Children trespassing

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I'm with you city girl. We have over ten acres and I am not going to be bullied into having to pay to fence it all!

I don't think parents today are less watchful. Seriously, we went all over the place when we were kids. It's just that WE knew about boundaries and property lines and we knew darn well and good that if we did something stupid, not only would we get it from the property owner, but we'd get the tar whooped outta us by our parents too!

I don't advocate hitting, but I do advocate consequences. If my child does something wrong she gets a consequence. Not told it was someone else's fault. I seriously think this is the problem.

 

[greyhorsewoman]

I've make certain changes to our farm and accessibility to our horses, in order to reduce liability because horse are often considered an 'attractive nuisance.' Thankfully, we don't have anything like a ball field to increase the potential of child trespassers, but we have occasionally discovered uninvited guests in our barn (seems like some folks think all farms are some form of petting zoo?)

Here is a decent link that defines it pretty well: http://www.equispec.com/archive/05.phtml

 

[sunnychooks]

I'm fairly certain that warning signs will be more of a problem. I've heard of cases involving dogs where the the court ruled that the sign indicated that the owner was aware that he had a dangerous animal on the premises. In any event, a parent can sue regardless of whether there is a sign or not. A parent can also sue over hot wire injuries (or percieved injuries).
Can you get some temporary livestock fencing that you can put up only on the day of the games? We've used it for sheep and goats and it's easy to put up, take down and move to different areas.

 

[speckledhen]

Do not get Beware of Dog signs, just simple NO TRESPASSING and PRIVATE PROPERTY signs. Those wont have adverse effects.

 

[mamaKate]

Try something cheap and lightweight like bird netting or chicken wire covered in a flowering vine. Morning glories are fast and honeysuckle is evergreen. Then put in a solid gate frame with a locked gate. I know it's not fair but I'm pretty sure you would lose in court if anything happened. And I know that, irresponsible parents or not, you'd feel awful if the worst happened.

 

[speckledhen]

To answer your question, you should not have to fence it, but you cannot ever rely on anyone to do the right or responsible thing, especially the parents of today's spoiled brats. So, unless you want to sit outside all day and shoo them away, you'll have to do something, even if you just call the cops every time kids trespass.

 

[New2Peeps]

Fencing is more effective than signs. Depending on their ages, children don't read or can't understand what the signs say. And many parents simply don't care.

 

[Whispering Winds]

I was told by an insurance man, of all people, not to put up a sign IF your dog was a biter. The reason: that way you could say you didn't know the dog was mean, it had never done it before. BUT, other people who have had issues with their dog being mean, said NO WAY. You have to post a sign, which is a warning to the person that there is a possibility they may be bitten by your dog. . . so why can't you put up a sign about your roosters? People would more than likely not take it seriously, but at least they were warned, and I think the posts with yellow tape might be a good idea too. Its a shame you have to do this, to keep people off of your land, but kids are kids and they do love to look at stuff they don't have. We are getting Alpacas the first of the month, and I already know there is going to be a caravan of people coming to look, because the word is out. Good luck, and keep us posted on what happens, because this might help the rest of us with unwanted visitors coming to gawk.

 

[beak]

It's amazing how people don't understand how dangerous horses are. If a stranger went in to our pasture area they would probably fly out. I can't imagine having livestock without a fence.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

yep. the hard truth is that its on you to speak up or take actions. by NOT saying something you are implying consent. and speckled hen is right - you cant rely on people to do the right thing.

and

they might not know the right thing - which is why they are tromping across your yard. so someone needs to say/do something... so its you. you might have good luck by talking to the ball organizers but why not do everything to protect those kids and yourself?

sorry :-(

i know its achingly frustrating.