View Full Version : Was I too mean?
I wasn't sure where to put this post.
We have 35 acres out in the country. Our property is mostly wooded and has a road in front and to the side of the property. Also, there is a bridge over a creek that is next to our property.
On the back road, people dump tires/mattresses/garbage/beer cans and bottles, which is really irritating.
In the front, someone dumped a huge old TV that we couldn't even lift. they also dump deer carcasses.
The other day I was coming home from shopping and there's a car parked off the road by the bridge. I got its license plate and checked out the back road and didn't see anyone. On my way back, a young man appeared in the car. I asked him what he was doing. He said he was fishing. I told him it was private property. He got irritated with me. I asked him what he was fishing for (since the creek is really low) and he got more irritated saying "FISH, FISH.......you know FISH live in creeks!! We do this all the time!" . I decided to just go home and call the sheriff.......which I did.
When the deputy came out, he was gone.
I guess I'm feeling a little bad now because with everybody "owning" everything these days, do kids have no where to go and just enjoy nature? I just didn't know what his intentions were. We're pretty much in a drought, and if he tossed a cigarette aside, it could burn the woods down. He just seemed creepy and suspicious to me. If he had said "Is it okay if I just hang out under the bridge and watch the minnows?" or something like that.....I would have been much more likely to let it be.
Should I have been kinder to him? Should I have given him the benefit of the doubt?
There's alot of crazy things going on these days, and I didn't want to be too nice.......only to get screwed for doing it. As they say "No good deed goes unpunished." haha
Gardenarian
9-6-13, 2:19pm
No, you were not too mean. You were not mean at all. You asked him to leave and he replied rudely.
"He seemed creepy and suspicious." This is not a guy you want hanging around your property.
Doesn't sound mean to me.
You went with your gut. Don't second-guess yourself. Perhaps in a different situation you would have reacted differently, but his actions and demeanor led you to a different response--no harm in that. "Nice" doesn't come into it if you don't feel he belongs on your property.
Well, laws very but if a creek runs through your property and someone floats down that creek, they can - you don't own the water way. If they step out of the canoe and so far up the bank or if someone fishes beyond so many feet from a bridge (there are easements for bridges) you can have them arrested by the sheriff. It's a fine line. We've got a 'was it murder or self-defense' case going on right now in our state. Some people on a float trip went up the bank to 'relieve themselves'....the land owner tired of people 'trespassing' got in a verbal fight with one of the float group and shot him.
So, because of the bridge and the easement for the bridge, he can fish as long as he stays within that easement area. He also has to park within a certain distance from and to the bridge.
The littering, if you catch them they can be fined.
iris lilies
9-6-13, 9:38pm
Here in my urban neighborhood we are expected to be on the alert and call cops when someone is hanging around who does not belong.
Bridges and creeks and the like are attractive nuisances and are used for recreational purposes, so it's hard to say who "belongs" there. But if the guy was rude and gave you the creeps, a call to the police are in order. Of course in typical fashion by the time they get there, too late.
A couple of weeks ago I trailed the pandhandler Bobby through my neighborhood because Bobby is bad news. Bobby does not belong. And Bobby needs to get the hell out of my neighborhood.
I started off on foot after him and yelled at DH to call the police, put the dogs in the house and lock up, then come and find me in the car. Bobby had started his sojourn in my own yard and by opening our gate and coming in the yard, but DH told him to leave. This pisses me off because the Bobby never closes the gate and my dogs will get out.
You might think that me trailing him is crazy but Bobby is known to me and he's a skinny wimp. I told DH that I could take him down if it came to that, haha. So during this 30 minute period where I trailed Bobby first on foot and then in the car after DH picked me up, and where we stopped to pick up my Night Patrol sidekick when Bobby stood on the corner of her block, we called the cops a total of 3 times from 3 different phone numbers. They never came.
Meanwhile Mr. Bobby stopped people to ask them for money, wandered into back yards looking around, and peered into car windows. He was acting suspiciously and he was also drunk. Bobby has been stopping at my house for 25 years for money and I have never given him one dime. He is an idiot but more importantly, he is a criminal, he doesn't belong in my ' nabe and he needed to leave.
I will say for the benefit of our sensitive "progressive" members here that I didn't have a gun, George Zimmerman I'm not.
Thanks everyone. I'm pretty territorial and I was afraid maybe I came on too strong. But like I said, if he'd seemed more reasonable, I might have been more accepting. As this corner of the property grows up (trees/shrubs/weeds) by the bridge, I fear more and more undesirables might be attracted to it. Our house is way back a very long drive, so its not always easy to keep an eye on the area.
Thanks for your validation!
Also, have you posted signs at regular intervals about private property and no dumping (fines/etc)? Because that might be useful.
gimmethesimplelife
9-8-13, 5:05am
No, you were not too mean. You were not mean at all. You asked him to leave and he replied rudely.
"He seemed creepy and suspicious." This is not a guy you want hanging around your property.Agreed. Rob
gimmethesimplelife
9-8-13, 5:08am
I have to say I agree with what has been posted here. It is your private property and you are paying the property tax on it, no? That gives you the right to call the shots as to who comes and goes on your property as I see it. This guy creeped you out, you went with your gut instinct, and as the owner of this land you have the right to make that call. Rob
Not mean. We own 600 acres and are always finding trash, debris, etc.. Our properties are posted no trespassing, no hunting without permission. One day as I was driving by, I found several men hunting on one of our properties. I stopped and chatted with them for a time. I asked if they saw that the property was posted and they replied that they had permission of the property owner to hunt. I said that was odd as I was the property owner and I did not give them permission. Another time we found trash included discarded mail which had a name and address. I contacted the sheriff's dept. The perpetrators were fined for littering and had to clean up the mess. I don't know why some people think they can trash other's property or trespass. Not mean.
Thanks everyone!
goldensmom..........wow 600 acres! I'm drooling! :)
I have trouble understanding why people think they can just throw junk onto other people's property too. There's someone around here who constantly throws out their bottles and cans of Bud Light. I wish I could figure out who it is and return them all! I did find a couple bags of garbage thrown on the property a few years ago. I went through it and found envelopes with their name on it. I was going to dump it back on their property, but found out they had just been evicted from their home, and decided not to add to their grief.
I would love to have a 10' fence put up along our property on the back road, but it would be quite an expense. Plus, the neighbors fields have huge run-off in a heavy rain, and it all runs down on our property, to the creek, and it would probably ruin the fence.
I love to fantasize about closing that road altogether. That would be really nice.
We have about 30 tires people have dumped. I want to recycle them, but it costs money to recycle them......and it will happen over and over. I'm thinking of buying some signs that say something like "camera surveillance in the area".......but they would probably get shot out or stolen.
, I found several men hunting on one of our properties. I stopped and chatted with them for a time. I asked if they saw that the property was posted and they replied that they had permission of the property owner to hunt. I said that was odd as I was the property owner and I did not give them permission.
I've done the same thing on the family farm. We've got 120 acres on one side of the road and 300 on the other. People with spotlights are the worst! I have no fear of running them off.
We have a creek in our back yard, but it's not ours--it's part of a public park/elementary school area. But it's gross to see what people toss over the bridge into the creek--bottles, soda cans, plastic bags, balls, shoes.. The ducks have to swim around it all. I'm always reminded of that old littering commercial with the Native American on the side of the road with a tear running down his cheek because of the litter thrown out of cars on the highway.
People can be frustrating at times.
I loved that commercial catherine.........so poignant.
In our creek at the bridge.........I've seen trash cans and a toilet! Wouldn't you just love to catch them in the act?!
I've done the same thing on the family farm. We've got 120 acres on one side of the road and 300 on the other. People with spotlights are the worst! I have no fear of running them off.
My husband said I am brave/stupid to confront men with rifles and/or shotguns as I've done that several times. I didn't even think about possible consequences as there was a principle involved. Regarding shining deer or whatever, our house sits at the back of 80 acres and the spotlights from the road often shine into our house so I get our really, really powerful spotlight out and shine it back at them which usually makes then zoom off. I don't think they expected a spotlight to come back at them.
ToomuchStuff
9-9-13, 12:18pm
One thing to add, even though they were trespassing, if they injure themselves, on your property, you still have/face liability.
Goldensmom, next time you find hunters,call either the sheriff or your local fish & wildlife officials.
I have to ask: do you have a rifle or shotgun yourself?
Goldensmom, next time you find hunters,call either the sheriff or your local fish & wildlife officials.
I have to ask: do you have a rifle or shotgun yourself?
That is a good suggestion, Tradd. Yes, I have both rifles and shotguns and have been around them my whole life (kept in a closet, dad said 'don't touch the guns' and we didn't) so I guess I am not intimidated by them but one never knows.
Goldensmom, next time you find hunters,call either the sheriff or your local fish & wildlife officials.
I have to ask: do you have a rifle or shotgun yourself?
My experience after decades of chasing "hunters"(*) off my land is that they don't tend to point their guns at the landowner.
Important to make sure they are "hunters" though, and not "freelance agricultural entrepreneurs" :-)
(*) Real hunters aren't slobs, and ask permission of landowners first. In my state, it is a legal requirement they carry written permission from the landowner on their person in fact. People you have to run off your land aren't hunters, they are ...well, you know.
The Storyteller
9-9-13, 3:54pm
My neighbor has a fairly fool proof way of handling trespassing fishermen.
We share part of our pond with our neighbors. She had recently married, but previously she was pretty generous with allowing anybody and everybody to fish it. Word spread so it was common knowledge the Tammy's Pond (its common name among the folk) was fair game and open season.
And of course they would jump the fence onto my property and fish my side, because most of it is on our property and we have all the best fishing spots. I told them they could fish it if they did catch and release bot of course they ignored that. So, I banned them. I asked them to leave numerous times but I'm not there all the time and they kept returning.
Well, she married and he and I talked about it. Decided neither of us liked it. So, the next time fishers showed up on his side, he strapped on his shoulder holster 45, walked out to the pond, and politely asked them to leave and not come back. There was a brief friendly conversation, and they left, equally politely.
They never came back.
I was thinking about getting a slingshot at the Tractor Supply store. Would that scare anyone? :laff:
I was thinking about getting a slingshot at the Tractor Supply store. Would that scare anyone? :laff:
Well, if you shoot it at someone who is armed, expect return fire. I'd restrict the use of the slingshot to scaring off non-human varmints.
I was thinking about getting a slingshot at the Tractor Supply store. Would that scare anyone? :laff:
Depends. Are you a good aim?
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