AIBU to wonder why people keep leaving piles of hair by the river (pics)

[elevenswan]

I walk my dog on quite a quiet, narrow path by the river. About once every 2 months I go for my walk and there are loads of piles of hair/fur all over the grass. LOADS of it, maybe 20-25 piles, in groups of about 3-5 clumps, each group spaced 15-20 ft from each other.

When it's dry it looks like human hair, when it's wet or looks more like dog fur. WHY IS IT THERE? If it's dog fur, why are they going to a narrow path in the pissing rain and -2 temperatures to groom their dog with battery operated clippers? Or why would they groom their dog at home and then walk to the river dump its fur in perfectly spaced piles? Also it's in three different shades so do they bring three dogs to a towpath for a mass grooming session?

If it's human hair, like offcuts from a hairdressers or something, why put it there every two months? And if it's not from a hairdressers then WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?!?! Does someone go there and shave their head?

It's driving me mad trying to figure it out. If it's you (I'm in North Yorkshire) please tell me why so I can stop getting freaked out by it every bloody day

My dog (not the sharpest tool in the box) tried to eat it

Are there moorings? Maybe people living on boats moor up and clip their dogs on the riverbank every2-3 months. Perhaps there are 3-4 families, but only one set of clippers between them, so Jo clips her dog and passes the clippers on to Dave in the next boat, who clips his dog and passes the clippers on etc. They leave the clippings out for the birds.

My parents used to force me to groom the family GSDs on walks to avoid the hair getting stuck to everything and blowing back into the house.

I don't do it now though, prefer to just let the place look a mess

We used to leave balls of dog hair in our garden. Birds love it to line their nests. Tiny birds would be seen flying off with big clumps of retriever fur in their beaks.

Maybe the dogs prefer to be groomed there?

A lady in our local dog park used to brush her old husky girl when sitting on the bench, it did produce a huge amount of fur.

The bench was vandalised a short time ago, and since then the dog has refused to be brushed there, or anywhere else, which is causing a problem for her owner!

Yes, I've seen this in a park by the river in my town, usually in about the same place. I've always assumed it was from dog grooming but why leave it in the middle of the path?
Might be nice for nesting birds in season, but wouldn't it be better to put it by the side? Btw, about human hair - Long hair can also be a leg tangler, unless you chop it up I suppose.