Animals in Putnam's Past, Present and Future

Visions of Animals in Putnam's Past, Present and Future

by Judith Kelley-Moberg

Spring "rattlesnake roundups" and mandatory "wolf pit" maintenance were written into the Community code of the Town of Pelham in the late 1600's. The Tax Records of Dutchess County (Putnam was the South Ward of Dutchess) in the early 1700's shows outlays of money to pay bounties on wolves. Although the shape of the land and the climate remains basically the same from 1600 to present, the flora and the fauna do not.

The native peoples and early European settlers lived in an ancient forest environment where the canopy of branches blocked out sunlight and the undergrowth was sparse. Many mammals (especially deer) and birds found few food sources in a climax forest. Open areas created by beaver ponds, deadfalls of ancient trees and grassy marsh areas encouraged the growth of greater diversity of plant food sources. Native peoples often used controlled burns to open up the forest for new growth. Early Dutch settlers avoided the interior and tended to cling to the Hudson River or navigable tributaries like the Croton River and Wappinger's Creek.

In the 1740's large Manors were granted from the Hudson inland to the contested border with Connecticut. Settlers from New England, Westchester and Long Island began to carve their homesteads out of the wilderness. Many of these farmers had negotiated land grants from the Wappinger Confederacy and were considered squatters by the new Lords of the Manor. The New York Courts extinguished the Wappinger's land rights and most settlers resigned themselves to become tenant farmers.

The image of the yeoman farmer taming the land with hard work and determination prevailed up until the early 1800's. Throughout this period the forests were heavily logged for building materials, for charcoal making and as a cash crop for the farmer. Dams for grist and lumber mills were thrown up along the streams and the landscape became a vast pasture, bounded by stone walls with a scattering of shade trees. Extremely rocky areas, steep slopes and wetlands became the farmer's woodlots. Unconnected patches of woodlots and swamps contained the only forests left. The Great Swamp was one of the largest of these "woodlot" patches. Fox, bobcat and the remaining forest creatures found refuge in the Swamp as did the infamous counterfeiters of the "Oblong Gang".

There was little biodiversity except along the edges of wood lots and wetlands. Deer found few tender twigs to browse on and wolves and mountain lions were rare. Coyotes, fox, bobcat and weasel were pests to be shot or poisoned at will. Trapping mink, otter and beaver was a source of cash for the farmer. Wild turkey became scarce and the passenger pigeon was hunted to extinction.

As pasture (grasslands) dominated the landscape and woodlands disappeared, the number and species of mammals in Putnam County declined. Photos taken as late as 1950 amaze us with images of tree-less hills and valleys sprinkled with grazing cattle. Beginning in the early 1900's many farms began to fail. Dairying was no longer as profitable. Pasture, first the rocky and steepest fields were "let go" and shrubs and trees began to cover the landscape. By the second half of the century farmers found it more profitable to sell their farms to developers and Putnam became a bedroom community.

Some of the abandoned fields now that are now woodlands are 80 to 100 years old, the younger woodlands in their 30th year. The land becomes more and more wooded. The new growth attracts deer and the oaks wild turkey. Wetlands are still mainly untouched as they are poor home site areas and beaver return to flood the Metro-North tracks. Otter and mink use the wetlands. Coyote numbers increase and there is still a resident population of red fox and bobcat. Northern species like the raven and the fisher seem to be moving their range southward as the forest growth returns. Reports of black bear wandering out of the Berkshires to raid local birdfeeders have become common.


fisher	grey wolf

As the diversity of wildlife increase, so do the number of new homes. Natural animal habitat shrinks in size and becomes more fragmented. White-tailed deer multiply as homeowners plant shrubs and lawns. Racoons and crows are numerous. The presence of bear, bobcat, fisher, otter and mink indicate that there are still large wild areas connected by wooded travel-ways or corridors. Local, county and state parks across Putnam provide some relief to mammals under pressure but there has to be a larger vision or increasing development will push these mammals out. The "Greenway Plan", the "Highlands Coalition", the Putnam and Oblong Land Trusts and FrOGS all see the need to protect or develop wildlife corridors to connect these larger areas of wildlife habitat (Parklands). The Great Swamp with adjoining uplands or buffer zones is the largest and most diverse wildlife habitat in the Eastern section of the Hudson Highlands.

The Swamp is a "safe place" from human pressure for mammals as well as an interconnected travel corridor from Dutchess County through Putnam. A safe place for animals to escape being crowded or paved in can easily be translated into a "sanctuary" for mankind from the pressures of urban life. A place for quiet contemplation and wandering, seasoned with a dash of expectation. Perhaps you'll see a flash of red fox in the distance, or impossible ice castles in the brook. You might hear thrush melodies in the forest or wood duck chatter in the marsh or perhaps just the wind in the trees. The air smells of rich earth and leaves and you know you are in a different world.

We need a connection to the remaining wild places as much as the animals we would like to protect. The "Great Swamp Mural" from the children of Matthew Patterson Elementary School shared their vision of the diversity and the vibrant life found in the Swamp. Can we create a landscape where there is room for both people and wildlife so future generations of children will he just as excited.

FrOGS continues to honor our mission to preserve the integrity of the Great Swamp as one large interconnected region by using the North American Wetlands Conservation Grant to acquire land in the "Heart of The Great Swamp". The Federal Government, The State of New York, the Nature Conservancy, the Putnam and Oblong Land Trusts, concerned land owners, the County and the Town of Patterson have played an important part in our successes. We hope to increase public awareness of the threats to the narrow animal corridors like Haviland Hollow Brook and Muddy Brook that connect the large parklands and preserves to the main body of the great Swamp as well as extending our efforts to the "North Flow" and Swamp River sections.