Sunday, November 21, 2010

Dogs and Trash

I can now say that I’ve seen a bear and a moose in the fields of Blue Jay Barrens. The local dogs take all the credit for leaving this bit of trash for me.

I guess it’s not unusual for people to have trouble with dogs getting in the trash. The confusing thing is why they would be interested in trash that’s over 25 years old. This stuff was left by the previous owner and for the most part, was here long before I bought the property. Every month or two I walk by and find that the dogs have once again raided the trash pile and scattered debris in a great circle around the field.

It’s no surprise that they would be interested in this old shoe sole. Dogs have been chewing on people’s shoes for as long as there have been shoes. Even a 25 year old shoe would still taste good.

Pieces of glass jar seem to be odd bits for a dog to carry around, but pieces like this are a dog favorite. Is it possible that the odor of food still clings to the glass after over 25 years of weathering?

The dogs must have had great fun dismantling this plastic bag. I wonder if a little tug-of-war took place. The printing on the bag was quite faded, but the plastic was still pliable. The bag must have been made in the days when plastics were not meant to degrade. The bag came from some hospital in Dayton, but I couldn’t find the piece that had the hospital name on it.

The bits are collected from the field and set back with the rest of the trash. Eventually, I’ll bag this stuff up and get rid of it. Cleaning up this archaeological site isn’t a priority right now. When the dogs are really active, I’ll clean up the lose stuff so it doesn’t blow or wash away. Actually cleaning up the junk takes me a lot of time because I become more interested in examining all of the strange things I find than in quickly cleaning up.

3 comments:

  1. I wonder what the next civilization will think of our trash fills or should I say trash mountains.

    The glass trash is a problem, especially in the Caribbean islands and anywhere else the sun is intense. Broken glass causes many fires as the rays of the sun are magnified through those broken pieces the same as we did with a magnifying glass when we were kids.

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  2. Curious to know how you are so sure the dogs are doing this. I remember when my grandparents burned all their trash in big barrels. I'm not sure what they did with whatever couldn't be burned.

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  3. Hi, Lois. There are plans to mine our landfills for recyclables, so maybe we won't leave much there for future people to ponder.

    Hi, Katie. I've twice walked up on dogs playing with the trash. Besides, I can't think of any other big toothed animals that would find an interest in people's trash.

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