Irresponsible Neighbor

[carrlr]

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I wouldn't of said anything if it didn't bring unwanted wild life to my farm. And it is not fun when you have a deer jump out of the woods in front of your horse and he spooks in place...nor is it fun to go close your hay barn and a cat come streaking out and scares the hades out of you, spraying your hay with urine before he got scared off...

My equines and chicken flock mean more to me than someone who cannot follow the law...I asked nicely many times and explained why what she was doing was wrong. But when it puts my animals at risk to get harmed, a potentially fatal disease, or worse, then I think not getting involved went out the door, as she doesn't pay my vet bills, I do.

I still would have minded my own business..
If you dont want deer in your woods..then move to the city...

If my neighbor called on me because i wanted to feed the wildlife in my yard...
Well..... 2 can play dirty...
Again.. this is just MY opinion on the matter...
i'm not going to argue with you... its your choice and its already done anyways...
Good luck!

Wildlife is just that...wild. By purposely providing feed, and drawing them in, keeps them from what is natural for them to do. IMHO this is just inviting problems for them in the future.

 

[Baymule]

It sounds like your neighbor thinks the animated Walt Disney movie "Bambi" is really real. Only Bambi didn't have bears in it. they would probably have eaten Bambi and all his friends.

 

[easttxchick]

CariLyn, you did the right thing.

 

[redhen]

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I agree! I dont personally think its a good idea...
But she asked what we thought about her calling wildlife control on her neighbors...

 

[b.hromada]

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[billfields]

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Exactly. When I see people doing that I am reminded of my very urban reared daughter who at 8 or 9 saw Disney's Pocahontas and decided she **loved** raccoons. The fact that she had never seen an actual living raccoon was immaterial to her. Raccoons were what she wanted them to be in her head. Same thing here. Some people think that being "surrounded by wildlife" makes them somehow more "natural". In fact bears relying on people to feed them is quiet UNnatural as our National Park System realized decades ago. People have told me they are "taking care of God's creatures". Fact is, God does a great job of taking care of His (or Her) creatures without any help from us. Left alone wild things do just fine. It's when you add people that problems happen. Critters are what they are and what wild things are is wild. What human-habituated wild things are is dangerous. I live within 20 miles of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. There are lots of bear up there. And I take great pleasure that they ARE there, that they live their lives near me and that my being here doesn't stop them from being bears there. But if one shows up here I'm going to do everything I can to scare the heck of it so it goes BACK up there. Where it is safe and so am I. And If I saw one of my neighbors feeding it you can bet I would say something.

At the same time I also get annoyed with people who go the other way. Lots of threads here personify and demonize predators. That's just as bad as making them all out to be cuddly little Pocahontas Pals. The raccoon who ate your chicken ate it because it was hungry and YOU left your chicken where he could get it not because he is a malicious evil chicken hating demon from the pits of the earth or because he came from a bad family and wasn't given a strong sense of values by his parents.

He did it because he is a raccoon being a raccoon around people who handed him a chicken. Expecting the raccoon to pass it up because you named it Miss Clucky and love it is like expecting a rooster not to crow on weekends because you want to sleep in. Animals, domestic and wild do what they do what they do because that's how they are wired. The raccoon is going to go after Miss Clucky. It's up to you to keep her away from it. And if you want to be mad when the raccoon (or coyote,or possum or hawk or even Rover down the street) eats Miss Clucky, don't be mad at the critter, be mad at yourself for leaving your chicken vulnerable.

From both directions, people make bad decisions and some poor critter pays the price...usually with it's life.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Anyone who thinks that attracting bears is no big deal is a menace to the neighborhood. Habituated bears are serious bad news. More would have shown up. As for feeding deer, where I live several communities have banned feeding deer. It creates a population surge that natural habitat does not, and usually in a place with limited predators. Large populations are more likely to spread disease. In my area, the largest deer predator is probably on four wheels.

You did right by turning her in.

 

[joebryant]

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Well, there you have it. It's all YOUR fault. You should have bought her a one-way ticket as soon as she opened her mouth.
"(She) who hesitates, loses."

 

[FiveHens]

It does seem a little harsh...but I think you did the right thing.

You know, many people think that they help wildlife by feeding them, but some wildlife looses its capability to forage for themselves and if the food supply is not kept up, they starve to death. It also harms the ecosystem to have people feeding wildlife.

 

[FiveHens]

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