I am fed up with illegal dumping and need suggestions...

[Ravenlost]

The dumping into our creek from the bridge is really getting out of hand. The week after Thanksgiving our dogs brought a turkey into the yard...still partially in the wrapper. Oh my, the stench! A few days ago they came up with a chicken still partially in the wrapper. I think it stank worse than the turkey.

Hubby and I took a look over the bridge and it was awful...full garbage bags and four partial deer carcasses floating in the water (hind quarters removed and the rest dumped over the bridge).

I am calling the sheriff's department to see if they'll come out to witness me removing and opening some of these bags. If I can find addresses in them I will press charges. Hubby wants the county to come out and clean it up, so I will be calling our county commissioner too.

Any other suggestions? This is making our dogs sick eating this rotten stuff (espeically the dog that is allergic to poultry), it's unsightly and disgusting and I don't want it on my property!

[MaineFarmMom]

I bought my husband a digital camera that mounts outside for Christmas. It take pictures by itself. He's going to use it to see what we have for deer walking the trails across our property. That might be something you could use to see who's making the mess. The DA might be interested in them as proof.

[cowboyracer43]

Dang that Billy Joe McAllister anyway. If he ain't jumping off'n that Tallahatchee Bridge, he's throwing his ma's garbage.

[swampgirl]

I don't really have an answer for you, but we have a similar problem. During the summer I almost caught the "Foosa"---that's what we call all varmints, two or four legged, since we saw the movie Madagascar. They had stopped their truck on the little bridge over our creek, while they dumped two big garbage cans of boiled crawfish hulls. By the time I got in my truck & took off after them, they sped away. Guess I need a V-8 truck.

[ricky]

yuppers a web cam will nail the bastages for sure

[bob clark]

take it to their house and dump it in their yard if the cops dont seem interested. I promiss you they will get interested quick enough. trouble is they will be after you instead. ...dont ask me how i know, its still under investigation. but the dumping has stoped

[Spinner]

A sign prohibiting dumping of any kind.
$10,000 fine for dumping sign.
A couple more signs with a picture of a camera and the words, "video surveillance"

You can get all weather surveillance camera’s at a fairly good price nowadays. I’d hide a couple in the trees or bushes. One from each direction so the camera gets the license number.

I tend to go overboard on projects... heehee

[Ravenlost]

Overboard sound good to me!

LOL...I don't think it's Billy Joe McAllister. This is the Hickahala Bridge. The Tallahatchee Bridge is 23 miles away. Although his Mama may of told him not to throw garbage off the bridge he was gonna jump off of.

[Tricky Grama]

We have this problem but to a lesser degree than you. The .03 mi of FM going past our acreage is littered all the time. We pick up 4-5 huge bags or trash every few weeks.

I want to know who does this?!?!!? Do they live in filth & think everyone else should too? Is it just southerners?? Been to the U.P. of Michigan & saw NO trash along the roads or off roads. No trash crews cleaning up either. Grew up in the middle of KS & there isn't a trash problem there. Been to upstate NY & there's no trash in the creeks, lakes, or along the roads. But as soon as we drove into TX- here's the trash!!

Patty

[TxGypsy]

Originally Posted by Ravenlost

Any other suggestions? This is making our dogs sick eating this rotten stuff (espeically the dog that is allergic to poultry), it's unsightly and disgusting and I don't want it on my property!

You might try keeping your dogs up. It's really the best thing to do for their safety.

Several of the above suggestions are good ones. Some localities have clean stream acts which may or may not help you. Beware that some gov official just might fine you for cleaning up the creek if it is within your property boundaries. I've always found that frequent target practice tends to discourage folks from hanging around. Local people know who has guns and who are willing to use them and generally don't mess with their property. More than likely it is local people doing the dumping. Be aggressive about patrolling your property and if you see any cars pulled over on the side of the road around your place pull over and write down their plates. People looking to do things that are illegal generally don't want to get caught at it. They'll go somewhere else where they aren't as likely to get caught.

[patnewmex]

I'm assuming if your dogs are getting these dumped carcasses (sp?) the bridge is on your property. If not, why are your dogs allowed off your property? Just a simple question to keep your dogs safe. Our neighbors dog was hit by a car today and they are devastated.

I totally love dogs and hate garbage dumpers, don't get me wrong. Here in New Mexico, in the remotest possiblel places in the mountains and far, far out in the desert, you will find signs that man has been there by the garbage. You name it, major appliances, mattresses, bedsprings, cars, all far, far out. I feel like suing the Budweiser people for making such cheap beer. Those are the brand you find 98% of the time. I pick up LOTS of trash every day.

We used to see this kind of thing when hot air ballooning. Amazing how far out in the desert you see this stuff. Just makes me SO ILL!

How about hooking up a camera (that isn't really even hooked up) that is OBVIOUS and in plain sight. Then the $10,000 sign and all that.

People hate being on candid dumpster camera! (they could be the dumpster diva of the day.)

[mightybooboo]

Not to play light of your serious problem,but this came to mind
---------------------------------------------------------------------
But when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
get in the newspaper story about it.

And they was using up all kinds of
cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.

They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us.

Took pictures of the approach,
the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to
mention the aerial photography........

BooBoo

[fishhead]

This might be a story the local paper would be interested in printing.

Also, if you do happen to get photos post them on the web anywhere and everywhere.

If I were to catch someone doing that and could locate their home I would take a 5 gallon pail of broken glass and sprinkle it all over their yard and driveway but that's just me.

I HATE pigs especially the ones that litter in streams.

[Ravenlost]

We love our dogs and they can't access the road from the bridge, nor do they leave our property. The creek is very deep and steep and can't be accessed from the bridge which is on a public road. We own 96 acres and our north property line runs down the middle of the creek. The road is our east property line and our house is a half mile off the road in the southwest corner of the property. It can be very difficult to monitor activity down on the road from the house (although I did get hubby some good binoculars for Christmas last year). Whenever I do see a car stopped on the road, or the dogs are looking toward the road and barking, I go investigate. If I don't get anywhere with the sheriff's dept. and county commissioner I will see if my BIL will let us borrow his deer camera.

This isn't a question of our dogs roaming the countryside or getting on the road. It's a problem of other people dumping their garbage on our property which is harmful to our dogs and property.

LOL...BooBoo...I sure hope Arlo didn't do it. I've met him and he seems like a really nice feller.

[texican]

Originally Posted by patnewmex

How about hooking up a camera (that isn't really even hooked up) that is OBVIOUS and in plain sight. Then the $10,000 sign and all that.

People hate being on candid dumpster camera! (they could be the dumpster diva of the day.)

Wanna lose a camera? Post that there's a camera, AND leave it in plain sight....

WRONG... either post, and hide the camera, or have a Fake Camera... or don't post, and hide the camera...

cause pretty much a yahoo that'll dump on ya, will also steal a camera costing several hundred...

[Ravenlost]

I just contacted our Solid Waste Regional Manager via email and have a long list of numbers to call tomorrow. I do think I'll get in touch with our newspaper and may even put a notice in the paper that anyone caught dumping off the bridge will be prosecuted to the full extent.

That was my big concern about putting up a camera...it'll get stolen. Heck, one of the times I called the deputy out here was because I caught a fellow shoveling up the gravel in our driveway down at the road one Sunday morning. They got him too (hard to flee the scene of the crime with a pick-up truck loaded down with gravel).

[MyHomesteadName]

I like the ideas of target practice, broken glass in the yard, dumping on THEIR property and calling the paper.

I HATE people who dump....its just pathetic, irresponsible, and unnecessary.

I live in NM and its TERRIBLE here. Like the above post said, you can go WAY into the desert and still see stuff. It makes my blood boil and sad at the same time. Bunch of losers.

[12vman]

Around here its tires and appliances.. (Fridges, washer/driers, ect.) If I feel ornery, I'll drag 'um out in the middle of the road and call the cops. They get rid of 'um.. LOL

If I'm lucky enough to catch them in the act, I get out my knife and slit me a couple of sidewalls of the tires on the losers vehicle.. (Who carries 2 spares?) Redneck party time.. LOL

Could you get the county to put a fence across the creek to stop the stuff from floating down to your place? Hay.. It's a thought..

[SteveD(TX)]

Originally Posted by mightybooboo

Not to play light of your serious problem,but this came to mind
---------------------------------------------------------------------
But when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
get in the newspaper story about it.

And they was using up all kinds of
cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.

They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
they took twenty seven eight-by-ten colour glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us.

Took pictures of the approach,
the getaway, the northwest corner the southwest corner and that's not to
mention the aerial photography........

BooBoo

..... After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your
wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my
wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I
said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?"
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the
toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took
out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars roll out the - roll the
toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie
was making sure .....

[Old Vet]

In Arkansas the State Forestry Commision investigates dumpa in woodland. Your state may also have the same law. They have the time to investigate it to the fulest. If there are any old apliances there they will have a serinial number on them and the owner can be found. A couple of times to pay for the cleanup will stop them. Another thing that can be found out is if they have some mail in them with their adress on them.