BrookValley. Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Sorry, this is likely to be one big vent. :cursing: I just don't understand why some peple can't respect boundaries and other people's property. What is wrong with people? In the last few days, I have dealth with, from four different neighbors: Shooting guns off at midnight New Year's--into my pony field. Yes, with ponies in it. Shooting fireworks off at midnight New Year's--directly toward my property, right into another pasture and over top of my chicken facility and my goat paddock. Even though they could have pointed them in a couple other directions that would have been uninhabited and, you know, safe. Riding an ATV all over my property and dumping lawn and garden waste well on my property (even though this person has a 2+ acre wooded lot with plenty of places to discreetly dump their own darn trash). A deer stand, game camera, and obvious deer-baiting (corn) on my property. I just don't think I like people anymore. I just don't understand. The illegal hunting has truly been the straw that broke the camel's back for me. How dare you come onto my farm, set up camp like it's your own, then proceed to bring a gun with you to kill things? I have kids! And animals! We like to hike on OUR property. Ride our horses on OUR property. I think we all deserve the right to do that without fear of being shot!! Aside from the fact that it is NOT YOURS and you DID NOT HAVE permission!! :banghead: I spoke to a very nice officer today who, while taking a good amount of time to go over things and ideas with me, can't do anything legally because I don't have a 100% positive identity on the person (even though, from details I have collected,I am pretty sure I do know who it is). I'm just so frustrated right now. I am tired about worrying about every little noise and movement that goes on around here. I am tired of chasing ATVs up and down ravines in my very pregnant state. I am tired of nailing up sign after sign that clearly state no trespassing, only to have people do whatever the heck they want anyway. We are good neighbors. We don't bother anybody. We'd be helpful to anyone if they needed it (plow when it snows, lend a hand with a fallen tree, you name it). But I am surrounded on four sides by idiots who have zero respect for anyone or anything. I am so very, very done. We have owned this farm for 15+ years. When we first moved here, none of these houses were here. We watched the land around us get cut up into little parcels, each with its own cookie cutter McMansion. I didn't necessarily like it, but hey. I still had my 60 acres and the rest wasn't mine to decide. I didn't begrudge anyone building on their land, you know? It was their right to do so. I certainly never trespassed or damaged their property. I'm not the nicest person on the planet, but I am respectful of others. Why do all these people think it's ok to blatantly disrespect us? :confused: If you've read my ramble, thanks for listening. I really needed to do some more venting today, I guess. And my mother and my husband have probably heard enough... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janie Grace Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 It's not okay. I'd be really upset, too. I'm so sorry. :grouphug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anne in CA Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I know how this goes, my dad has neighbors like this. You are a dumb hick to those sort of people. You just don't count, you have no rights. My dad has two neighbors like this. They are amazingly selfish. They moved to the country to be selfish and they have no intention of letting my dad or his agricultural lifestyle get in their way. My coworkers are skeptical of the newest stories I tell about my dad and his crazy neighbors, but they laugh their heads off, because the stories can be funny, in a sad way. But you know as well as me that some stuff you just couldn't make up if you tried. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jenL Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I wish I had an answer for you... I struggle with lack of respect in my neighborhood too. It's extremely frustrating and depressing some days. :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 One thing my extended family did was to post "Hunting with Permission ONLY" signs plus lots of signs that said "XYZ Properties". I don't remember why they thought it was better but they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 I know how this goes, my dad has neighbors like this. You are a dumb hick to those sort of people. You just don't count, you have no rights. My dad has two neighbors like this. They are amazingly selfish. They moved to the country to be selfish and they have no intention of letting my dad or his agricultural lifestyle get in their way. My coworkers are skeptical of the newest stories I tell about my dad and his crazy neighbors, but they laugh their heads off, because the stories can be funny, in a sad way. But you know as well as me that some stuff you just couldn't make up if you tried. This is the kind of thing that keeps me up at night. I wonder how and where people get this sense of entitlement? I know I said it a zillion times in my original post, but I just don't understand! I'm also worried about a new house that is being built literally 15 feet off my property line and very, very close to my chickens and other birds (I keep approximately 20+ roosters at any given time and yes, they crow very early, as well as ducks, geese, and peafowl. Also noisy) and right against my very large manure pile. I know I shouldn't worry about what hasn't happened, and I've mostly been positive. After all, no one has moved in yet and they might be great people, you know? But recent events just make me worry about that all over again, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elizabeth in MN Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 My response to the hunter spot would be to take it down and move it into my back yard. Next would be to put up signs that says "Trespassers will be shot" and then third to actually shoot in the general area they are in should they come onto the property. Not to actually shoot them, but to scare the carp out of them. You can put up signs all you want, but if there is no enforcement then there is no respect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMV Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 One thing my extended family did was to post "Hunting with Permission ONLY" signs plus lots of signs that said "XYZ Properties". I don't remember why they thought it was better but they did. In some jurisdictions this is necessary to allow for enforcement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 My response to the hunter spot would be to take it down and move it into my back yard. Next would be to put up signs that says "Trespassers will be shot" and then third to actually shoot in the general area they are in should they come onto the property. Not to actually shoot them, but to scare the carp out of them. You can put up signs all you want, but if there is no enforcement then there is no respect. I don't want to discuss actual details on a public forum, but the spot itself has been dealt with (with law enforcement's blessing). ;) Legally here the rest wouldn't fly. In some jurisdictions this is necessary to allow for enforcement. Yep. This is the case here, too. And I do have the proper signs for our area. They're a bit different than what Moxie described, but yes, they basically say that the area is posted as no trespassing and no hunting, trapping, etc. is allowed. Of course, most of my signs in the area of the hunter's spot went missing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live2Ride Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 The brazeness of people kills me. The hunter would not have enjoyed seeing his items removed and a pleasant sign posted there that he is trespassing... I'd also be electrifying my property...with the box up at the house. Unfortunately we have to pay to fence these idiots out of our places...I've spent more money and time on fencing out my neighbors dogs than I have of fencing my own in...it's rediculous. Oh and the one time they shot the fireworks off into my pasture, I called the officers. It's illegal here in our parish and while I don't mind them being shot off (as I've never called since), they knew good and well that shooting them that way was dangerous. In the morning I collected all the rocket pieces and dumped them over the fence into their backyard...the point was made clear and I've had no issue since... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I would make a flyer detailing your property boundaries that say you're adding cameras (even though you're not) and that all dumping, hunting and trespassing is taken seriously and will immediately reported to the police every single time. Then I would distribute this flyer to each household which could possibly be at fault with a friendly but firm looking face. It may not do much but it might do something and maybe the better neighbors would help you figure out who is to blame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Wonder what their realtors told them. My friends one day had a lady with a van full of kids pull into her yard. She politely asked them if she could help them (as the kid were piling out of the van) and the mom said "oh, we are here for pony rides?" :confused1: :confused1: :confused1: Come to find out the realtor had told her that "of course you can ride the neighbor's horses". Before we had to move due to a highway project that went through our old place we had 5 acres and the nieghbor behind us had 40 that we were free to use as long as the dirtbikes didn't cross the creek and we didn't ride horses or dirtbikes during gun season. He was nice and we respected his wishes Now we have 5 acres and again the neighbors let us use the trails on their property to get to more trails. We do though try to be responsible and even kick the poop piles off the trails if the horses leave any. That said, we were not happy when another neighbor was IN the fence with our 3 horses and his 2 little grandkids feeding the horses corn husks. He had taught the kids how to push down the electric fence to climb through :svengo: Seriously, if they would have asked to see the horses I would have put the bigger 2 away and let them pet/brush and maybe even ride the pony. Little barefoot kids don't belong in my pasture though.. Hopefully you can get some resolution. Maybe a talking to by the local authorities would help. We do ride horses and walk on some property marked NO Tresspassing but we have specific permission from the owners to ride there--as long as it is not a huge group of horses, we stay off one particular hill, and we don't ride during hunting season. Too bad they can't respect your property. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonFaerie Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 For identification purposes, what about putting up some of those cameras (I think maybe they're called trap cameras) that you can mount to trees around your property? If I remember correctly, they're motion-activated so they'll only snap pictures when there's something or somebody there. You could mount them such that they only take pics on your property and then anybody photographed would obviously be on your property. That might be evidence enough to charge them with trespassing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 We are very........aggressive dealing with trespassers. It seems to be the only language they understand. Fortunately it's not our neighbors, it's idiots from KC that think our place looks like a good vacation spot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateReignRemix Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Why don't they respect your property? Because they haven't been taught to! From 13 years of ps education, they've been taught that everything is in common--why buy good pencils? You're going to get the lousy ones because they're communal. Want to trespass on someone's land? Get the city to do a condemnation so you can march anywhere you want to. Have your dog loose and have it drown because you let it near the dtich--sue the county! Why work several jobs so you can pay the taxes on that farm? Heck, just get the feds to declare it habitat for some stupid prairie dog, making your place worth 1/4 of what it was worth a year ago. That way all the tree huggers can enjoy your place--the place you spent 35+ years of hard labor, trying to hang on to. Not like the manure pile and the roosters making noise? Or the cattle (once a year) bawling for their calves--sue the neighbors! Yeah, I feel your pain... Lol. I hope you weren't trying to be serious. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateReignRemix Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Sorry, this is likely to be one big vent. :cursing: I just don't understand why some peple can't respect boundaries and other people's property. What is wrong with people? In the last few days, I have dealth with, from four different neighbors: Shooting guns off at midnight New Year's--into my pony field. Yes, with ponies in it. Shooting fireworks off at midnight New Year's--directly toward my property, right into another pasture and over top of my chicken facility and my goat paddock. Even though they could have pointed them in a couple other directions that would have been uninhabited and, you know, safe. Riding an ATV all over my property and dumping lawn and garden waste well on my property (even though this person has a 2+ acre wooded lot with plenty of places to discreetly dump their own darn trash). A deer stand, game camera, and obvious deer-baiting (corn) on my property. I just don't think I like people anymore. I just don't understand. The illegal hunting has truly been the straw that broke the camel's back for me. How dare you come onto my farm, set up camp like it's your own, then proceed to bring a gun with you to kill things? I have kids! And animals! We like to hike on OUR property. Ride our horses on OUR property. I think we all deserve the right to do that without fear of being shot!! Aside from the fact that it is NOT YOURS and you DID NOT HAVE permission!! :banghead: I spoke to a very nice officer today who, while taking a good amount of time to go over things and ideas with me, can't do anything legally because I don't have a 100% positive identity on the person (even though, from details I have collected,I am pretty sure I do know who it is). I'm just so frustrated right now. I am tired about worrying about every little noise and movement that goes on around here. I am tired of chasing ATVs up and down ravines in my very pregnant state. I am tired of nailing up sign after sign that clearly state no trespassing, only to have people do whatever the heck they want anyway. We are good neighbors. We don't bother anybody. We'd be helpful to anyone if they needed it (plow when it snows, lend a hand with a fallen tree, you name it). But I am surrounded on four sides by idiots who have zero respect for anyone or anything. I am so very, very done. We have owned this farm for 15+ years. When we first moved here, none of these houses were here. We watched the land around us get cut up into little parcels, each with its own cookie cutter McMansion. I didn't necessarily like it, but hey. I still had my 60 acres and the rest wasn't mine to decide. I didn't begrudge anyone building on their land, you know? It was their right to do so. I certainly never trespassed or damaged their property. I'm not the nicest person on the planet, but I am respectful of others. Why do all these people think it's ok to blatantly disrespect us? :confused: If you've read my ramble, thanks for listening. I really needed to do some more venting today, I guess. And my mother and my husband have probably heard enough... 1 and 2 go beyond disrespectful into the area of being outright dangerous. Sadly, the only response to those is to call the sheriff and hope they are caught in the act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Lol. I hope you weren't trying to be serious. She's right. And I hope she is serious. I thank God we don't have any McMansions around here. Nothing makes me madder than a bunch of jerks stomping around on my property. I pay the taxes, I say who sets foot on the place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Too many responses to multi quote, but in response to some: I can't electrify the whole property, thought the 20 acres surrounding our house (and all our pastures, barn, buildings, etc.) is. Our current problems are with the peripheral areas of our very weirdly shaped parcel of land. Don't know what these folks were told by realtors, but I ran the builder himself off my property several years ago. He was in full camo and armed. He claimed he was "looking for the property line." I wasn't born yesterday, dude. Ads for properties on the other side of ours included "borders quaint horse farm!" HAHAHAHA. I love my place, but it is anything but quaint. Functional is more like it. I am in contact with the authorities, but they won't come out and do anything 'till I have names and addresses for them (the illegal hunter). Remudamom, aggressive is just my style. ;) I'm easy to live with, but this crosses that line, and I have no tolerance past a certain point. However, I am being severely curbed by my husband and mother, who are concerned for my safety because I'm pregnant. I'm not allowed to have ANY fun. I am dealing with things, however. Just don't want to go into too many details on the Internet. Chocolate, as dangerous as one and two are, four is actually the worst at this point! Though I'm not a fan of any, of course. *sigh* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 I turned nasty (er) when a trespasser fired at me on horseback during hunting season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 Wow--do you live in upstate NY? We've had so many crazies using our land. We've got 50+ acres, but it's an hour away from our home, so there's virtually no way we can monitor it. There are posted signs all around it. People have made very nice 4 wheeler trails, they camp on it, they hunt on it, and they even cut timber. It's insane. There's a hunting shack in the middle of it, and they stole the stove from it. There used to be a home along side the road many years ago, but it's gone now. Some how thieves discovered the basement is made with nice,big stones--and they've even begun to steal those. Apparently they sell them to landscapers in the nearest big city. We've been amazed at how much they'll do. Insert jaw-dropping smiley here. Wow. I'd be...well, beyond the state of livid that I am currently living in. I'm so sorry!! I actually live on this property and have a hard time policing it. I can't imagine being an hour away. We did have some folks cutting trees and creating ATV and dirt bike trails a few years ago, but it was tweens and teens. We busted them, they ran, we confiscated the bikes so they had to have their parents come claim them. I was ticked, but it was relatively minor and hopefully the kids learned a lesson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 2, 2013 Author Share Posted January 2, 2013 I turned nasty (er) when a trespasser fired at me on horseback during hunting season. That takes some seriously big plums (on the part of the trespasser). Yeah, my nasty meter would get turned up pretty far at that point, too. Shoot, I'm alread at 11. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 Have you tried putting the word out? I mean, in a non-accusing way that enables everyone to back off but saves face. When I bought my first house, the second summer I was there someone came into my back yard and stole all the Concord grapes off my vines. It happened again the next year. What I did was, I told everyone on the street, conversationally, that it really hurt my feelings that someone would do this; that people should know better than to take things that way without asking, and that everyone knows I always share. And I never found out who did it, but it never happened again, so it was either someone I talked with or someone THEY talked with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChocolateReignRemix Posted January 2, 2013 Share Posted January 2, 2013 She's right. And I hope she is serious. I thank God we don't have any McMansions around here. Nothing makes me madder than a bunch of jerks stomping around on my property. I pay the taxes, I say who sets foot on the place. She isn't "right". People abused and stole the property of others long before "community pencils" in public school. This isn't something new - just ask the Native Americans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kalanamak Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Why don't they respect your property? Because they haven't been taught to! From 13 years of ps education, they've been taught that everything is in common--why buy good pencils? Meh. This was learned in the home, not school. Kids taught decency and respect don't lose it over communal pencils. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JBJones Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 For identification purposes, what about putting up some of those cameras (I think maybe they're called trap cameras) that you can mount to trees around your property? If I remember correctly, they're motion-activated so they'll only snap pictures when there's something or somebody there. You could mount them such that they only take pics on your property and then anybody photographed would obviously be on your property. That might be evidence enough to charge them with trespassing. It cost us around $6000 to get the trespassing problem we were dealing with solved. That included a professional survey, privacy fence, pathway lights and a surveillance system with seven cameras. People are just totally insane these days. We live in town....but we are counting the days until we can move to the country. Our rotten neighbors tried to tell us that we couldn't have the cameras (the police were the ones that told us we should get surveillance) and I told them that as long as we were paying the taxes (that keep going up) we would do what we wanted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 She isn't "right". People abused and stole the property of others long before "community pencils" in public school. This isn't something new - just ask the Native Americans. She's right in that in today's society it's much more accepted and even taught in some circles. Maybe nothing new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Truscifi Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 I'd shoot back, but I've been rather cross about such things since someone stole my pig. :glare: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrookValley. Posted January 3, 2013 Author Share Posted January 3, 2013 For identification purposes, what about putting up some of those cameras (I think maybe they're called trap cameras) that you can mount to trees around your property? If I remember correctly, they're motion-activated so they'll only snap pictures when there's something or somebody there. You could mount them such that they only take pics on your property and then anybody photographed would obviously be on your property. That might be evidence enough to charge them with trespassing. Game cameras. The illegal hunter had one up. I now have one. Would work great, except they're obvious if you're not a deer and would just get stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reya Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 2-wire electric fence. :) EDIT: I see you've determined it's too expensive for the entire property. Then cameras. I still like the idea of the fence, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Why don't they respect your property? Because they haven't been taught to! From 13 years of ps education, they've been taught that everything is in common--why buy good pencils? You're going to get the lousy ones because they're communal. Want to trespass on someone's land? Get the city to do a condemnation so you can march anywhere you want to. Have your dog loose and have it drown because you let it near the dtich--sue the county! Why work several jobs so you can pay the taxes on that farm? Heck, just get the feds to declare it habitat for some stupid prairie dog, making your place worth 1/4 of what it was worth a year ago. That way all the tree huggers can enjoy your place--the place you spent 35+ years of hard labor, trying to hang on to. Not like the manure pile and the roosters making noise? Or the cattle (once a year) bawling for their calves--sue the neighbors! Yeah, I feel your pain... :blink: Erm.... yeah. I'm not sure what that was, but I really doubt any of it has to do with the op's problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 I'd get a whole bunch of these to put up around the property line: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misty.warden Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Mergath, while tangental, it seemed to me like an explanation of how apathy, disrespect, and getting whatever you want no matter if it's fair is more common these days, when frivolous lawsuits and such are rising. No, it's not particularly new or necessarily caused by ps education, but it's a mentality I've noticed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 The other thing I would say is that my guess is that the next thing that will happen is ordinance changes to restrict animals within a certain distance from a property line. So keep your eyes open for that. It is the logical next step and you are badly outnumbered. Usually there is a grandfather clause in those changes, but it is wise to keep an eye on that, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Mergath, while tangental, it seemed to me like an explanation of how apathy, disrespect, and getting whatever you want no matter if it's fair is more common these days, when frivolous lawsuits and such are rising. No, it's not particularly new or necessarily caused by ps education, but it's a mentality I've noticed. Whereas to me it seemed like someone took the opportunity to rail against the idea of government and somehow try to tie it to a completely unrelated thread about trespassing on private property. Now I'm not an ecologist, but I'm pretty sure illegal hunting has been around long before endangered prairie dogs. Just ask Shakespeare. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misty.warden Posted January 3, 2013 Share Posted January 3, 2013 Like I said, tangental and not news, however OP's question was "WHY?" and that certainly was a sort of answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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