and Pond, Rock Dunder, and Sams ...
References
Ponds of Connecticut
Landforms of New Haven County, Connecticut
Madison, Connecticut
{{Connecticut-geo-stub