{"id":6639,"date":"2012-11-04T19:05:15","date_gmt":"2012-11-05T03:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/?p=6639"},"modified":"2012-11-05T08:44:54","modified_gmt":"2012-11-05T16:44:54","slug":"off-leash","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/?p=6639","title":{"rendered":"Off leash"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I start this story with the information that all of the trails in this section of Kokanee Creek Park are clearly marked with signs that say dogs must be on leash. Furthermore, Park regulations are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.env.gov.bc.ca\/bcparks\/explore\/parkpgs\/kokanee_crk\/\" target=\"_blank\">explicit<\/a>:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Pets\/domestic animals must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in beach areas or park buildings. A dog beach is beside the boat launch at the north-east end of the park. You are responsible for their behaviour and must dispose of their excrement. Backcountry areas are not suitable for dogs or other pets due to wildlife issues and the potential for problems with bears.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Now, during my frequent walks in the Park, I see dogs on and off leash. Only occasionally will an off-leash dog threaten me as I walk by, but always in the past the owner has controlled the dog and has offered a weak excuse for its combative behaviour: &#8220;Sorry, he just doesn&#8217;t like men&#8221; or &#8220;I think it feels threatened by your camera.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Today, was a bit different.<\/p>\n<p>It started when I was watching birds from the west side of the creek mouth. Down the shore on the east side, a group of mergansers abruptly took to the air.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6642\" onclick=\"return false\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/mergansers121104s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>A few minutes later, and closer along the shore to me, goldeneyes took to the air. Why was this happening?<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6641\" onclick=\"return false\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/goldeneye121104s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then I saw an off-leash dog coming along the shore and ignoring its owner&#8217;s\u00a0entreaties. Around the corner on the east side of the creek mouth were some mallards. Seeing them, the dog headed straight at them. The mallards\u00a0panicked.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6643\" onclick=\"return false\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/mallards121104s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Having ignored its owners and run amuck with the wildlife, the bull terrier spotted me watching&#8212;it turned and bounded straight at me. Unlike the ducks, I could not merely lift off.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-6640\" onclick=\"return false\" onmousedown=\"return false\" src=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/bullterrior121104s.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"720\" height=\"480\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Fortunately, the deep water of the\u00a0intervening creek stopped this aggressive dog short. Had it not, I suspect that my monopod might have.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, I must admit that I am not a fan of the scofflaws who feel that their own dogs deserve the right to run free in Kokanee Creek Provincial Park. There is a reason for the regulations.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; I start this story with the information that all of the trails in this section of Kokanee Creek Park are clearly marked with signs that say dogs must be on leash. Furthermore, Park regulations are explicit: Pets\/domestic animals must &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/?p=6639\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-birds","category-commentary","category-mammals"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6639"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6648,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6639\/revisions\/6648"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.kootenay-lake.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}