My friend the camp host told me this story right after it happened to him on a Thursday morning. I didn’t witness it with my own eyes, but I’ve always known the guy to be honest.
The regular hosts of the campground were on their day off, so my friend was patrolling. He was responsible for cleaning the restrooms, preparing for the arrival of campers with reservations, checking in new campers, and collecting money from folks who didn’t have reservations so hadn’t prepaid. His arrival report told him someone would be checking into yurt #3 that afternoon, so he went over to unlock its door.
He opened the door after unlocking it and was hit by a terrible smell. Upon investigation, he found a pile of dog poop (his words) under the bed.
The previous campers had checked out sometime prior to 2pm on Sunday, meaning the feces had sat under that bed for four nights. The camp hosts must not have gone into the yurt to sweep the floor or otherwise check for cleanliness. The way my friend described the smell, there was no way anyone could have walked into that yurt without realizing something was very, very wrong.
What kind of person lets a dog defecate under the bed of a rented yurt? Yes, maybe the dog had an accident. I’ve been responsible for dogs who’ve had accidents on the floors of rented lodging. But what kind of person doesn’t clean up after their dog that’s had an accident. From what my friend said, there’s no way the dog’s person could have failed to notice what the dog had done.
It takes all kinds, The Man said, but I think leaving dog feces under a bed for someone else to clean up is unacceptable behavior.
Being the trooper he is, my friend the camp host removed the feces from under the bed and disposed of it properly. I think he even swept the floor before propping the door open to air out the yurt. It was just another day in the life of a camp host.
Is there not a poop policy in place, or a clean up fee to be charged to credit card on file? Deposit for damages to ding?
In my time as a camp host in that area, I’ve never once heard of anyone being charged a cleanup fee, whether they camped in a tent or stayed in a yurt. There is no deposit taken on the yurts to be returned later if the area is clean upon check-out. Yurts cost $75 to rent. I suppose the cleaning fee is supposed to be in the rental fee.
Part of the problem with having a card on file to charge for damages is that the campground and reservation service are run by two private companies with concessions from the Forest Service. It would not be an impossible thing to do, but the campground company would have to communicate with the reservation company to let the reservation company know to charge the credit card number on file. It’s probably just easier and cheaper to let a camp host who earns $10 an hour to clean up any mess.
As far as a poop policy, I think it’s stated as “clean up after your dog.” Anyone who has to be told not to let their dog shit indoors, under the bed (or to clealn it up if an accident happens) should probably not be out in public.