No, I’m not talking about human vandals. It’s the bear, raccoon, or turkey vulture that would make a mess of the trash.

The “Adopt-a-Mile” sign on the county road features a cartoon figure dropping a wrapper into a trash can. It says, “Do Your Part, Pitch In.” If you think this sign literally lets drivers and their passengers know what to do with their litter, guess again.

Some of them don’t read the words on the city’s “Don’t be a Litterbug” notice but see the cartoon and follow the example, which wasn’t the artist’s intention, I’m sure.

Drive up and down the mile my wife and I have adopted, or the mile below, or the mile beyond, three “adopted” miles in a row, and you won’t see anything resembling a trash can within reach. Same thing applies to other county roads.

Why there aren’t trash cans placed every mile or so? I don’t need to ask the County Commissioners. The reason isn’t merely their lack of funds to pay for the hardware. It’s more than the lack of time for county road crews to come along to empty the cans every few days.

Even if the county planted a can every mile or two, unless they anchored it firmly to the ground and used a screw-on lid (not very practical for drive-by trash drops), our neighbors would pull out the trash and spread it around scavenging for anything edible or delectable.

No, I’m not talking about human vandals. It’s the bear, raccoon, or turkey vulture that would make a mess of the trash.

Which leaves us with signs instructing travelers to “pitch in” their litter but nowhere to pitch it. No wonder so many people just toss their cups, cans, bottles, napkins, and wrappers onto the road.

But wait! If people in a car or truck can endure keeping litter inside their vehicle until arriving at their destination, they will find trash cans at a gas station, in front of a retail store or doctor’s office, and in most cases, even at home.

So “Do Your Part — Pitch In,” after you get to the place where you can find a trash container. (Spread the word, okay?)