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MANTEO, N.C.
Officials are warning visitors to Cape Hatteras National Seashore to keep dogs on a leash at all times to protect endangered birds and turtles during the breeding season.
Park superintendent Mike Murray said the seashore is a breeding ground for endangered and protected birds and sea turtles which lay eggs on the beach. Murray said a dog running off a leash can disturb birds and cause them to leave their nests and expose eggs to predators.
Last year, rangers documented more than 700 cases of dogs running off leash at the seashore, including numerous instances near protected nesting areas.
Rangers can issue a citation that carries a $150 fine. Leashes must not be longer than 6 feet.
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Orion
Mr. Fab was speaking about the beach not the locals... I can't stand the locals, but the natural beach itself is great. You can like one and not the other; this does not make you a hypocrite. I wish I could rant on the subject but every time I write something on this M.B. I am censored!!!
Mr. Fab
I see you brought yourself out of the darkness to rant on something you know nothing about [again]. I'm curious why you would comment on an area you have so much distain for [again]? Many of the posters here may not remember it, but you were quite the cretin when describing the locals of OBX.
FORMER renter response, Pt III
To the residents and merchants in the park villages: we used to rent for a week twice a year, every year. Between ourselves and our invited guests, I estimate that we dropped $10,000+ annually. We haven't been back since the asinine beach driving decree, and probably never will return. You sent us a clear message - you don't want our money. Your elected Dare County commissioners stupidly sought a compromise with the Feds and the woo-woos and folded like a cheap suit instead of fighting for your economic interests. Maybe you should keep that in mind when those butt-buffoons come up for re-election. I hope that you are enjoying your recession - you earned it.
-BW
FORMER renter response, Pt II
And now dogs must be on a short leach for the same (lack of) reason. The woo-woos claim to be "saving" the park - for whom? When? If they had their way, no human would ever be allowed to use the land they they support with their tax dollars. That makes a lot of sense... Not that the idiot woo-woos are interested in any facts that conflict with their anal fantasies and their agenda to control everyone else by assaulting them with the blunt instrument that is government. I'm convinced that the woo-woos and their ilk hate themselves, and by extension, the whole human race. Lacking the backbone to kill themselves, they vent this emotion by doing everything in their power to make everyone else as miserable as possible.
FORMER renter response, Pt I
When I vacationed in the park, my Lab always ran loose on the beach, and never came within 100 feet of the dunes. Her only interest was in the water - she would swim until she drowned, given the chance. I also always carried plastic bags to clean up if she made a mess. For the genius who wrote that "trucks aren't natural", the plovers aren't "natural" either, not in the sense that they are native to the area. The only reason they are there is because clearing the brush for housing diminished the "natural" predator population. So, beach driving was de facto banned to "save" a bird that is there only because of other human activity, and is not in the slightest danger in its true native habitat.
Obviously some people have never been on beach in SUV
Let's take a look at this, "not a bunch of rednecks hellin' it over the dunes and down the beach destroying everything in their path. I think the world would be a much better place without this type of person." Anyone that has been out on the beach in a SUV knows that it's very seldom you see anyone "hellin it", especially "over the dunes". For starters you can't drive on the dunes and most people don't want to. Then there's the real intellectual comment about "the world would be a much better place without this type of person." That's real intelligent. As stated before, if you truly belive all the tree huggin mess, tear your house down and let the lot sit empty, throw your car in a volcano along with your tv, computer and other environmentally unfriendly possessions and let yourself become a meal for a bear or shark. Then you can say you helped the rest of the animals out. Oh! I understand, it's the good ole, "what I do is okay, but if someone else does something I don't do it's wrong". Enjoy living in your mud hut or cave. Oh wait! You can't disturb the mud, there might be a mud beetle living in it.
Mr. Fab
Are you serious with your comments? Please tone down the rhetoric and spend some time in the area before you mischaracterize and insult the TRUE Beach-Keepers of Hatteras. Your spoon-fed pablum from the environmental side is misguided. Come, visit, meet the walkers, sunbathers, shellers, fishermen, and families who visit our beaches. The very same folks who cannot visit much of it due to unreasonable closures - which creates the conflict/problem in the first place.
Back on topic - I can live with the leash rule. For the safety of your own pet, other dogs and people, it is a good thing. Keeping an nearby unleashed dog off bait, or your own dog, can be a problem. Reasonable enforcement is necessary.
Exactly!
"Is a US national park. Your dog has no business running loose. If you don't like the rules, then go somewhere else."
You are on the mark. Unleashed dogs are nothing but trouble, and it needs to be addressed. False Cape/Back Bay has been controlled this way for as long as I remember. Now, if they could get smoking banned that would be great!
erock
Are you serious with your questions? I don't know where to start. I'll keep it short. 1. Your 4x4 isn't part of the natural surroundings so bringing up survival of the fittest is not a valid argument. 2. Foxes and stray cats are not endangered - the plover is.
Honestly - I oftentimes wonder about the mentality of many posters here. Are you that selfish and ignorant that you can't understand that the environment needs our protection - not a bunch of rednecks hellin' it over the dunes and down the beach destroying everything in their path. I think the world would be a much better place without this type of person. I know that the natural world would benefit.
There is only a few miles of
There is only a few miles of beach left for those humans to relax on anymore. why don't we have someone fighting for the rights and freedoms of people. If we loose a few birds, then it's called survival of the fittest. If the birds decide to park it next to my 4x4 then they have a chance of being ran over. Maybe the smart ones will go down another mile, were we have provided hundreds of miles of beaches for them to enjoy.
I don't understand how it's ok for the rangers to shoot foxes, for the survival of a few bird nest?