hash article

The following was a letter to the editor of the Boulder Daily Camera a few days ago.


MYSTERY

Why did runner leave white stuff?

I'm hoping some readers might be able to clarify or explain what I just witnessed.

My home backs up to the wetlands in south Boulder. My back yard is essentially a field of cattails, grasses, willows, shrubs and a lake. There are geese, ducks, coyotes, raccoons, skunks and birds that live here, and this is their home.

Today I saw a man running along the trail that winds through the open space property behind my house. He was holding a plastic bag filled with something white. Every 20 feet or so he would dip into the bag and deposit a pile of whatever this white powdery substance is onto the trail. He didn't break stride; he just dropped this stuff as he was running.

My neighbors and I are protective of the wildlife that live next to us, as often there are kids etc. who throw things at the waterfowl or harass them in some way. Others let their dogs off the leash to run amok among the grasses, oblivious that geese are nesting there. Seeing a man drop piles of white powder throughout the wetlands trail raised concern. Obviously it couldn't be something that toxic as he was handling it himself; however, I am concerned that the ducks and geese might eat it, whatever it is, and get sick.

Does anyone have any idea why a runner would be depositing piles of white powder all along a trail? I'm not a runner, so I don't know if this is some kind of game of follow the leader, or if he wasn't a runner at all and had other motives.

I appreciate anyone who can explain!

MAXINE DUNN
Boulder