So, I run the West Nile virus mitigation program for the
county of Lebanon in Pennsylvania. This
year we got enough funding to have a summer intern. Andrew is a great intern- he’s quick to
learn, applies what he learns, has a good knowledge base, works well with me
and on his own, and is conscientious in his work. I better watch out for my job. Anyway, I sent him out on his first solo sampling
expedition. I gave him a list of sites
and he was able to use the database to find the location of each site based on
the name. The one site however was going
to prove problematic.
That aforementioned problematic site was owned by the
telephone company. They had their
equipment storage on the western edge of the property, but the eastern side of
the property was a wetland with some intermittent springs and all wooded. Perfect for some really nasty floodwater
mosquitoes. The database, however, did
not show property lines and bordering on the west side was a hermit who is more
than a little distrustful of the government and who lives in a shack. Andrew pulled up, saw an overgrown driveway near
his given coordinates leading up to what appeared to be an abandoned building
with lots of junk around it. Junk holds
water and is great for several mosquito species. That must be the spot. So he sets the trap next to the driveway.
Andrew called me the next day when he was out collecting his
traps. One was missing. You can guess
which one. As soon as he told me where
he lost it we tried calling the police.
But the borough and the state police could not agree where the borough
line fell and both thought it was out of their jurisdiction. (They didn’t want to deal with this guy
either.) So I told Andrew to just get
the rest of the samples and process them, I would check on the missing trap.
I pulled up to the property and called my secretary. I told her where I was and who I was visiting
and to call the police for me if I didn’t call back in 15 minutes. I whistled loudly as I walked in and out
popped the hermit. I smiled and
introduced myself and began by apologizing for the trap being set on his
property. I told him I didn’t give
adequate instructions to my summer intern and it was my fault. He accepted my apology and said he was glad
to find people to took responsibility for their actions and if we ever needed
access to his property again, just ask and he would be glad to grant it. After a little more chit chat, since we were
now friendly, I decided to ask about getting my trap back before I left.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Well, I’m awfully sorry about it now that I’ve met you and
all, but when I found it I didn’t know what it was. I just saw the wires and heard the buzzing,
so I hit it.”
“That’s ok. I’m
pretty good at fixing things. Can I get the parts back?”
“Well, you can have what’s left. It’s over here in my shed.”
We walked over to the shed and he unlocked it and brought
out the pieces. Then I saw by “hit it”
he meant “I shot with my 12 gauge using number 6 shot.” There was nothing left of the trap except a battery
and a plastic tub that held the attractant.
And even those had several holes.
So, what could I do? It was my fault and he had done nothing really
wrong as far as I understood it. I
laughed, thanked him for his time, walked back to my truck, and called my
secretary. And then I took the next two
days to personally show every single site, along with their preferred trap
locations, to Andrew.
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