XPost: comp.os.linux.misc   
   From: lars@beagle-ears.com   
      
   On 12/10/2025 8:49 AM, Carlos E.R. wrote:   
   >>>> Oh, in my area there are few trees. I saw the black poo bags in the   
   >>>> ground and was astonished.   
   >>>>   
   >>>> Although I have to say that it is not nice to be walking on the   
   >>>> country and have to keep watching for poo and avoiding it. The dogs   
   >>>> poo right in the middle of the path, not like wild creatures.   
      
   When I see that, I gennerally assume that was left by someone on their   
   way into the trail, who did not want the bag of sh*t in their pocket for   
   the hour they will be spending there, and they intend to pick it up on   
   their way back. And then they may forget it on their way back.   
      
   So if I see it again on MY way back, I'll pick it up for them.   
      
   We have a number of nice trail options here:   
   - Foothill trails, going from the suburban streets up to the crest of a   
     4000 ft (1200 m) front range, which is part of Los Padres National   
     Forest. Often have sections that is just a 1-foot wide ledge carved   
     into the side of the canyon carved by a mostly seasonal creek.   
     Dogs are officially supposed to be on leash.   
   - An old dump turned into a park managed by a private foundation.   
     Dogs are explicitly allowed to be off-leash so long as they are   
     well-behaved, but you pay for the privilege: Each dog must have a tag   
     that costs USD 145 per year. Half the park is "wild" with grass that   
     is mostly unkempt, except that every year or two they bring in 100   
     sheep and goats for two weeks to "mow" it, the other half has   
     3 softball (i.e.  baseball) fields and two soccer/rugby/lacrosse   
     fields, two smallish meadows kept free of weeds, an amphitheater   
     that seats 200, and a "memorial trail" honoring war veterans, where   
     plaques lists the names of every soldier from the county that died   
     each year in Vietnam. We gladly pay the fee for our two dogs,   
     because of the greatly reduced risk of getting foxtails up (ryegrass   
     seedheads) up the dogs' noses. My previous beagle had to have one   
     surgically removed at a cost of USD 800 for a visit to the emergency   
     dog surgery. The downside is that they often rent out the area with   
     the meadows and amphitheater for weddings, collecting $7,000 to   
     $20,000 for an event that closes "the upper park" to the public for a   
     Saturday, and sometimes a Sunday. And if there happens to be a   
     softball tournament AND a youth soccer tournament on the same   
     week-end, we dog-owners better find another place.   
     The total area is about 80 acres (30+ ha).   
   - The "Douglas Family Preserve". 70 acres of coastal blufftop.   
     Was an abandoned plant nursery. Someone wanted to build a gated   
     condominium community there, and the local public raised $17 mio to   
     buy it to prevent that. Since the core group of fundraisers were dog   
     owners who had been trespassing to run their dogs there, most of the   
     area is off-leash permitted. My previous beagles loved to burrow into   
     the dense scrub areas to chase jackrabbits for hours at a time.   
     One of them died from Leptospirosis after drinking from a stagnant   
     pond ("vernal pool") in the springtime. (Hemorrhagic fever is very   
     ugly.)   
      
   The nice park has trash cans for dogpoo and compostable bags all over.   
   The other parks have bags and trash cans at the entrances. The mountain   
   trails expect you to kick the shit into the bushes of down the hillside.   
      
   --   
   Lars Poulsen - an old geek in Santa Barbara, California   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)