As you know, Sampson, Delilah and I have a pretty sweet area for walking.
I’ve also seen cross-country skiers and non-motorized bike riders. It’s a perfect area for these types of activities.
It also has another appeal though, one that’s not quite as nice.
The local kids like to go up there and drink, smoke pot, build bonfires, have sex, experiment with explosives, etc.
I get it. I was after all a kid once myself.
What I don’t get is why they leave evidence of their debauchery and why they have to leave things lying about that can hurt others.
I’m speaking specifically of food, broken glass and empty containers.
Really? If you’re that freaked out about what your parents will say when they found out you stole a bottle of Captain Morgan from them, then take the bottle and stick it in your neighbor’s recycling bin. Stick it in your backpack, and throw it in a public place. Hell, I really wouldn’t even mind if you left the empty bottle in the woods, just please, please don’t smash it on the rocks!
Not only can this cause harm to domestic animals but think about the wildlife. Death from swallowing glass is a horrible way for ANYONE to die.
I bring all this up to set the scene for our current story.
The lovely kids in my neighborhood broke at least 10 bottles on a ridge of rocks up in our woods. Not just dropped and broke, SMASHED.
Way more glass than I could show in the picture.
The falling leaves are covering the glass and this has me concerned, not just for my dogs, but for other dogs whose owners let them run rampant and for the wildlife as well.
Since the days are shorter now, it’s harder to get out into the woods after work, the days that I do, I’ve forgotten to bring something for clean up.
I got home a bit early on Thursday and hurried the dogs out for a romp. I remembered my small broom and dustpan as well as a paper bag to place the glass in.
We went up through the field and into the woods where I knew the glass was. Delilah was on the 15 foot leash and I secured her to a tree while I started sweeping and picking up the glass.
There was much more than I had remembered so after about 5 minutes or so I thought this isn’t fair to the dogs, they came up here to walk. I left the bag on the rock, unhooked Delilah and off we went.
I’ve been working Delilah really hard on her recall, so I let her off leash. Except for a brief moment when I thought I’d lost her, she did amazingly well.
We headed back to the rock so I could pick up the bag and then I realized how much more glass was there.
We’d been in the woods about 20 to 25 minutes and hadn’t run into anyone, visibility was good because of all the leaves that have fallen and I was feeling a bit cocky (or pissy, considering I was picking up someone else’s mess) I said, screw it, leave her off leash and let her have Carte Blanche.
I fully expected her to run off helter skelter.
Instead, I spent the next 10 minutes or so, picking/sweeping up glass, and yelling at Delilah to ‘Get Off The Rock!’
I’m actually considering this photo for the calendar contest (minus the bag of course.)
Neither one of the dogs took advantage of my lapse in judgement, in fact how you see them in the photo is exactly how they stayed. 🙂
I picked up almost a full bag of glass.
It’s hard to pick/sweep up glass when it’s covered in leaves.
Yesterday I called the Parks and Recreation Department and had a really nice chat with the woman who answered the phone. I’m not really sure there’s anything they can do about the kids going up after dark, but at least my concern was heard.
Delilah really surprised me when she didn’t take advantage of her freedom opportunity, have your dog’s ever surprised you by not taking advantage of a naughty opportunity?
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