By Jill K. Applegate

Summer is about playing, enjoying time off from school and having fun with family and friends. As the mercury rises, it’s also about keeping parched vegetation from becoming fuel for wildfire. And just like heat, tempers can rise during the summer, making it all the more important to be a good neighbor and be responsible with pets, smokes, and toys. Have fun, be safe, and be kind—these are keys to a happy summer.

• Tracking Down Toys: On a heated search for missing toys or your prized bike? Check the Sheriff’s Department—and don’t dawdle. Tulare County law and California law states that if a bike or toy has been turned in and isn’t claimed within 90 days, it goes to the County’s probation department for use in programs that deter juvenile delinquency. That’s a good cause, to be sure, and a good way for the county to save a little money by putting unclaimed items to good use—but if they’re your lost items you may not feel like giving them up. If you’ve lost toys or bikes in the fun-frenzy of summer, check with the Sheriff’s Department to see if it’s been turned in and waiting for you to claim it. [Tulare County Code 1-17-1010, California Welfare and Institutions, 217]

• Dog Days: In July and August, the dog days of summer, cats prowl through the heat of the night and send Tulare County’s dogs into a territory-defending fury of barking threats. For the humans who are trying to sleep through hot nights, these yowls and yips go beyond an insomniac annoyance—they’re illegal.

Tulare County law states that once you’ve told the dog’s owner that his canine crooner is causing a disturbance, it’s illegal for the owner to let the barking, howling, or whining continue to disturb the neighborhood. [Tulare County Code 4-07-1280]

• Safe Smoking: Vegetation is pretty dried out crispy right now—it’s basically kindling. It only takes a spark to ignite it and start a raging wildfire, which can take lives and cost a community so much. So when you’re out in the wilds of the county, camping under a starry sky, keep that cigarette safe.

Tulare County Safety Regulations outlaw smoking or lighting tobacco or other smoking material on grain-, grass-, or brush-covered lands that don’t belong to you. This code applies only in the hottest months—between June 1 and Halloween—and there are some exceptions. You’re allowed to smoke safely in improved campsites, at someone’s home, in a vehicle with an ashtray on improved roads, or if you’re in a 3-foot diameter clearing. [Tulare County Code 4-05-1000]