To The Editor:

We have heard reports that the wildlife in the Paul Cullens Wildlife Preserve has been making a loud ruckus in recent days and we may have figured out the reason.

Since we will be out of town on Earth Day, last week my wife Robin and I decided to check out what was happening along Key Rock Road that runs through the preserve and to pick up the litter along the road.

It appears the wildlife, I suspect the peepers, salamanders, snails and turtles, are mixing alcohol with their swamp water. They are clever in their use of vodka which does not discolor the pool and apparently provides them a nice buzz. Drunken amphibians in the swamp are singing all night and during the day turtles have such a hang over they can’t stay on top of logs to sun, they keep sliding off, and snails can’t go straight which is a sure sign of intoxication. Tee frogs are drinking beer also to get their hops and tossing the empty cans all over the place. They also have a cooler out in the reeds no doubt to hold and chill their brew-skies.

We removed six packed 35+ gallon trash bags of glass and plastic bottles, cans, chip bags, sandwich wrappers, vape pens, nips and interestingly a woman’s stolen purse which had all its contents but no cash or credit cards. It was wrapped tightly in a black plastic bag to hide it (suspect the wildlife are bag snatching to get funds to support their partying budget).

From a PWA perspective with all this alcohol and other pollutants being dumped into the North Branch of the Pootatuck River head waters we are concerned that it will degrade surface and aquifer water quality over time and we feel prosecution of wildlife offenders should be pursued by the NFA. We request this situation be addressed by NFA’s governing board of directors.

Every weekday during the school year hundreds of young people riding in buses travel on Key Rock Road and are exposed to this wildlife party aftermath and I am afraid of the social effect that repeated exposure of the wildlife behavior and trashing of the swamp will have on the moral character of Newtown’s youth.

Randy Walker

Newtown