V.w.verweij

Respect.

Thanks to Jeffery for sending from Mount Vernon Square:

“This squirrel was carrying a full slice of pizza almost its size. When it saw me, it basically ran up the tree as if to say “you are not taking the best thing I have ever found!”

If you spot a hawk or any interesting wildlife around town, lunching or otherwise, and get a good photo please send where you spotted it to princeofpetworth@gmail.com and I’ll add it to the queue. Hawks around Town is made possible by a generous grant from the Ben and Sylvia Gardner foundation.

Photo by DJ Winterman from “right in front of the Anthem”

Takes me back to the epic $16 burger debates of ’07.

DJ Winterman tags us from the Wharf and notes:

“The wharf renovation project is exactly what people are talking about when Gentrification is brought up… There is really no good reason why a hot dog should ever cost $8 and why an outdoor food stand shouldn’t also accept cash. There is really no good reason why a hot dog should ever cost $8 and why an outdoor food stand shouldn’t also accept cash.”

Ed. Note: A Red Apron Hot Dog costs $5 (more with toppings) in Merrifield, VA and $9 in Union Market.

Places I Have Cried. Available on eBay.

If you have any animal/pet photos you’d like to share please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say the name of your pet and your neighborhood.  If you love the animal fix and want to ensure PoPville’s long term viability please consider donating to our Patreon here.

“Javi awakes from his slumber on an early morning in Dupont.”

“Inga, of Silver Spring, likes to climb up on the sofa’s arm to get a good view out the window to bark at birds and squirrels.”

Back in September 2012 I was handing out flyers outside the Howard Theatre after Kreator, Accept and Swallow The Sun played a show there. As fate would have it there was another guy there flyering for a metal night event at the brewery he worked at. You guys know I’m always interested in metal related events in the area and so I quickly struck up a conversation with him. Little did I know at the time that I’d just met someone who would quickly become one of my best friends in both the local heavy metal AND craft beer scenes. That’s how I met brewer Will Cook. We quickly began working together to bring metal heads together over craft beer at events at Port City Brewery in Alexandria, Virginia. We couldn’t have bands play there but we did have people send in requests for metal songs to play over the speakers and I’d contact a bunch of the venues in the area to get tickets to upcoming metal shows to give away to people that showed up. These free events were a hit and we got lots of metal heads from all around the area to come bang their heads over pints. However, Will and I were always frustrated with not being able to actually host bands to play live. We did a few events at the Pinch to get around this, but it still wasn’t the same as having metal bands play at a brewery. When Will ended up working at Fair Winds Brewing in Lorton, Virginia, we continued the metal nights there and had bands like King Giant, Yesterday’s Saints and Gloom premiere new music at these events. The place was farther away than Port City though, which made it harder for people in DC or Maryland to get to the events. Then in 2016 Will began working at Atlas Brew Works in the Ivy City neighborhood of Northeast Washington DC and that’s when everything came together.

Flyer for the first metal night at Port City

I was excited when Will told me that Atlas was interested in continuing to host our metal night events. We held a few events there in 2016 but it was the DC Heavy Metal Holiday Party in 2016 that we decided was going to be the first time we tried to book actual bands at the brewery. We were still figuring things out and I remember giving away upcoming concert tickets at this show between bands. There was no stage yet so the bands played on pallets we stacked as a makeshift stage. Genocide Pact was the first band to play there and Gloom finished out the two band bill. The place wasn’t sold out but enough people showed up and paid to get in to the show that we saw that this was something that could work. Things started fairly slowly at first but when local concert promoters started booking shows there as well things really started to take off. Hasan of Ripping Headaches was the first to ask me about putting his own metal shows there and in April 2017 he put on his first of many metal shows at Atlas when Thantifaxath headlined the brewery. Hasan and other outside promoters like Jordo & Tommy of Crowbars Up, Evan from Perdition Booking/Maryland Deathfest, Adam from Savage Party and Mary from Shadow Woods Productions, and more recently Lauren from Homesick Promotions and Shamla from Metal Teresa Productions, (and probably others I’m forgetting) have all brought incredible bands to Atlas Brew Works since then, far more than Will and I could have done on our own.

Flyer for the first metal show at Atlas Brew Works

In fact, on June 20th, the Irish death metal band Zealot Cult will be headlining the 100th metal show at Atlas (details here)! There are other breweries around the country that have, and continue to, host metal shows. I’ve seen a few at Hardywood and Champion down in Richmond, and Three Floyds has metal bands play their Dark Lord Day festival every May, but I don’t think there’s another brewery in the country that can claim that they’ve hosted anywhere close to 100 heavy metal concerts. Not punk shows, not indie rock shows, not dude with an acoustic guitar in the corner doing covers shows, but actual brutal, loud, fast, heavy metal shows. That’s something really special we’ve got here in DC and I hope people realize how lucky we are to have something like this happening in our area right now.

Flyer for the Atlas Brew Works Benefit Show

Through all of this Atlas Brew Works has become a central hub for our area’s metal scene, the closest thing the DC area has to Brooklyn’s legendary Saint Vitus Bar. The staff has truly embraced the local metal community, not just to sell beer or fill the place on otherwise slow nights, but they actually enjoy being a part of the local metal community. It isn’t uncommon to see staff members wearing shirts of metal bands that have played the venue in the past and several of them are even in their own metal bands too. They treat the bands well even when turn outs are less than optimal and Atlas has put money into the venue for upgrades to the stage, the sound system and making sure they have all the necessary licenses and such as well. All of this is why I’m proud to plug the Benefit For Atlas Brew Works show going on this Saturday, June 15th, at the brewery. They’ve put a lot of money into supporting our metal scene so Hasan and the Crowbars Up crew has joined forces to put together another great line up for this benefit show that will let us all give back to the venue that has given our area’s DIY metal scene a home. The bands Blood Spore (death/doom) and Basilysk (death metal) are coming down from Philadelphia to play this show and two locals who have played Atlas a lot, Myopic and Foehammer, round out the bill. The suggested cash donation is $10 for this show and doors open at 7pm. Further details can be found on the Facebook event page for the benefit show here. This will be Atlas’ 99th metal show and I think it is definitely long past time we gave something back to the brewery. I hope to see many of you there, it’s sure to be another fun night at the most metal brewery in America!

Thanks to Neal for sharing the ‘Hipster punching bag’ from Bloomingdale, a couple blocks from Big Bear.

The thought of a carnivorous plant trapping and digesting a vertebrate may seem more like fiction than reality. Though rumors have circulated over the years that some pitcher plants have a taste for animals larger than an insect, this has been hard to prove as evidence has been notoriously lacking. That is not to say it does not happen from time to time. Small mammals have indeed been found in the pitchers of some of the larger tropical pitcher plants in the genus Nepenthes. Still, these seem more incidental than regular. However, recent observations from Canada suggest that vertebrates may actually make up a bigger part of the menu of some pitcher plants than we previously thought at least under certain circumstances.

The observations were made in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario. The carnivore responsible is North America’s most abundant pitcher plant - the purple pitcher plant (Sarracenia purpurea). In late summer of 2017, researchers discovered that some pitchers contained recently metamorphosed salamanders. Some of the salamanders were alive but a few others were dead and undergoing digestion. This was very exciting because despite plenty of study, there has been almost no substantiated evidence of vertebrate prey capture in the purple pitcher plant.

Subsequent surveys were done to figure out if the purple pitcher plants were indeed capturing salamanders on a regular basis or if the salamanders were one-off events. It turns out that, at least for the pitcher plants growing in this bog, salamanders may make up a considerable proportion of their prey! Researchers found that recently metamorphosed spotted salamanders were present in nearly 20% of the pitcher plants they surveyed!

Not all of the salamanders they found were dead. Some were found in a relatively lively state, retreating down into the bottom of the pitcher whenever they were disturbed. Some of the larger dead specimens showed signs of putrefaction, which is probably because they were simply too large to be properly digested. Still, many of the dead salamanders showed signs of digestion, which suggests that the plants are in fact benefiting from salamander capture. In fact, it has been estimated that a single salamander could contribute as much nitrogen to the pitcher plant as the entire contents of three pitchers combined.

Taken together, the team found enough evidence to suggest that salamanders not only make up a portion of the pitcher plants’ diet in this bog, but also that pitcher plants are a significant source of mortality for young salamanders in this system. How the salamanders are caught is up for some debate. It could be that the salamanders are looking for a safe, wet place to hide, however, the complexity of the bog habitat means that there is no shortage of safe places for a young salamander to hide that won’t end in death.

It could also be that salamanders are attracted to all of the invertebrates that these plants capture or that salamanders are accidental victims, having fallen into the trap randomly as they explore their habitat. However, some pitchers not only contained more than one salamander, the plants position and stature within the bog means that most salamanders would have had to actively climb up and into the pitcher in order to end up inside. It very well may not be random chance after all. Certainly this will require more tests to say for sure.

What we can say for now is that within the confines of this Algonquin bog, salamanders are being trapped and digested by the purple pitcher plant. How much of this is unique to the circumstances of this particular bog and how much of this is something going on in other areas within the range of the purple pitcher plant is a subject for future research. It is possible that vertebrate prey may be more common among carnivorous plants than we ever thought!

Photo Credits: [1] [2]

Further Reading: [1] [2] [3]

If you have any animal/pet photos you’d like to share please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say the name of your pet and your neighborhood.  If you love the animal fix and want to ensure PoPville’s long term viability please consider donating to our Patreon here.

“This is Rhonda from Petworth! She’s a year and a half old. She loves long walks and PEOPLE. If you see her out and about, please say hi! Her instagram is @dc_rhonda”

“James of Glover Park, taking over the bed as we get ready to leave the apartment for work”

This week’s honorary pet is Apple, an 11-year-old Golden Retriever who lives for people, according to her owner Lauren.

Here’s what Lauren has to say about the sporty pup some say is a good luck charm:

Apple joined our family when she was four, and has been a joyful addition ever since. Apple was born in Taiwan but was abandoned by her original owner. Fortunately for us and for her, a wonderful rescue group based in Delaware brought her to America so she could be adopted!

Apple is a fixture at local Arlington Babe Ruth and Arlington Little League baseball games. She loves hanging out at our local parks and getting lots of attention from the players and their families. Many players and teams have even said that Apple is a good luck charm!

Aside from watching baseball, Apple loves children, treats, snuggling, naps, and taking short walks around Lyon Village. Halloween is her favorite when she gets lots of visitors, even if she has to wear a silly costume!

Want your pet to be considered for the Arlington Pet of the Week? Email arlingtonnews@gmail.com with a 2-3 paragraph bio and at least 3-4 horizontally-oriented photos of your pet. Please don’t send vertical photos, they don’t fit in our photo galleries!

Each week’s winner receives a sample of dog or cat treats from our sponsor, Becky’s Pet Care, along with $100 in Becky’s Bucks. Becky’s Pet Care is the winner of six consecutive Angie’s List Super Service Awards, the National Association of Professional Pet Sitters’ 2013 Business of the Year and a proud supporter of the Arlington County Pawsitively Prepared Campaign.

Becky’s Pet Care provides professional dog walking and pet sitting in Arlington and all of Northern Virginia, as well as PetPrep training courses for Pet Care, CPR and emergency preparedness.

WHAT: Rosslyn Putt-Putt + Candy BAR

WHERE: 1401 Wilson Blvd. (Corner of Oak St. + Wilson Blvd.)

WHEN: Fridays, 5-9 p.m. and Saturdays, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., June 21-August 31

MORE INFO: www.rosslynva.org/putt

Playing mini golf at the beach or amusement park is one of the hallmarks of childhood.

Who doesn’t remember enjoying nine holes with their parents, siblings or elementary school friends? Maybe you marveled at the design of the course — watching your ball carve a path through colorful constructions, turning windmills, bridges, loops and complicated mazes?

Or maybe you got bored and restless after five holes and just wanted the ice cream or candy your parents always bought for you at the end?

Now, you can re-create this favorite summertime experience at Rosslyn Putt-Putt. From June 21 to August 31, the Rosslyn Business Improvement District (BID) will be partnering with Monday Properties and other generous collaborators to bring you this outdoor pop-up entertainment space that will include an indoor café/bar.

Aptly named the Candy BAR, the café will be a fun spot to hang out and chat while grabbing a drink and sweet treats with friends. The pop-up addresses the desire for more evening and weekend entertainment in the neighborhood that was identified through the Rosslyn BID’s most recent neighborhood perception survey.

“Our putt-putt will transform a piece of Rosslyn into a lively summer retreat,” says Mary-Claire Burick, president of the Rosslyn BID.”We hope our residents, employees, families and nearby communities will come out to enjoy the atmosphere we’ve created, which brings activity and fun to a new location. It’s very much in keeping with our placemaking strategy, which provides memorable and meaningful neighborhood experiences.”

Rosslyn Putt-Putt will feature an outdoor, nine-hole mini golf course decorated with re-creations of Rosslyn landmarks, including Dark Star Park and 1812 North Moore.

Indoors at the retro, almost kitschy Candy BAR, you can test your skill with a collection of carnival games and classic, full-sized video games. Meanwhile, you’ll enjoy a veritable buffet of penny candy, novelty ice creams and refreshing drinks.

Several partners have helped make Rosslyn Putt-Putt possible, and the Rosslyn BID could not have pulled this together without them. Monday Properties provided the indoor and outdoor space.

“We are always looking for ways to bring more value to our neighborhood, so we are excited to share this space with the community and work with the Rosslyn BID to bring it to life for all to enjoy,” says Monday Properties Managing Partner Tim Helmig.

CannonDesign, a multi-disciplined architecture and design firm located in Rosslyn, developed the mini golf course. “We designed the course to be a celebration of Rosslyn landmarks as we witness the vital transformation of the neighborhood over time,” says CannonDesign Senior Vice President Roberto Cruz Niemiec, AIA, LEED AP.

Capitol Drywall, which partnered with the Rosslyn BID to produce the successful Alcove pop-up space last fall, designed the bar and created many of the structures on the course. Capitol Drywall is part of a family of companies that have been highly involved in the neighborhood, having worked on 186 jobs in Rosslyn over the past five years.

Capitol Select is the marketing arm of the family, and includes Potomac Surfaces, Selective Demolition, Selective Hauling and Selective Wrecking & Abatement. Although Capitol Drywall is the only Capitol Select company involved with this project, all other companies have been very active here for years.

Rosslyn Putt-Putt + Candy BAR will be open to the public, with rounds of putt-putt golf available for a small fee. Tickets will be sold online and on-site.

Party packages will be available on select days/times and will include the full rental of the space, food and drinks. You can find more information on www.rosslynva.org/putt.

Come enjoy this exciting new community gathering spot in the heart of one of Arlington’s most active and welcoming neighborhoods.

See you on the green!

UNTUCKit, a clothing brand focused on untucked, professional shirts, has just launched a new store in Pentagon City.

The new store opened late last week on the second floor of the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City mall.

According to a press release:

UNTUCKit was created in 2011 to solve the problem of the long, sloppy look of untucked and ill-fitting dress shirts, by designing shirts that are meant to be worn untucked. They’ve since introduced categories ranging from t-shirts and polos to sports jackets and performance wear — plus, the launch of women’s and boys’ lines in 2017.

UNTUCKit at Pentagon City was the brand’s 61st store nationwide and the third in the region.

“We’re excited to be here, even closer to the District,” said Tomas Kurtz, assistant manager at the Pentagon City location. “It’s a new brand and we’re excited to see it grow.”

Kurtz said the store stands out for the way staff works closely with customers to find the right cut and style for them.

“It’s interesting because it’s not at all like a department store,” said Kurtz. “If you come in, you get fitted and staff will help walk you through it. It’s very personalized.”

Thanks to Sam for sending this guy who sailed to his backyard in Hill East.

If you spot a hawk or any interesting wildlife around town, lunching or otherwise, and get a good photo please send where you spotted it to princeofpetworth@gmail.com and I’ll add it to the queue. Hawks around Town is made possible by a generous grant from the Ben and Sylvia Gardner foundation.

A reader sends from Bloomingdale:

“This was sitting on my neighbor’s porch this morning.”

Werner Herzog’s Sandwich Assemble

I would like to introduce you to the coligallo palm (Calyptrogyne ghiesbreghtiana). The coligallo palm is a modest palm, living out its life in the understory of wet, tropical forests from Mexico to Panama. To the casual observer, this species doesn’t present much of anything that would seem out of the ordinary. That is, until it flowers. Its spike-like inflorescence is covered in fleshy white flowers that smell of garlic and as far as we know, the coligallo palm is the only palm that requires bats for pollination.

Flowering for this palm occurs year round. At first glance, the inflorescence doesn’t appear out of the ordinary but that is where close observation comes in handy. The more scrutiny they are given, the more strange they appear. As mentioned, the flowers are bright white in color and they smell strongly of garlic. Also, they are protandrous, meaning the male flowers are produced before the female flowers.

After the male flowers have shed their pollen, there is a period of a few days in which no flowers are produced. Then, after 3 to 4 nights of no flowers, female flowers emerge, ready to receive pollen. Each flower only opens at night and does not last for more than a single evening. Protandry is an excellent strategy to avoid self-pollination. By separating male and female flowers in time, each plant can assure that its own pollen will not be deposited back onto its own stigmas. The fact that the coligallo palm flowers year-round means that there is always a receptive plant somewhere in the forest.

The oddities do not end there. Both male and female flowers are covered in a fleshy tube that must be removed for pollination to occur successfully. Removal of the tube is what actually exposes the reproductive organs and allows pollen transfer to occur. Often times, the flowers of the coligallo palm are dined upon by katydids and other insect herbivores. This does not result in pollination as they completely destroy the flower as they eat. Considering the success of this plant across its range, it stands to reason that something else must provide ample pollination services.

Two species of bat visiting coligallo palm inflorescences: A) A perching Artibeus bat feeding on male flowers and B) a hovering Glossophaga bat feeding on female flowers.

As it turns out, bats are that pollinator. The job of pollination is not accomplished by a single species of bat either. A few species have been observed visiting the inflorescences. Apparently the bright color and strong odor of the flowers acts as a calling card for flower-feeding bats throughout these forests. Interestingly, the feeding mechanism of each species of bat differs as well. Some bats hover at the inflorescence like hummingbirds, chewing off the fleshy tube from individual flowers as they go. Other bats prefer to perch on the inflorescence itself, crawling all over it as they eat. These different feeding behaviors actually result in different levels of pollination. Though both forms do result in seed set, perching bats appear to be the most effective pollinators of the coligallo palm.

The reason for this is due to the fact that perching bats not only spend more time on the inflorescence, their bodies come into contact with far more flowers as they feed. Hovering bats, on the other hand, only manage to contact a few flowers with their snout at a time. So, despite the variety of bats recorded visiting coligallo palms, the perching bats appear to provide the best pollination services.

A coligallo palm infructescence showing signs of ample pollination.

The role of perching bats in the ecology of this palm species does not end with pollination either. It turns out, they also play a crucial role in the dispersal of certain mites that live on the palm flowers. Flower mites live on plants and consume tiny amounts of pollen and nectar. As you can imagine, their small size makes it incredibly difficult for them to find new feeding grounds. This is where perching bats come into play.

It was discovered that besides pollen, perching bats also carried considerable loads of flower mites in their fur. The mites crawl onto the bat as they visit one inflorescence and climb off when they visit another. This is called phoresy. The bats are not harmed by these hitchhikers but are essential to the mite lifecycle. Thanks to their bat transports, the mites are able to make it to new feeding grounds far away from their original location. Though little is known about these mites, it has been suggested that the mites living on the coligallo palm are unique to that species and probably feed on no other plants.

Photo Credits: [1] [2] [3] [4]

Further Reading: [1] [2] [3]

If you have any animal/pet photos you’d like to share please send an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say the name of your pet and your neighborhood.  If you love the animal fix and want to ensure PoPville’s long term viability please consider donating to our Patreon here.

“Hank walks to the opening beat of ‘staying alive’.”

“the Welshie is Woodson. The Westie is Oscar.

@woodsonthewelshie
@oscar.hugo.westielove

As walked by @pawpawpetclub”

This rental is located at 10th and S Street, NW. The Craigslist ad says:

“$2095 / 750ft2 – One Bedroom in the Center of Chic Shaw Neighborhood! (1011 S St. NW)

Bright & Beautiful Shaw English Basement!

Property Address
1011 S St NW Unit A | Washington, DC 20001
Available: 05/01/2019

Offered By
Nest DC LLC

Description

This is a truly special English basement in an unbeatable location. Having been newly renovated and spruced up, it is a luxurious take on the standard basement unit! Structurally, the space benefits tremendously from the bay windows in the front that flood light into in the living room. When you enter, however, you step into the hallway, which shockingly wide for this type of unit and features a surprisingly high ceiling. To your left is a homey living room, which comes with enough space to be the proper den of the household. The space has a clean, white aesthetic and plenty of light, and the brick around the fireplace adds some nice accenting.

Down the hallway, one finds the bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen. The bedroom, like the living room, benefits from much more natural light than the average basement unit. It is spacious as well and comes with storage. The kitchen is a cozy space, and with modern appliances, should more than meet your cooking needs.

Wedged between Shaw and the U Street Corridor, this home offers so much in its location. The Shaw metro is only 3 blocks to the east, while the bars, restaurants, and shops of 14th Street are only 3 blocks. The home itself, however, is on a quiet side street lined with trees and beautiful row homes. This is a great opportunity to take on DC nightlife while enjoying a true neighborhood vibe!

A security deposit equal to one month’s rent is due upon signing the lease. Tenants responsible for electric. Pets will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

Details

Beds/Baths: 1BD/1.0BA
Square Feet: 750

Rental Terms

Rent: $2,095.00
Available: 05/01/2019
Application Fee: $60.00
Security Deposit: $2,095.00″

Ed. Note: PoPville is not affiliated with any rental properties. Rent at your own risk and proceed with caution as you would with all Craigslist listings.

3107 Mt. Pleasant Street, NW. David Cabrera and Ryan Hunter Mitchell. All photos by Reana Kovalcik

Thanks to Reana Kovalcik for sharing:

“Last weekend, Mount Pleasant’s destination for all things cinephile – Suns Cinema – celebrated its 3rd Birthday with a party and grand opening of a new, second story addition. Suns is the brainchild of founding fathers and movie-lovers David Cabrera and Ryan Hunter Mitchell, who transformed the space from a cellphone store into a boutique cinema in May of 2016. Now three years on, the two have built Suns into a neighborhood destination – a place to enjoy obscure indie films and guilty pleasure cult-classics alike, all over a carefully crafted cocktail and maybe a frozen Twix chaser. Cabrera and Mitchell have been working on an expansion of the theater for well over a year, and on their anniversary party (fittingly “future” themed), the pair formally opened the theater’s second story to the public.

The addition of a second level will allow Cabrera and Mitchell to keep the downstairs open as a bar for non-movie goers Tuesday-Sunday evenings, with special once-a-week showings on Mondays. The newly renovated upstairs space will take over the primary movie-showing responsibilities, seats 28, and has a bar of its own in the back. Moviegoers can also look forward to a bigger screen and semi-tiered seating to improve visibility.

After moving to DC from NYC a little over three years ago, Suns’ opening was one of the first things that connected me to the neighborhood, to a group of friends, and even to Popville. I’m grateful for all the memories and the sense of community David and Ryan have created (for me and many others) through Suns, and look forward to celebrating many more anniversaries.

David Cabrera and Ryan Hunter Mitchell with author

See here for details and show times”

Bad First Dates

Spotted at the Giant in Van Ness.

I recommend sheltering in place immediately.

Our photo of the day comes from the rainforest of Ecuador.

When it comes to potentially infectious microbes, beards beat the dogs.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Eric P.

“Dear PoPville,

My daughter is a kindergartener at a DC public school. My husband and I went in to drop off snacks for the class, and the teacher asked if we could do her a favor. She said they don’t have enough toilet paper or paper towels. She said that they never have enough. (I guess this shouldn’t have surprised me since the last couple times my daughter needed to use the bathroom when I picked her up, there was no toilet paper to be found.)

That seems terrible to me. DC has so much money and brings in so much tax revenue. But our schools aren’t provided with the basic resources they need? Like our kids literally don’t have the toilet paper they need? Are other schools having this problem too?”

Florida Man for the win!!

Thanks to Caitlin for sending this excellence.

Pups on the trail

It’s National Pet Week and we’re celebrating the many opportunities for enjoying public lands with your best friend! When and where allowed, spending time outdoors with pets can be fun for our four-legged friends and us. However, spending time outdoors with pets responsibly requires specific Leave No Trace skills and ethics. Before you head out, be sure to check with your local field office for any site-specific restrictions. Be sure to#LeaveNoTrace and pick up after your pet. No one wants to see or smell your pet’s waste (or yours for that matter!), and picking up after your pet helps protect water resources, plant life and habitat for native animals.

Pictured here: pups on the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail. Photo by Bob Wick, BLM.