Oh, no! Moose poop in the park!

On a recent park stroll with Man's Best Friend Tippy, we waved to a fellow dogster. He and his big, happy pooch were studying moose poop emerging from melting snow. He said, "Don't they ever clean this stuff up? I was here yesterday and the same poop was here." I said moose go poo in the snow all over town, it sinks to the ground, spring arrives, and viola! -- poop on the grass! They'll get to it."

In a stab at camaraderie I said moose don't like pooper scooping. The relationship seemed civil enough until I said, "Most people I know think it's cool that moose wander around town, sometimes even into patios -- even if they poop." Well, that went over like a you-know-what in church. "Where I live," the dogster sneered, "We don't have snow -- or moose poop in our yards." Leaving the park after cavorting on the beach created by the winter lake drawdown Tippy and I passed a car at the curb with out-of-state plates and two window decals -- Dogs Rule, and Trump. (Curious, because Donald Trump loathes dogs).

Hiking home, we rejoiced to live in a comfortably cosmopolitan community where osprey, eagles and Canada geese still frolic overhead; where gulls, coots and ducks greet us lakeside; where one need not venture far for wild huckleberries, unless a bear gets there first; where forest trails continue to multiply -- thanks to giving, community-minded neighbors and volunteers with hatchets, saws and shovels. Thanks, too, to a Parks and Recreation team that merits a Nobel Prize for being Best In the Business. Even if moose poop isn't their top priority.

TIM H. HENNEY

Sandpoint