THE RULES : Please Don’t Feed the Squirrels

So you’ve come to Ventura County to visit the state beaches. And you thought it would be all fun and games, huh? Well, think again, buddy. This isn’t exactly your back-yard wading pool. To play, you’ve got to obey.

We don’t mean to be harsh, but it’s better that you’re aware of some of the state laws sooner rather than later, when it might be too late.

Chief Ranger Jeff Price of the State Parks and Recreation Department, Channel Coast District said some of you visitors to our beaches are often violating a state park regulation or two, thinking it’s no big deal. If nobody catches you, it’s not. When you are caught, though, you are guilty of a misdemeanor. A first violation will probably earn you a warning, but a second could lead to a maximum six-month jail sentence and/or a $500 fine.

* Feeding the squirrels: Don’t. Not at San Buenaventura State Beach, or any beach for that matter. Be tough with them. It’s for your own good.

“There is no cure for bubonic plague and it’s a terrible way to die,” said Chief Ranger Jeff Price of the State Parks and Recreation Department, Channel Coast District. “There are so many restaurants and snack bars and people come out with little doggy bags on their way home and they see the little critters and start feeding them. Essentially they are creating an artificial environment with an artificial food source.”

There was a time when squirrels weren’t a problem at Buenaventura beach. That was when the feral cats ate them. But those 100-plus strays weren’t exactly welcome either. They were gathered up and sent to a nice home, so now the squirrels have the run of the place.

* Letting dogs run loose: People shouldn’t do it, but they do, time and again. Price placed the blame, in part, on advertisements, in particular on a television laxative commercial.

“It shows a guy and a dog going down the beach and all of a sudden he (the guy) gets this odd look on his face and they cut to a laxative commercial,” said Price. What they are suggesting, he said, is that “when you are a long way from a restroom and have got the runs, be careful, and then you can go out on the beach and play with the dog.”

Our suggestion: Maybe it would have been a good idea to let the squirrels and the cats and the dogs run loose on the beach. At least there wouldn’t be much of a cat or squirrel problem.

* Driftwood collection: State law puts a 50-pound limit on the driftwood one person can take from the beach. But there’s a loophole, Price said. If a person wants to carry out a 100-pound piece of driftwood, he or she is welcome to it.

* Grazing: Not only can’t you let your dog run free on the beach, but you can’t let your cow do so either. The law states: “No person shall graze, herd or permit livestock to enter or remain inside a unit . . . “

Maybe we could let the cows and the dogs and the cats and the squirrels run loose on the beach and . . . well, never mind.

* Fire building: Price said people have a tendency to build fires where they don’t belong, outside of a camp stove or fireplace. Again, he credits some of the problem to advertisments.

“Usually it’s an East Coast-looking environment,” he said. “There’s usually beer . . . and surf’s crashing and here’s this group with a huge roaring fire dug into the sand.”

Price emphasized the seriousness of illegal fires and the injury that can result from them. He described an instance where a person stepped into a loosely covered bonfire that was still smoldering from the previous night.

* Damaging or killing foliage: The state law says, “No person shall willfully or negligently pick, dig up, cut, mutilate . . . any tree or plant or portion thereof . . . “

“There’s the uncle or grandfather who remembers as a kid building a fire and chopping down trees,” said Price. “People feel like they are in the jungle and they start whacking away.”

* Pesticide Use: Certain things are OK, certain things aren’t. See a ranger for specifics. And go easy on the pests. “There are a lot of people who bring along some pretty nasty stuff,” said Price. “If they have a couple of ants in the campsite, they just nuke the entire campsite.”

* Driving on the beach: Price said people regularly take their four-wheel vehicles onto the sand. And that’s a no-no. “The newest thing is a small motorized skateboard,” he said. “They are considered vehicles, but then again, they are not operator-propelled devices. I’m not sure when one of those things runs into somebody what we’re going to do.” We suggest trying to avoid being the person on either end of that test case.

Hope we didn’t scare you, but those are some of the laws around here. Just watch yourself and everything should be all right. Oh, and please keep your clothes on; taking them off can be a misdemeanor.