What do you make of this situation?

[MagsC]

Yeah, here you have to pay to drop a cat off too, even if you dont own it.
I would just go about your business and try not to worry about her.

 

[Pelican49]

oh THAT kind of fence. Reading your post I had this 8' privacy fence in my head. I agree with chickensducks&agoose, she probably took offense thinking you put up the fence to keep her son or cats out.

 

[SarahBeth9394]

The only "situation" is the cat hoarding. Don't feed the cats, if they are sick call animal control. If there's no animal control then relocate them. The other stuff is really insignificant. She's entitled to put signs up around her property and sit in her own yard. Now if she were to start yelling at your kids then it would be time to say something.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Different people and places have different expectations and opinions of different types of fences. I, too had envisioned a different type of fence, but to me a fence means chain link, wooden, pool-type fencing or block walls. While I use wire mesh for contining my birds, it did not occur to me that that is what you meant, or that you were not building a fence between your yards. From the photo, it is obvious that fences are not particularly common in your town. Here is is very uncommon to find a yard that is not fenced, and more often than not with block walls.

Years ago when my almost 17 y.o. was a newborn, we almost moved tot he DC area. Many of the homes we looked at were not fenced, which pretty much eliminated them from our list of acceptible homes (although we would have put up a fence if the we'd found a home perfect in every other way). With 2 young children, an unfenced yard was not acceptible to us.

Awhile back there was a thread about someone who had put up wire fencing, and the neighbor across the street became extremely upset at the "view."

 

[The Lisser]

I don't have any suggestions about the signs, although "being neighborly" with the gift of eggs might make things less stressful for you. As for the cats, I would suggest that you do a bit of internet research to find out if there are any feral cat spay/neuter groups within driving distance. I volunteer with one such group in my state, and they will loan you humane traps, help with transportation of the cats to spay/neuter clinic, and often will pay for the spay/neuter and vaccines if you are unable to assist. If the cats are coming on your property and are not tagged and vaccinated my opinion is that you have the right to have them spayed/neutered. (That may not be the legal way of thinking, I don't know) If your neighbor has so many she cannot feed them all, she is not doing right by those cats. After a day, you get the cats back from the feral cat group and release them, and more than likely, she won't be any the wiser. Of course that could create a whole nother issue between you and her.

I did that with several feral/ free roaming cats in my neighborhood that came onto my property and harrassed/attacked my cats. The "owners" didn't even know I'd had it done! It stopped the boy cats from peeing on my house and it stopped them from attacking my cats. They got their vaccines and I don't have to worry about them biting my daughter.

Melissa

 

[Knock Kneed Hen]

It sounds to me that your neighbor is not mentally stable...so dealing with her as if she is won't be very productive. I feel bad for her son who obviously lives a very isolated life and for her cats that are clearly neglected. I know that in our county you are able to take a cat that you find on your property and have it spayed/neutered through a program that the county runs at little or no cost. I would take her cats to be fixed if nothing else. If you can look on this woman with pity because of her limitations (she is socially limited to say the least) and treat her with kindness she may respond more favorably and you'll feel better about the situation. I'd bring her some eggs, apologize for the unsightly fence, tell her how precious her cats are and wave at her with a smile when you see her out on the porch looking your way. I don't know that it will change how she behaves, but it make you the bigger person and show your children that you are not making a mountain out of a mole hill. I used to vent to my sister about frustrating situations and she told me "Just give an Oscar performance." Sometimes you just have to pretend that you are acting and when you have to act you may as well give a darned good performance!!

 

[RainbowBirds_of_a_Feather]

Quote:
(Kinda on topic/not but just because it was discussed.)

Our shelter will pick up but you need to call between certain hours. They allow drop off at shelter for free but I had a bad experience.

Story in short:

Prego feral mama cat. Tried to catch her, she got ran over, motherless babies 5 of um, about a week or so old, called shelter they said to drop off and the will get it tomorrow when they get in. Thought /told um they are already weak/lethargic they may die in the cold. I will mother till the next day and drop off. They never refereed another contact nothing. So it was a night of hell or let them die in the cold night with no heat lamp/food.

It was disappointing and I was a complete mess. A night of cleaning butts, feeding milk, and sleepless night. I felt guilty turning them over because I worked like a dog to nurse the weakest kitten and siblings to a manageable state. I do not know if the babies were euthanized or nursed back to health and on the way to a good home. God I cried like a mother who gave their child up for adoption. So the Shelter kind of lost my respect in my eyes cause they really didn't sound liked they cared. But it was a volunteer, that i talked to and he didn't sound concerned.

Oi I think I am venting too. Sorry all. I guess I let my emotions rule my heart and have to think the shelter did help the babies when I dropped them off. (But the cries in the back room made it hard for me to believe so.)

Chicken_China_Mom,

Did you kinda feel like this with you neighbor? Because i almost see/feel similarities...

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I stopped putting food out already. IF her cats starve, I'll just toss any bodies that get left on my lawn back onto hers. I guess technically I'm not entering her property if I just toss dead kittens and cats back inth her yard. Most of her cats didn't even realize there was food out, it was mainly just the one sick male, and the pregnant kitten. Yes, I said kitten. She's only about 10 months old. She IS watching my kids. You'd have to know this woman to know what I mean. She works, and she comes home and goes inside. She is very rarely outside. Just to pet her cats for a few minutes, and to mow her lawn on Saturdays. That's about it. She NEVER pulls out a lawnchair and sits in her yard. EVER. I have never been inside her house, but other neighbor's have, and it seems that she is a hoarder, and one with a severe problem. Apparently there is no way to get into her front room, it's jam packed with junk. Same with the boy's bedroom, so it makes sense that it would spill over into how many cats she owns. Where I live there is no shelter. None at all. There really is nowhere to take them. I'd have to drive probably clear to Lafayette to bring them to any shelters, and I guarantee that if her cats started disappearing, she would very quickly replace them. And if I paid to get them spayed/neutered (which I don't have the money to do), she absolutely WOULD notice. I kid you not, if just one of her cats disappeared, there would be three more in it's place by the next day. I normally would not be bothered by her signs, but there is no other house past mine. I am the end house on the block, and her shed is directly next to my house, so the giant private property sign is definitely directed at me and my children. I have not been home much the last two days, but twice yesterday, before I went out, my neighbors across the street had their dog get out, and of course it ran into HER yard, and the kids went chasing after it. I kept waiting for her to come accuse my children of being the ones in her yard, but she didn't. She wasn't home, but I think the neighbor on the other side of her is telling her things that we are doing when she isn't home. I have been keeping my birds, and my kids, off her lawn, and we've all avoided her cats. I will just keep to myself. I got my blue spruce trees today from the Arbor Day Foundation. 10 of them. Trying to figure out where to plant those. We also have 26 Rose of Sharon bushes still coming from a nursery. Gotta figure out where to put those too. I think some of those are going between our two properties. She has decided she doesn't like me, and I don't know what I did. I quickly got my birds off her lawn soon as I knew they were on there, and I haven't had my birds nearly as long as she's had those cats. But now the birds will never be on her lawn again, or get into anything of hers, and my kids won't have to chase them off her property anymore. You would think she'd be happy about that? I guess not.

 

[RainbowBirds_of_a_Feather]

Quote:
I am glad you halted feeding her cats. It is a hard thing to do but I applaud you for putting your foot down. Also that is sad you do not have a close Animal Shelter to drop off cats. Plus paying for a spay or neuter out of your own pocket is just out of the question. I also guess that there is no "Cat Sanctuary" near your area. Because that would have been another option. I want to laugh at the thought of tossing any dead cats back her way, which I hope you are joking. Because you may even open another can of worms. But a PREGO KITTEN!! WOW!! That is a HOARDER!! You should put her on that TV show "Hoarder" cause maybe she is in a state of mind where people are judging her. Watching that show is very interesting because it is like a disease/ addiction they can't break. Until everything removed. Kinda like Ex-Battery chickens. They do not know what space is until they are re-homed. But once they have that change they are happy. (If that is a good representation.) When you say "she watches your kids" it almost seems like she may even be envious. (If you look at it in another way.) People who are anti-social often watch from a distance. Longing for some kind of interaction. Then when it does occur they often turtle back and revert back to a hermit like life. If she has not, hopefully this has not happened, accused you of being in her yard. That means she is also trying to be civil, to some degree. I say do not fret. Be kind and smile if she stares. A nice way of saying I see you there but I am non-threatening. (Smiles are contagious.) Like I said in an earlier post "But just be the friendly neighbor you have always been. It is better than becoming the neighbor you never liked...." Basically don't sink down to her level because you really going to hurt yourself. I am not saying that will happen but just don't fall in the same hole as this person. Hold your head up high and strut like a proud roo because you are a strong person in heart and soul while others are flocked in a negative circle. There is another saying "Kill her with Kindness."

I did that with someone that disliked me and we became friends. Then we had a conversation about that in the future and found out it was a total misunderstanding. As for the signs, ignore it. Unless it is supposed to be "Danger" signs because the shed may be ready to topple or something. You could always build a fence around your lot, but that is just a thought for your bushes. Just food for thought in this response, I just want you to think positive through what may seem to be _ell. (Fill in the blank.)

On another note, I am happy you are adding new plants to your yard. Your chooks will love the leaves to scratch in and your kids will have fun play in the leaves too. I say let your birds mulch it up for fertilizer for your plants. Those Rose of Sharon bushes are great to have. Are you going to get more greenery for your place in the future?

 

[Tweets]

Kill her with kindness. It kills any animosity. Take some eggs over with a note that says you hope the chickens won't come in her yard anymore and leave them on the back porch.