Bad neighbors

Well, I guess I'll have to start keeping a photo record of the things the neighbors do, for future reference if there's any legal action! Why, you say? Well, now they've taken to coming over on our property to do 'donuts' in their truck. No major damage...it's just grass and a field, but it's the idea that they'd do it. We can safely assume it was the neighbor's sorry teenagers and/or their friends because we know they come over when the parents are gone...and where this happens is at the end of a long driveway that ends at our property....they are right there at the end. The electric company left the gate open after they did some work the other day...and it snowed yesterday. So the goofs came over through the gate to play in the snow with their truck. My other neighbor (a relative) saw them do it...from about 300 yards away at her house. After she told me this (today - Thanksgiving!) I went to have a look. Sure enough, tracks and lots of circles where they had been spinning. Hard to see in the photos, but there are round and round circles where they were playing.

This isn't the first time they've messed with us. Oh by the way, these teens have drug problems...so we worry about taking this too far...not knowing what they'll do to retaliate. Back to the story...this summer (4 times!) they threw Jack Daniels bottles, beer cans, wine cooler bottles and Mike's Hard Lemonade bottles over on our side of the fence. Their house is about 30 feet from our fence and they have a pool. I guess the goofs (I have much stronger words for the losers ;) had a little party and figured they needed a convenient place to put the bottles (our field). I found them while mowing. After the first time, I started stacking them up in a nice row where they could plainly see them. They either had to look at the trash or pick it up. Strangely enough, the bottles disappeared...LOL Either the kids were the culprits and decided to pick them up before the parents saw them, or the parents knew about it and picked them up so the cops wouldn't be involved. The police have been to their house for other things in the past...not because of us. They've only lived there for about 2 years!

Oh I forgot something. There was an old camper back there a few years ago and guess what....someone broke the windows out. We got rid of the camper after that. It was something that was left by my wife's grandparents - that was their land before they died. Now I just wait until the kids birn down our barn or something. Thinking about this, it really burns me up. We can't do much because if we antagonize them too much, Lord knows what they'll do. I wish they'd all get sent off to jail for something so we can be rid of them. They truly are bottom of the barrel people. If you had to put up with their antics, you'd have that label for them too.

So on Thanksgiving Day...I get on the tractor....pick up a railroad tie we had lying around...take it up and plop it in the middle of the driveway in front of the gate...just as one of the loser kids gets out of his car with his girlfriend. I caught them as they were going into the house with some Thanksgiving food! LOL I looked at them but they didn't look my way. I guess they knew what was up. I hope the parents looked out the window and wondered why I was there doing that. Although from what I know about the parents, they are just as bad as the kids they 'raised'. I tacked on a new 'No Trespassing' sign and then pounded in a couple steel bars into the ground behind the railroad tie. Tomorrow, I'm off to Home Depot to buy a nice lock to put on the gate. I figure, if they must destroy something to gain access, they won't bother with it. Too much trouble I think. They seem like the opportunistic type. Hopefully this will keep them from bother us too much...we'll see. It's a shame that anyone (us) has to deal with stuff like this...but that's human beings for you.

On with the photos. Again, not too easy to see...but in the second photo you can see better what they were up to.

P.S. - Happy Thanksgiving! I'm certainly thankful I had that big ole railroad tie lying around! hehe

This message was edited Nov 24, 2005 8:49 PM

Bad neighbors can make life rough. Hope things work out for that family to leave before too long...Or at least their kids leave or straighten up. I know it's hard. Guess you can be glad you didn't have a garden there in Donut Central, at least.

Hi, Bad neighbors is a hard thing to deal with, don't know if you should say anything or just live with it Iknow, I've been there. We ended up moving, but only because we found a house we wanted, and it all worked out, the new house, we made sure there were no trouble making neighbors with teens.

Funny thing, the other day I went to the local free mulch pick up place and one of the kids that lived behind us, (one that had broken into our house before) works there, He was thenicest guy and I could tell he had changed. He knew who I was but I chose not to say anything to him other than kindness and he was kind to me. I felt good after I left with my load of mulch that he loaded for me. Something inside said, Wow, this kid is a good kid.

Good things did happen with the bad kids that lived behind me. They'll grow up one of these days, hopefully they won't cause too much trouble before then, cause there's a good chance their parents won't do a thing about it if you complain, cause I did, and it didn't help any at all.

Hang in there. I feel for you.

kathy

Put boads with nails in them and then bury them. A coupel flat tires and these punks will think twice!

We're hoping the teens will want to move on once they're out of school. Their parents are sort of weird....especially the mother. My wife and father-in-law are both teachers and when these people moved in, the mother was complaining to the school board that the school was dingy, the teachers dressed bad, etc, etc. Just really crazy stuff. She's the type that thinks he kids do no wrong. I'm not sure how much she really knows or if she's just clueless all around. For now, unless something serious happens I think the best thing is to just let it go. Like I said, there's no telling what these people are capable of if you aggravate them too much. That's the part that stinks though. My wife's family has lived here for 30 something years...and it's always been a quiet place to live.

Oh I forgot one thing. The elderly lady that lives on the same long driveway with them (she lives next to them) said they 'egged' her car and she said she's afraid of them. Also, someone broke into a trailer that sits about 150 yards from my father-in-law's house and stole a Sony Playstation...only that, nothing else. (the trailer is owned and rented out by my father-in-law and sits on property that joins the property of the troublemakers) The first place the police went to look was at these people's house! There's a county deputy sheriff that lives right across the street from the trailer too....and the break-in happened in the middle of the day. Who knows if it was the troublemakers that did it...but after awhile, right or wrong, you sort of just figure you know who would be the best choice if you had to point a finger. They've certainly given us plenty of reasons to think it's them. For one thing, it was a Playstation...and another thing, the kids have a drug habit...so maybe they needed money. We recently had an alarm system installed in our house. It was prompted by the break-in of the trailer. The people in the trailer are moving Dec 1. I know they were always planning to move once they had enough money to buy a house (young couple), but I don't know if this break-in prompted them to move sooner. Once they move out, we're getting rid of the trailer. It's getting too old to keep up well anyway.

In some ways, this sort of thing makes you feel like a prisoner in your own house and on your own land. I'm not afraid of them myself and would be more willing to confront them if it weren't for other family being involved...but I do worry about property damage or anything they might do that would harm any of my family, including my baby. Next time they decide to thumb their nose at us, I at least wish they'd have the guts to do it in plain view of me ;) I see them pretty often now that I have to mow the field near their house (so it doesn't grow up with tall grass where they can hide their bottles)...and I'm very tempted to shut the tractor off and give them an earfull...but I think it's best that I don't. I think time will work against them. Either they will straighten up or they will eventually end up in jail. It would seem to me they're heading in that direction with the life they live. I'd rather they move away though.

You might just try nodding and saying hello to them when you see them. It might catch them off guard and showing them that they haven't bothered you might make them stop trying.
I had a neighbor from hell. When I would see him outside, I would shut the blinds and ignore him. Finally he moved away. All good things will come to an end. It just takes bad things a little bit longer.

You do have to be careful with bad neighbors. You really never know what's going on in their minds.

I actually sold my original place & moved because of a neighbor. Luckily, it was an unbelievable upgrade from 5 acres to 21 in a much nicer rural community, but still.

My neighbor had been institutionalized & apparently still had serious problems. When he started pointing a gun at me & my horse, that was it. And according to the local "law enforcement", until he actually "hurt" me or one of my animals, there was nothing they would do. Nice little "good old boy" network going there.

Just be really careful dealing with neighbors like this. Your life isn't worth the fight.

Other than back pain, I don't think there's anything worse to have to deal with than bad neighbors. I just assumed that this was an urban city problem...not a rural one where people have such big acreage and space between properties. I guess nasty neighbors are everywhere...

The fear of retaliation is definitely a major factor here. It makes me sick when I read things like are posted here, about people fearing for their horses, property, etc. etc. due to the inconsideration of bad neighbors. I run up against this all the time because there are a lot of apt. bldgs. near me. Constant trash being thrown out of cars onto lawns, beer bottles, baby diapers, you name it. I'm not saying all renters are bad...it's the OWNERS of the properties who rent to these people.

People just have no respect anymore....and too many punks just do as they please and get away with intimidating people...We are relieved when they're finally gone, but you know they're doing the same thing to somebody else in some other area...

I REALLY fume when there are elderly people involved...afraid to live in their own places or to even go outdoors. It just shouldn't be that way.

Something is drastically wrong with society these days with so many people just not having to take responsibility for their actions and the victims being told by law enforcement that theres nothing they can do.

I don't have an answer to this...does anyone????

Now to open the can of worms......

1. I would legalize recreational drugs.

2. I would match any funds spent on war to schooling for kids, all income levels, to start at about 6 months. This schooling would include their parents going to school to learn how to be parents. Just because you give birth, it does not mean you know doodily about raising kids. Unfortnately, God did not give them instructional tapes to carry down here when they were born. And if there were no war, I would still spend a gazillion dollars on this program. This would not only teach child and parent, but insure they had an adequate diet, because an inadequate diet has been proven to limit learning abilities. And, with some kids being born at the bottom of the gene pool anyway, this is not good.

3 For those who were to late to benefit from program #2.........I would change the penal system.....(I'm gettin' everybody now!!!) I think that mental illness it the crux of 90% of problem with people in jail. Some of their traits have been passed on from their parents and they are just acting the way that they were NOT TAUGHT...... To put a mentally challanged person in a cage for a few years only to let him out it cruel....Then we wonder why they are bitter and can't wait to got back to their old ways. It's just like people who go on "diets" Diets DON"T WORK....you have to change your life style......they have to have help doing that and it will probably take medication to complete the job.

These are not total solutions, but I really think in my heart of my heart, it would sure be a start.....

I've probably said too much already, but if you don't learn anything about me, please learn one thing.....IF YOU DON'T WANT MY OPINION, DON'T ASK ME A QUESTION...!!!!

Jasper.....did I answer your question?

BTW.....good Moring to all...

Hap

LOL Happy, I cant say I agree 100% but that is my "opinion" and Ill leave it at that. I do agree that parenting is NOT an easy, cut and dry, black and white job. Who knew we would have to be experts in every mental and physical field known to us and then some when those little noisy, smelly, adorable bundles entered this world.

I have had bad neighbors but Im not sure if they are/ were to the extent that you have them. The ones that lived across the street were taken care of after numerous calls to the Narcotics officers who I came to know on a first name basis. I had no further troubles from them after they raided the house and then had 30 days to vacate the section 8 rental. The neighbors right next door(about 20 feet or so) I no longer speak with due to some over the top yelling the wife did at my then 14 year old daughter. The big white tent we put up in the driveway helps to keep me from having to look at that woman and cuts down on the constant barking of their dog since it cuts down on him being able to see us and the noise we might make as we go about our daily buisness.

I wish I could give you sound advise that would work right off the bat but I guess Im lucky that I dont have that knowledge. I can say that at least around here, constant complaint calls to the PD should put them on a "watch" list, the PD here keeps a close eye on any "problem" households and do alot of drivebys to help cut down on "problems". With you being more out in the country I dont know if this would be something they would do for you and your neighbors but its worth a shot. Pictures help too but phone calls are logged and put into a database and lets the police know at least that this isnt your average "I just dont like them" call.

I think we humans have had bad neighbors as long as we've had humans roaming earth. The difference is it seems we've got more and more spiteful and hateful people roaming around today. It doesn't require a manual to know your kids need to be disciplined when they start doing disrespectful things to the neighbors. But then, I guess then we'd have to debate what is disrespectful and what is not. I would guess that most people that garden would agree that it's disrespectful to throw trash on your neighbor's property. And I doubt that if the drugs they take that are deemed illegal would really help our problems any. Drunk or high, whether it be legal or illegal is still a problem. Ask anyone that's had a relative murdered by a drunk driver.

I'll agree to legalize recreational drugs on one condition....everyone that uses them has to relocate to your neighborhood ;) LOL Oh and one more condition. Anyone that is in a drunken or high state must only kill themselves if they intend to drink/smoke and drive...they shall not harm any innocent people. If only drunk drivers were the victims of drunken driving, I'd have no problem at all with drinking and driving. It's when they kill or injury other people that I get upset about it. There's no getting around the fact that one individual's actions certainly DO have an impact on other people's lives and society as a whole...sometimes in a bad way, sometimes in a good way - depends on that person's actions. I think we've ventured into the 'politics' area and we all know (or should) that politics and current events discussions are banned here...for good reason. We turn into bickering, bitter neighbors when these sort of things are discussed and it sometimes ruins otherwise descent gardening relationships.

Ok, now let's all forget about this before they're forced to remove the thread :)

I agree.............

Hap

I do appologize, I did think that it may be contraversial, but did not think it was political or current events. Therefore I posted it.

Just pretend everything controversial is also political and you'll be safe ;) That's pretty much how it works out. I guess the exception to that rule is if you're talking about something purely garden related like should I prune my shrubs in spring or fall? But even then, people will fight over that too...LOL

You are right on that one. If people want to scrap, they.....no matter what the subject....LOL

Who said "good fences make good neighbors"?

A smart person.....

So...do I need a better fence then? lol

A better fence? Lol. When at first my husband & I considered staying at our former place, we actually priced what it would cost to put up 8'-high stockade-type fence.

But you know, when bullets started flying, we realized that even that wasn't going to protect us from the insanity that was our neighbors. And just in case you might think it was just "us", 2 other "nice" neighbors moved out of the area as well around the same time we did.

Hmmm...maybe we should pour a 12' concrete wall and top it with that razor wire we used in the army! :) Nah...I better not. People would start refering to our place as a 'compound'.

Hap -LOL!! Thanks!!

I thought it was robert Frost or somethng, but I'm real good at mixing things up. I know just enough to get it all wrong.

Anyway, it was the olden days. I'm sure it could be updated with concrete and razor wire...or maybe "manned guard towers make good neighbors"?

That part of the property was part of the old pasture. Maybe I should just get some Llamas that have very bad attitudes :)

The hard part is that fencing is really expensive, and if they're mean they're going to get around it or under it...or make your life miserable some other way.

When we lived in NJ, in a nice neighborhood, nice town, low crime rate, my friend's neighbor had a nasty teenager - mean and sullen. He left for the Marines, came back meaner. He threatened her, but no one could do anything until...not long after he shot and killed two teenagers..turns out he was a dealer and someone had taken some of his pot. He actually hunted the two 17 year olds down and killed them!! It's so scary.

We then had a new family move in - a recently "blended" family. Teenage son wasn't happy with mom's new husband I guess. They used to hang in the woods and drink beer at 6 am before getting on the schoolbus. I could see them from my kitchen window. I reported it to the police, who found a stash of beer and weapons. They staked it out and eventually got 25 kids who went there. The kids got talked to.

Few weeks later my 3-day-old car is keyed down both sides needing a paint job. Over thanksgiving my house was broken into and vandalized, the pool was vandalized, the bbq grill, etc. ~ and this kid would walk past giving me a look of pure hatred!

So we moved. As soon as the kids were out of school we left. I was scared what he might do to the kids, then 12, 10 and 8.

Nobody could do anything, and the kid knew it! He knew he could destroy stuff all over my property since he could see me leaving....I didn't want to wait until he killed someone!

(And I did have a fence, but only 4 foot. And two dogs, so he couldn't sneak in when we were home)

Oh i've heard llamas can kick like the dickens. Even peacocks can be scary when they attack! Do you think the nasties would shoot? Or you mght get sued for emotional distress when they come to harass you and get chased off by weird animals?

I think we'll leave them alone as long as they don't damage anything of any value. That's the shame...we (and anyone else) shouldn't have to live like this. It's not fair. Your situation was quite worse. I don't think they'd do anything violent, but you never know these days. What you mentioned about your car being keyed...that's one of the things I worried about. Little things that can be done to aggravate us and it's hard to catch someone for something like that unless they're caught in the act. I'm not afraid of them at all...but maybe that's just foolish male pride ;) I thought about adding something to our tractor that would hold one of my shotguns or rifle, but that would probably be just begging for trouble if I did that and then went up there to mow the field...LOL I just hope they stick to nothing more than what they've done already. I can live with a few bottles in the field...but I still won't like it ;)

Yup my car was only 3 days old, so of course i had it repainted. The dealer did it for $600. They felt bad and charged me as little as they could...so see, there's the good side. We need to concentrate on the good. (It was seven years ago so I'm over it!!)

I hope your neighbors tire of their ways if nothing else. Or grow up and leave..or just leave even if they don't grow up!

I would say it's not worth stirring up hornets if you can avoid it. I was just appalled to watch this group of kids gathering to drink beer in the dark before school in winter!! I thought it was the right thing to do to report it. I guess i still do. What amazes me is that if there were 25 kids that's at least 25 parents....I wondered how it could go on.

Before school in the morning you say?! LOL Now that's dedication! LOL You were right to report it...but I think I would have somehow been a little more sneaky about it so they wouldn't know it was me reporting them. Maybe wait until they do something else where you know they don't know you saw them...so they can't come back on you and key your car, for example. But then if you have to testify or something...then the cat's out of the bag. I would hate it like crazy if I did have to get involved with calling the police on them or something...but if it came down to it, I bet you I can be a little more resourceful and persistent than them ;) I have discipline you see...9 years in the army helped with that...lol It's not really the right thing to do to 'get back at' people or seek revenge, but if the situation was bad enough, I think I could answer the call to duty! LOL I think I need to start researching those llamas and attack geese....hehe

I guess I was being a naive mom type, I never did time in the Army!! In retrospect I guess I could have done things differently. It was just weird from my perspective....but all these years later there's still an awful lot i don't understand about people in this crazy world.

I don't blame you for reporting them as you did. Maybe I just naturally dont't trust people and so visions of them getting revenge on me would have popped into my mind sooner than it would have in yours :) And yes...people do the most crazy things.

I have been reading this and nodding my head. Bad neighbors...yep, been there, done that and just left mine behind. :) I would not say mine were dangerous, other than running around the back yard with a gun once. The guy was a cop when they moved there and never has held a job. I think he is a security guard or something now. They were nice enough when they moved in and wanted seeds or plants or me to till up ground for the mom. Then it went down hill pretty quickly. I am glad to have left them behind.

Now, knowing what I know about you Jon, I am sure you are annoyed and have to keep on top of things for your family. I thought of something right up your alley. Throw a little boot camp, or maneuver training week at your home. Invite all the biggest, ugliest camouflage clad friends that you have. March the property line, rifles (or bigger LOL) in hand, maybe fire some blanks in the air, etc. Keep it long enough to draw attention and be annoying and thought provoking. Make sure they all hug you or shake your hand where you can be seen. If possible, have some show up in helicopters or tanks. I think that would slow things down next door. :)

Ah ha! You might be on to something there...LOL Pretend as though we have our own whacky militia group that's just one step from going over the edge! One false move from you (the neighbor) and before you know it, the camo clad brothers-in-arms will be over to burn and pillage...LOL

Well, but then the good neighbors would really think we're odd. I better scratch that plan. ;)

Just invite the good ones to join the fun!

My firend is a widow in her 60's who lives alone in her farmhouse. Got that picture in your mind?
Well the hunters kept coming in the back way, so she dug out the M111 (?) automatic rifle from her husband's Vietnam days, as she says "with a banana clip" and went out and fired away into a sand bank. Can you imagine hearing a machine gun from the "crazy old lady's" house?! She never had those hunters again!!

The bad ones would probably join the party!!

Hooray for Granny!!

This message was edited Dec 1, 2005 9:01 AM

And i had a party here to which I invited the suburban ladyfriends from NJ. I asked Heide to explain where she got her burn barrel (the topic of burning scrap wood came up)

"Oh" she explained "I just bought a new garbage can and took it out and shot holes in it with the M111 (or is it M16? I forget now)"

you have to picture their faces. It was priceless. She is actually a very articulate, well educated person too, very cultured. It's so unexpected. i love it.