Breaking News

Motorists are urged to take alternate routes to avoid the delays caused by the big angry white swan at Town Pond in East Hampton.

The swan is a male, and beginning on Saturday, when his mate began to sit on the big twig nest in the southwest corner of the pond, he's been on a tear.

Delays have been occurring at the pond, sometimes developing into tie-ups, as the swan pecks at the tires of cars, menaces the people in the cars and tries to get them to turn around and go away. Sometimes he spreads his wings and attacks the cars by banging into them. Occasionally, he just sits down right in the middle of the lane daring anybody or anything to get by him. He's a big pain in the ass.

When he gets tired of attacking the cars, he generally goes back into the pond to see that nobody has gotten through to his mate. He paddles rapidly and triumphantly around in the pond, his feathers all fluffed up and his head held very high. The other avian residents of the pond, the ducks and geese, generally huddle on the north end of the pond while this is going on, afraid to come out, at least until he returns to pecking at car tires.

Police warn pedestrians and tourists to stay clear of the swan and to under no circumstances try to go over to either pet him or talk to him. He bites.

Motorists intent on going through to Amagansett or Montauk should avoid East Hampton by taking the long route around via Sag Harbor. Those wishing to enter downtown East Hampton from the west should turn left at the light at the corner of Woods Lane and Highway Behind the Lots, then follow it around down Gingerbread Lane and Race Lane to Newtown Lane and then into town. There is plenty of parking in the lots in town and there is access to all of them from Newtown Lane.

The delays at the pond are expected to continue for the next week or until the male realizes all is ok and nobody is going to do anything bad to his mate on the nest and he can just relax a bit. She'll stay there on the nest for a month and a half and he'll bring her food and stuff. It's still not a good idea to go up to him. This happens every spring.

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