Fed up with neighbor!!!

[twentynine]

Sorry I don't buy the idea of having property and not having money for fence. Plain and simple it just don't wash. How do you manage your property, how do you protect your stock? 5-strand barbed wire - don't cost much per ft, and they ain't no Dexter cattle getting through it. If the fence would have been installed when the OP purchased his property, the transgressing cattle would never have transgressed!

The very idea of owning property without a fence is alien to me. No money, sure I understand that, get a few dollars, get a few ft of fence, over and over and over again. I got 14 (13.83 actual) acres, total fencing got to be close to 1.75 miles. Every year one piece of fence or the other needs repair or replacement. Roll (1320') of 4pt 15ga Gaucho wire is $39 at TSC, 6' tee post $3.85, pressure treated 8' 4X4s $5.90 each.

By OP own admission the damage caused exceeded $4000, you know how much 5 - strand you can build for $4k? Shucks for $4k you can have some real nice net wire fencing.

Which brings up another question. Just what in heck did those cows eat or step on that cost $4k? He said they decimated a garden that was mostly finished except for pumpkins, how many truck loads of pumpkins did he have?

I have very minor problems with my nieghbors, nothing compared to this kind of thing. But then again I don't gaze upon my nieghbor with binoculars either. And if I ever see them looking (frankly invading my privacy) my way with binoculars, they are going to get a show they will long remember. Before I ever met any of my nieghbors I was out building fence, a good nieghbor will apreciate your fence.

What is not at issue is the neghbor and his motives. Just for the sake of not arguing let's say that 100% of what the OP is claiming is true. Mr Burning tire, Drug takin, Bill no payin, Escapin cattle, Chicken stealin, Can't run a bidness, Lowlife nieghbor is there, 1/4 mile away and has already shown that he is capable of the most dasterdly deeds. You gonna tell me that not one of you would be building one hell of a fence betwext you and him? You danged right I'd be out there spending my money, protecting my interest. Being on your property before your nieghbor moves in doesn't matter, what matters is protecting your property.

 

[Mattemma]

My elderly neighbor has her daughter living next to her.I think that is nice having family close as long as they get along! I think having your family own the property would be great.Hope they get it.

 

[I have WHAT in my yard?]

I would love to fence our property like you say, but we cannot. The county ordinance has very strict rules about what kind of fence and where and so on and so on. No electric fence unless you put it in 50' from your border!! C'mon! Electric fencing is only allowed on a portion of your property and only if you are zoned and rated for a agricultural business. No hobby farm... If it is residential it has to be a pretty wooden fence 6 ' in from your boundary in all directions.....

The permit alone to build is a couple of hundred dollars and if you put in electric it is higher AND must be installed by a certified electrician, approved by the county electrical inspector, and inspected bi-annually by the county. Things differ on whether or not you are in a more rural or more suburban......

 

[MagsC]

I have WHAT in my yard?, its the same here. They have rules upon rules and whatever fence you are building has to be approved by the city council.
Plus some people are just not in the postion financially to build a fence.
I would love to but so far have had to settle for a lilac hedge.(young plants dug up from out at my parents house) I suppose a densely planted hedge is another option. At least here they dont have rules about that. Yet.

On another note, neighbors with binocular....ack....

 

[ptig78d]

THIS WILL BE MY FINAL POST. I do not want to offer any more ammunition for people who just want to be argumentative.

First off, we bought this property (1.09 acre) when I was in the military. When we bought it, there was an old, rusted barbed wire fence falling down...which I removed b/c I didn't want my children getting cut on rusty wire (even though, I'd tell them to stay away from it....you know kids!

). The original (as of when we bought the place) owner didn't mind our chickens, as he bought eggs from us. Sadly, he had to sell the place b/c he moved in with his mother who became very ill. We never had any problems with any neighbors around us; got along great (might have been the fresh eggs now available, I don't know..

The bad neighbor, has been a thorn in the side of the police department from the time he was a teenager...(he's now 34). He grew up in this area, and many people around here know that he's just plain trouble.
Why did I not build a fence? I priced how much it would cost to put in a fence when he started collecting junk cars back there....oh, and he's not 1/4 mile away. He's about 800 feet. If I started at my back deck, and walked in a straight line to his front door, I'd be there in about 1.5 minutes. Anyways, the cheapest stockade fence (so we didn't have to look at him) around our property would be about 10,000 dollars, when you take into account materials and permits. The entire view out my back door is his property. So, it's kind of hard not to "spy" on him. Speaking of spying on him....I do not "spy on him" with binoculars. I own a pair of binoculars for birdwatching. That night, when I smelled the toxic fumes coming from his fire which was out in plain sight between his house and mine, I got the binoculars to see more closely that it was indeed a tire. I thought, "that smells like burning rubber. What the heck is he burning?!" I could see the tire with my naked eye, once my eyes adjusted to the brightness of the flames. This occurred at 11'00 pm, by the way. I got the binoculars to confirm my thoughts, because I just couldn't believe that someone would be stupid enough to burn a tire! Once I did confirm it, I called the public safety number (same building houses PD and FD..one number for dispatch) and asked them to have him extinguish it because it was releasing toxic fumes and my wife, who is asthmatic, was having trouble breathing and needed to use her inhaler and take an albuterol nebulizer treatment to recover. She was fine, had it under control, but we needed that fire extinguished and my neighbor won't answer the phone if I did try to call him b/c we are in the middle of a feud. As far as my wife's allergies are concerned, her triggers are dust and pollen, not animal dander. I, however, am allergic to dogs and cats, but I love animals, so I just take a cetirazine (allergy med) every day. It's like 8 bucks for 120 tablets, so not that expensive.
So, sorry...yes, I own property...not much, but it's mine. I'd love to put up a good fence, but we don't have the money to do that. I had to get out of the military b/c I have an autistic son and we had fought long and hard to get him the services he needed, and if I stayed in the military, we'd have to go through that transition each time I changed stations, and I was not going to subject him to that...nor did I want to be a geographical bachelor (serving anywhere, but having family stay at home in the States). My wife works full time as a CMT (Certified Med Tech) and is going to college part time for her RN degree. I, myself, am attending college Full time and work part time as a schoolbus driver filling in for drivers who are sick or on vacation. We're understaffed, so I work nearly every day doing at least an AM or PM run, except for Monday when I have an early class and an afternoon lab. We have 3 growing kids and put all of our money that is left over from paying on the mortgage and bills, to give them the best childhood we can. We don't spoil them, but they do not want for anything.
This neighbor KNOWS what he should and shouldn't do. He just refuses to do it. Why should I have to put up a fence to keep his animals off of my property? If, you can't imagine owning land and not having a fence.....then tell me why every SINGLE property doesn't have a fence on it?!! Yes, I've heard the saying "the best thing between you and your neighbor is a good fence". However, some people are great neighbors and putting up a fence would be a slap in the face to them. I'm trying to grow a natural fence between the two properties....but that takes time. The damage that his cattle did to my property occurred last spring, which was a VERY wet spring....and his cattle (more than one) took my yard from a well kept lawn, to something that looked like dirty swiss cheese from the mud and cow patties all over the place. I measured the holes that their hooves left...most of them were at least 6 inches deep some as deep as 12"!! So, my kids couldn't go out and play until I paid someone to come in and fix my property. Will I ever see a penny of that money if I sue him for damages? NO.....he doesn't make much money and he's over his head in debt.
So, I don't have the money for a fence. We ARE in the middle of a recession. I count my blessings that I have a good job that helps me support my family. I don't need to deal with unruly neighbors. The only time I have pressed charges against the bad neighbor was when his dogs came onto my property and attacked mine, which required money for vet bills. Did I get it? NO...the case was dismissed on the day it was scheduled to go....because he had 3 other trials that were considered more important. I dropped the case, b/c I wasn't wasting time showing up at the courthouse and losing out on a day of work. However, the town did end up fining him for having dogs at large.
So, I've now put up a fence to keep my animals on my yard. It's not a good fence, but it keeps my chickens from leaving my property. I have done what is necessary to manage my animals properly. Why should I have to put up some expensive fence because he doesn't give a darn what his animals do, or how much he annoys his neighbors?! Also the day he moved in he tried to move my property pin back so he could take 15 feet of my property, Which was surveyed before I bought it. I didn't allow it, He did this to all his neighbors taking 50 ft of on my left and 35 ft on my right stating that was his property. He tried to tell me my survey was wrong that he owned my well and shed. Any way he did not end up with any of my land but did all the other around him. approxly 7 neighbors. When I put up a temp chicken wired fence he took it down and threw it in my yard stating it was on his property and had to have a police officer stand there with us to have his agreement to the fence ON MY PROPERTY. Imagine what damage he would have done to a "good fence" In that instance I had to give him 5 ft of MY property for him to be satisfied with the fence.

 

[thebritt]

Well, OP, I'm amazed you've gotten so much flack! If someone was burning a tractor tire in my neighborhood, you can be sure I'd report it! I'm asthmatic as well, and yes, I have many pets (I take daily preventitve asthma/allergy meds because I LOVE my animals - they are family, every one of them!). I've spoken with folks on our volunteer fire dept., they all live in the same valley, and they don't want their families breathing toxic smoke any more than you or I do. C'mon people - the smoke is TOXIC!

Anyway, that's my $.02 in support of the OP.

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
Sorry you feel that way but I welcome you to volunteer for a few years an see if you still feel that way.

My family has over 100 years of combined volunteer fire service.

 

[Eggs4Sale]

This is preposterous. I have cattle and it is my responsibility to keep them contained. On three occasions, a steer has managed to break out. Every single time, I was out there risking life and limb to get them back to their pen because they could have trampled someone else, been hit by a vehicle (imagine the damage to the vehicle and driver!) or caused a vehicle to veer off the road, done serious damage to the crops, and on and on. On those occasions, I had to first get the steer into my yard, then on to the pasture. Once in the yard, they run around and eat young trees (bye bye kumquat tree, sniff), garden plants, leave huge hoof holes in the ground, and while they have not yet actually destroyed any fencing, chairs, or other items, the potential is definitely there. Each time, I prayed to God that my children wouldn't suddenly appear outside, because I didn't think I could protect them. You see, it's easy to dismiss a steer in someone's yard till it's in YOURS. They are enormous creatures. You can literally feel the earth move as they walk around, and as they approach YOU, you realize how danged big they are and how small you are. If they start to run or bounce around, oh my. I can't explain how that feels.
Now, if I woke up tomorrow and found my neighbor's steer/cow/heifer on my property, and they weren't thoroughly embarrassed and shamed (as I was) and took precautions to prevent it from happening again, then I would be VERY angry. Owning something as large and dangerous as cattle is a big responsibility. The neighbor is not willing to live up to that responsibility, so should not have the animals.

The person who paralleled this to dogs running loose is absolutely correct.

And RebelCowboy, I can understand what you're saying, but I encourage you to never become a spokesman for the volunteer fire dep't.

Every 'save the citizen in need' group has this type of problem, but the less we know of their grumbling, the easier it is to regard them as heroes.

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Never met a good firemen that ever used the word hero. Also never met a good fire department that hid the realities of the job from there community for any reason especially there ego. Heroes an perfection are for people in story books an should stay there. Everyone else is real people with real personality, all flawed. Dealing with the real world, also flawed.

Political correctness has became more important than honesty in this country. Good thing for me I'm not running for office so I can still say what I think an mean every word I say.