By: Blonde One
There are many beautiful things on Dartmoor, both on the ground and in trees. The Two Blondes have told you often how amazing the landscape is and tried hard to persuade you to go and see for yourself, but I have been compelled to write this post about a very ugly side to Dartmoor. I can hear the many sharp intakes of breath as you are so shocked to hear that I find anything unpleasant about my favourite place. But unfortunately it is a fact that Dartmoor isn’t perfect … yet. Recently (probably because of the nicer weather) there seems to have been an increase in the number of disgusting plastic bags filled with dog poo, both on the ground and in the trees. Why do people think this is ok? The Two Blondes have had friends notice this and ask us to blog about it in an effort to stop it. I’m assuming the culprits get out of their cars with good intentions of clearing up after their pooch, only to find that there is no bin provided in the free car park in the freely accessible National Park. Presumably they then don’t want a bag of poo in their cars so think it’s better to leave behind.
Who do they think is going to clear it up? Do they not realise the damage it could cause to the wildlife? Do they not understand that other people don’t want to see it?
I just don’t understand!
Ugh, agreed, there’s more and more about (and hanging in trees!), recently spotted two bags prominently left on Hisley Bridge near Lustleigh.
It happens in lots of dog walking spots; here in Malvern on the Common up the road from me there are often deposits. Why do they go to the lengths of buying the bags just to leave them hanging around? I even found one dumped in my recycling bin that is kept at the front of my house right next to my land fill bin! B2’s GM
Yes, I have seen several bags over the weeks, most recently along the granite tramway near Haytor.
I also don’t understand who possibly thinks this is ok, and who they think will clear it up!! A trick I sometimes use in the absence of a handy poo bin is to hang the bag over the rear windscreen wiper and either dispose of at home or the nearest public bin.
Presumably one should only hang the bag over one’s own windscreen wiper 😉 I imagine as with most things, that education is the key.
Revolting isn’t it? And it is so easy to carry a screw top 2 pound jam jar in your vehicle to keep it out of smell range until you get home. Round here, dozens of dog walkers leave their ugly bags of poo on the ground to pick up on their way home – and forget both the bag and that no-one else wants to see the beastly stuff when they are out for a pleasant walk – with or without a K9.
Love your Meadow Pipit piccie – where did you see him?
You say you don’t understand. People differ: some are selfish, greedy, have a tendency to start wars, but just don’t happen to impinge directly on your life. Others are insensitive (about their surroundings) and they do impinge. The thing that’s truly difficult to handle is that being selfish, greedy, warlike or insensitive does not necessarily preclude good qualities; very few people are all good or all bad. Having the litter-louts put down or humiliated in the stocks may suppress benefits to society. Some combinations will always remain out of balance (eg, serial killers who give to charity), others are harder to judge (eg, those who smoke on buses yet run boy scout troops). Pronouncing on moral issues can be a real furball.
A ‘real furball’ that we Blondes usually avoid. However, moral issues make for some healthy debate and always seem to attract lots of blog readers.