Posted by Lori Hardin on April 27, 2009
Sunday was an auspicous day for the Salida Dog Club, which celebrated the unleashing of their official dog club status with a cleanup at Franz and Sand Lakes. In conjunction with the Division of Wildlife (DOW), 12 intrepid members and friends of the club braved the biting spring winds and chilly temperatures to volunteer their time on refuse patrol. Although our primary intention was to clean up the byproducts of dog ownership, we were somewhat surprised by what we found.
Left-Right: Ann Ewing, Laura Pintane, Judy Lore, Sherri Schoffstall, Debbie Gaj, Karen Lemmerman, Lisa Marvel, Jan Schmidt, and Lori Hardin; not shown are RJ Hardin and Terry Pintane
We noticed that the amount of doggie waste was greatly overshadowed by the quantity of trash left by two legged visitors. Beer, liquor, and water bottles and cans, fishing line, small jars of fishing bait and even a pair of shoes, were unsightly remnants of what must have been a pleasant afternoon’s outing.
Geese and goslings at Franz Lake
Those of us working at Franz Lake were delighted to see a new generation of goslings that were busy surviving the choppy water and the intrusion of our cleanup patrol. They were not only protected by their parent geese but also an impressive flotilla of assorted relatives.
Meanwhile at Sands Lake, Debbie and Lisa, two intrepid club members, were chased by a cranky, aggressive goose who wasn’t impressed with their well-meaning intentions. Though startled, the girls managed to survive the confrontation with a sprightly detour around the ornery bird. If you plan to venture into this area, beware of the temperamental goose on the loose.
Refuse collected by the dog club
The club felt good about the cleanup and is happy that both lakes are now looking quite spiffy. I wondered how difficult it would be to keep the areas tidy. Though we noticed that their were no garbage cans provided at Franz Lake (as yet), it wouldn’t be difficult for every visitor, with or without dogs, to pack up their trash (and their dogs’) and take it to their home refuse bins. Let’s all “pitch in and pack it out” and keep our lake and trail areas the pride of the community.
Posted in Bow Wow Blog | Tagged dog club, dogs, franz lake
Thanks, Lori, for letting people know how successful our effort was. It’s funny how things changed from the time I checked out the area before the clean up — it seemed then that dog waste was much more prevalent than garbage. I can only think that the warmer temperatures earlier in the week brought out a lot of human visitors, and their accompanying trash. Certainly some of it was also blown in by the strong winds later in the week. But as fun as the project was, it would be great if people would take enough responsibility so that these cleanups wouldn’t be necessary. And for the record — it was a very BIG goose!
You might want to be on the lookout for a Polish bred dog, not neutered, and slightly mangy. Lost somewhere near the Salida tennis courts
We will be watching — any more information you can give us on him? Name, color, description, contact if found? Any particular breed? When you said Polish bred I immediately pictured a PONS.
He is a rather short dog, with white, almost silvery hair. Probably weighs around 130. Answers sometimes to Chiefo
Thank you.
I sure wish more people would clean up after their dog . I stepped in dog dung once in bare feet and every time I see someone walk away from their dogs poop and not clean it up , I cringe .