kittypaws

One can never be too cautious.
There is a lot of activity coming and going at the Dpk and currently I am still spread between two parks, one on each side of the road making it hard to watch all the traffic coming and going. This evening as I walked over to the upper park with my trusty yellow wagon behind me (I was going to empty the trash bag) I noticed some litter in the parking lot and went to pick it up; after picking up some loose bags and paper my attention was turned to a empty plastic bottle lying in the center of the back half of the lot. Not thinking much of it I walked up and stooped to pick it up then stopped dead in my motions….it had a cap on it. There was a liquid inside and a Cola label wrapped around it making it difficult for me to see just what was going on inside but what made the hair on my arms stand up is that it looked swollen. I stood up as Joyce and her dog walked by me and asked
“Did you find something interesting?”
“Hope not.” I replied backing up from the bottle.
She came over and Bruce, her dog headed over to smell the bottle.
“Stop him!” I warned in a stern voice.
“Why?” Joyce pulled Bruce back quickly
“Possible bottle bomb.”
.

http://www.snopes.com/crime/warnings/bottlebomb.asp

I had read about them and longing to keep my limbs and other physical features as long as possible I dialed Peter, the Park Ranger.
“Hi Peter….sorry to bother you but I have a slightly swollen capped bottle in the parking lot of the upper dog park….have you heard about bottle bombs?” I started.
“Don’t touch it, move away and close down that area. I will contact the Park Ranger on duty; they will be there shortly.”
And that is just what I did.

Two Park Rangers arrived and upon eyeing the bottle, they too were leery of touching it. They considered calling the police and as the first Ranger was on the phone calling the other; either a very brave or naive Ranger kicked it with his foot and ran.

Nothing! A sigh of relief!!

I thanked them for resolving this potential dangerous situation and said I didn’t mean to call in the forces (by the time this all finished I had six Park Rangers on site) for something as simple as an empty coke bottle but it was not worth the risk to me or anyone here at the park. They agreed that I did the right thing and even if they didn’t I still felt I did what was safe for all.

Perhaps the cola in the tightly capped bottle had sat in the heat of the sun all day and that is what made the bottle swell….well, I did not want to be the one to find out.

What would you have done?