It’s officially spring, and the signs are here — a few green shoots are peeking out. Unfortunately, spring has another surprise, and it also peeks out as the weather warms.

Let’s be honest: nothing kills the thrill of a wilderness adventure like stepping (or skiing) into a smelly brown surprise from someone’s dog. Yet a surprising number of dog guardians regard picking up after their fur babies as an optional courtesy rather than a moral obligation — not to mention, a legal requirement. 

Leaving poop behind isn’t just gross — it’s an environmental disaster, public nuisance and threat to your wilderness karma.

The ‘it’s natural’ myth 

Some owners justify leaving Rover’s little landmines by claiming they’re natural — “wild animals poop in the woods, too!” If dogs ate the same diet as a moose, the “natural” argument might have merit. But our pets’ diet of manufactured food contains added nutrients that produce waste that’s toxic to our high-Alpine environment. Those additives encourage growth of invasive plants, which in turn crowd out native species and cause destructive algae blooms in our fragile Alpine waters that are deadly to fish and other aquatic life. 

Wildlife doesn’t need your dog’s ‘treats’

Some dog owners even maintain that dog poop is a “gift” to nature. Nope! Dog droppings pollute lakes and creeks with harmful bacteria, like E. coli and salmonella, and parasites like giardia and cryptosporidium. Wildlife lacks resistance to these pollutants, unlike your vaccinated pup.

Dog poop doesn’t magically disappear

Other dog owners assume that dog poop will simply “biodegrade.” And while this is technically true, the reality is that it takes a very long time, especially in our high-altitude environment. That pile of poop you left behind in September? It’s there still, thawing out and lurking for the next passerby.

Selective lack of vision

You’ve been trapped at work all day, and finally hit the trail with your canine companion. But Pickles squats in the snow or grass just off trail. Perhaps you go through the motions of looking, but magically can’t see where she “went.” Off the hook? Nah. Most dogs “go” in the first few hundred yards — if you keep your eye on your pup, you’ll find what she left for you. And where leashing your dog is the law, like in our local Eagles Nest Wilderness, it’s a lot harder to ignore poop deposited at leash length.

‘Bag and leave it’ offenders

Perhaps one of the most baffling behaviors is exhibited by people who bag their dog’s poop, only to leave the bag sitting on the side of the trail.

OK, is there a thought process here? Or is it lack of oxygen to the brain, high-altitude amnesia, or perhaps the belief that the poop fairy will show up in a Forest Service uniform to collect that bag? 

Whatever the reason, your bag will sit there, trapping its foul contents for years. The likelihood of remembering to retrieve your bag later is dubious. Meanwhile other wilderness users get to view the unnatural evidence. 

If you can carry your gear up the mountain, you can carry your poop bag. Bringing a reusable extra zip-tie bag allows you to double bag and safely carry those deposits odor- and leak-free. 

Conclusion

We want to be liked, right? But if you’re that person who leaves Fido’s poops on the trail, you might as well be flashing a sign announcing, “I have no regard for basic decency.” And if karma is real, you will step or ski into someone else’s abandoned poop sooner than later.

So, bag, carry and trash it.

“Get Wild” publishes weekly in the Summit Daily News. Frances Hartogh is a volunteer wilderness ranger for the Eagle Summit Wilderness Alliance.