Sullivan concerned about Garrison Pond
It would be wrong to say that Town of Highlands Deputy Supervisor Rich Sullivan cares more about the animals who live in Fort Montgomery than the people who live there, but, he does have a certain affinity to the swans who have lived on Garrison Pond for — basically — his entire life.
Sullivan told the rest of the Town Board on Monday evening that they may need to take some action at the pond at some point in the near future because “something is happening there”.
He recounted the story of the swans who have lived in the pond for decades, noting they annually have babies, that through the years have been threatened by snapping turtles. These days, he said, something else is threatening them, and he’s concerned that it is the weeds — Japanese Knotweed or something like it, he said — that are “choking the shoreline” of the lake.
The cygnets, four of them, were born early last year, and now they are gone, he said. While they are not old enough to fly yet, he believes they, with their parents, walked down to the Hudson River and made their way to Iona Island.
“Someone saw them walking down Drew Rd.,” he said.
Why? He thinks that the cover of the weeds is giving coyotes and foxes the cover they want to prowl around the lake, and that, naturally, made the swans fearful. Sullivan noted that he and others have seen the foxes and coyotes on cameras attached to their homes or property.
“Swans aren’t agile on land,” he said.
He does not believe the swans were taken from the lake — but said there is no evidence of them on the lake at all lately.
Another thing that leads him to the conclusion the swans have made their exit from Garrison Pond is that there are about 30 geese who are living there comfortable.
“The swans made it their mission in life, 24/7 to chase those geese,” Sullivan said.
“I don’t know exactly what is happening, but something is,” Sullivan said, suggesting that at some point the town might want to hire a consultant — maybe a biologist — to look at the lake and help the town figure out how to get rid of that invasive weed.
