Human Nature (a neighbor thread).

[seedspreader]

So how do you respond to a "we're a gonna" question??? LOL.

[Jan Doling]

The Fantastics "borrowed" the phrase from a master poet:
"Mending Wall,” by Robert Frost.

My neighbor finished my home for me so the children and I could appeal to the judge to let us stay there rather than have to sell and give their father half the proceeds, which he intended to take and flee the country so he wouldn't have to pay child support. It took me two years to pay his last bill....but I paid it with interest when I sold my previous place.

Meanwhile, his wife (she professes to be Christian) and grown kids decided I must have been paying him in services...and the wife even came to my house to yell at me for accepting a lift from him when my car broke down (we live in the middle of nowhere). Did I mention he is 76 years old?!!!! He's a terrific Texan...his wife watches way too many videos...I swear I have done nothing to cause her craziness.

I value my privacy to the extreme and hate it when anyone tresspasses on my land. Any one trying to use my drive for their convenience would find Keep Out signs posted under their nose.

[fantasymaker]

CORNHUSKER has a good point ,folks that I couldnt stand when I lived in town are great people now that they live"2 miles away to 30 miles away"!
If you dont want to deal with neighbors close why would you move into someplace with neighbors close?

[amwitched]

Originally Posted by beorning

My dogs would have a field day if a spider monkey got in the house. One fo their favorite toys has been a stuffed monkey with long dangly arms. A real monkey would probably be messier when they ripped it apart.

That brings back the memory of one of my dog's favorite toys. It's name was "Monkey with no face". She had pulled off the nose and one of the eyes the first day that she got it. Eventually she tore through the back of it's head and pulled the stuffing out. I, in turn, would get down on the floor and put the stuffing back in while she was nudging my hand to get the stuffing out again. We sure did have lots of fun with that game.

[chickenista]

This is a story from a long time ago...My family had bought a house in a town 20 miles away. (mid 80's this was) It was a long thin property with a short drive by the house that led to the garage off the house. Anyway..crazy lady whose house was so far off to the side and behind us we couldn't even see her, cut trees and bulldozed a road that was an extension of our drive all the way to her backdoor. Even gravelled it, if I remember correctly. Reason: she didn't want to put trash cans in front of her house, now cans can sit by backdoor. Big road now 20 ft from house. Father put up big wooden fence and she sued us. Her plat from the ice age showed a road there..big stink, we won. But what an exciting few months those were. I will never forget the expression on parents' faces when we pulled in and saw new road. I wish I could download from brain to you all.

[DixyDoodle]

when we lived in town, our nieghbors had spider monkeys.

spider monkeys can open sliding glass doors....

They would do it once at my house. You know, I would just invite the neighbours over for dinner sometime, but I would be sure to keep the monkey tail hidden under the stewpot for friendship's sake.

Well, some of you guys here are lucky. At least your neighbours ask before doing things, particularly when you've just moved in. When we moved here, we had a big long driveway that passed our house and went right into the back woods (which we own). No fence or gate there.

Within the first day, we had a good 3 or 4 ATVs rip through there. No hi, how are ya? No, hey do you mind if I tear up your property with my ATV, nothing. So we put up a fence with a farm gate, and a NO TRESPASSING sign.

Fast forward to a week later, more ATV's. They stop and actually undo the wrapped chain from the gate and begin to continue on. This is when Dixy the privacy lover walks out in full "B" mode. LOL "What the heck you doing?" (nice version printed here. ) "Oh, sorry, I guess we should have asked first." DO YA THINK? Just what part of No Trespassing do people not understand? ARGH! Are people really that dense?

Anyhow, the gate is now locked and I guess word has gotten around. Not too many trespassers anymore. Actually, it was only a few people, mostly those with McMansions and little plots with nowhere to ride their monster vehicles. They got the message pretty quickly. It's not like we're unfriendly people per se, but honestly, have some respect for your neighbours. We are quick to help our neighbours out if they are in a bind, but it doesn't mean we're gonna fund their cross country events either.

Moral of the story: if you want to use big land, BUY YOUR OWN! I don't pay a mortgage and taxes to fund YOUR playtime.

DD

[jerzeygurl]

Originally Posted by beorning

My dogs would have a field day if a spider monkey got in the house. One fo their favorite toys has been a stuffed monkey with long dangly arms. A real monkey would probably be messier when they ripped it apart.

I'm going to go lock my sliding door now.

according to nieghbor this monkey had been babysat( owners drove over the road) by someone that gave it drugs at one point and was prone to flash backs( i am not kidding that is what she said) and if i saw it out to do not have anything to do with it.

it could jump up and grab on to the door handle, and kick the frame with its back feet....


they are nasty i wont even begin to tell you....

[KimM]

Originally Posted by ZealYouthGuy

So how do you respond to a "we're a gonna" question??? LOL.

"Like he11 you will!" (while at low-ready) But that's me.

[dosthouhavemilk]

We have 44 or so fencline neighbors...That is if you don't count the Retirement home that just went up...Our farm is within the town limits...you drive up a residential street and you hit a farm...
As dad has said...43 of those are gems...it's that one that makes life so difficult..lol. Go figure it is one of three farms neighboring us.
Our family has been here over half a century and most of the neighbors families have as well.
We are neighborly and so "we agonna" doesn't happen here much. If it does it is usually preceeded by a "Reckon we can?"
Give and take relationship.

[jerzeygurl]

the worst we have now is ALL the dogs, mostly lab crosses,

once there was a beagle that chased the donkeys through the fences every day, apparantly too small for them to stomp

told the owner and he said do what you have to do....

[pancho]

Originally Posted by beorning

My dogs would have a field day if a spider monkey got in the house. One fo their favorite toys has been a stuffed monkey with long dangly arms. A real monkey would probably be messier when they ripped it apart.

I'm going to go lock my sliding door now.

If it ever happens that you are faced with a monkey and your dogs please take a little advice. Immediately pick up your dogs. A monkey can quickly damage a dog, no matter what the size difference is.
At one time dog/monkey fights were very popular. The monkey would win many times and this was against a conditioned fighting dog.

[PineRidge]

I am lucky, my neighbors are nice. All three of them have permission to hunt our land, and the one neighbors teenage son sometimes asks to ride his four wheeler here. Two of them keep to themselves, but are friendly when we talk, the couple across the street keeps an eye on our house when we visit family.

Just last week we had a real estate agent take a couple up to our field to look around, and for some unknown reason she decided to take her 2 wheel drive car down a muddy logging trail When dh realized his truck wouldn't get the car out he called our neighbors. Within ten minutes we had a heck of a redneck rodeo back in the woods. I lost count of how many four wheelers went back, and several trucks, and a guy on a tractor.

Good neighbors can be the best thing about living somewhere.

[RoseGarden]

Hey Fanstasymaker, we are not *all* as bounteously blessed as you are to live in such a rural area. Mine used to be much more rural, but oh tragic, people do move in.

I meant to say 'survey' when I said 'plat'. Most surveys of properties do indeed show fence lines that are present. In my particular case, the fence that is his was present long before I fenced my property. In other words, it ain't my problem. When a person buys a piece of land, he should be aware of what is and isn't his.

[fantasymaker]

Originally Posted by RoseGarden

Hey Fanstasymaker, we are not *all* as bounteously blessed as you are to live in such a rural area. Mine used to be much more rural, but oh tragic, people do move in.

I meant to say 'survey' when I said 'plat'. Most surveys of properties do indeed show fence lines that are present. In my particular case, the fence that is his was present long before I fenced my property. In other words, it ain't my problem. When a person buys a piece of land, he should be aware of what is and isn't his.

LOL I surely agree with ya!

Heres my question for you and it comes from my background in surveying and land law. What sort of survey,plat ,map etc do you have that shows who owns the fences? Ownership usually isnt indicated just location.
Now get ready for the shocker In IL and many other states you are responcable to build and maintain the fences in some mannor, here its the right half between you and the neighbor as you look at each line from your side. It doesnt matter if you have stock or not or if they do or not its just your responceability.
This law is ignored a lot but its on the books and enforceable....somtimes

What are the fence laws where you are at?

[Wisconsin Ann]

When we moved into our current residence, 1890s victorian 2 story in a town south of a small city, we did a pre-emtive strike. Put up a 6ft chain link fence around the property. Bought 2 dogs. That pretty much stopped the neighbors kids from playing catch/football on our huge yard. Stopped the other neighbor from running his dog on our property to "do his duty", as they say. Never had a confrontation with anyone....we just put up the fence and smiled a lot.

that was 10 years ago. Only complaint we have about neighbors here is the demolishin derby cars they run all night long when it's the season. THAT little problem will be solved soon. We're moving this summer out to the place we bought last fall. (12 acres of quiet that is bordered by 60 acres of hunting land, 40+ acres of 5 year old Black walnut timber stand, and 360 acres of dairy farm ).
the one guy we might see once in a while is a former chairman of the town board, and he's REAL anxious to keep the area quiet. He's already advocated for us about a couple of things. Figure he'll be one of the "keepers".

[Wisconsin Ann]

Originally Posted by fantasymaker

What sort of survey,plat ,map etc do you have that shows who owns the fences?

What are the fence laws where you are at?

In our area (i know this was asked of Rosegarden, but we have some similarities it appears) the city fathers enacted some really restrictive stuff. Can't put in a hedge within 5 feet of the property line without permission.(even if it's a rose hedge surrounding part of your garden) Can't put up a fence of any sort without permission. If you happen to get permission, (and permission from the neighbors) the fence has to be set back a minimum of 3 feet from your property line. The good looking side of the fence has to face the neighbor. If it's a chainlink, you can put it right ON the property line IF you get written permission from all the neighbors and the city.

Anytime a property is sold in this town, the property description MUST include any and all fences, hedges, etc. Those descriptions are then put into some city database. this includes the property that's considered 'rural' in the hmm..township, I think they say.

heheheee...One of the neighbors here (up the street) BIG house, not so big yard, decided he wanted an inground pool. Now he'd been living here all his life. Knows everyone. (He's 60 or so) He knew they wouldn't give him a building permit for a pool, so he started digging the pool FIRST...got to the point where he had to install the water and THEN asked for a permit when the plumber dude asked if he had one. Played dumb. At that point all they could do was tell him to fence it real good, and have a nice day.

[fantasymaker]

some places they would fix it back for him...sad just sad

[Lizza]

Originally Posted by Wisconsin Ann

heheheee...One of the neighbors here (up the street) BIG house, not so big yard, decided he wanted an inground pool. Now he'd been living here all his life. Knows everyone. (He's 60 or so) He knew they wouldn't give him a building permit for a pool, so he started digging the pool FIRST...got to the point where he had to install the water and THEN asked for a permit when the plumber dude asked if he had one. Played dumb. At that point all they could do was tell him to fence it real good, and have a nice day.

Wow, our county would have made him fill it back in and then come back out to check that he had done it. Probably would have sent a letter telling him he only had "x" amount of days or he would start getting a fine, per day (I got one such letter and we had 30 days and it would have been $1,000 a day if we hadn't complied)

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by anniew

Fences make good neighbors (That's a line from the Fantastiks)...in most cases.

“Good fences make good neighbours.” said Robert Frost's poetic neighbor's father in Mending Wall http://www.bartleby.com/118/2.html

[Dianol]

Originally Posted by PinkBat

The weirdest neighbor request we ever had was from the guy who had just purchased a brand new, very expensive tractor. He asked to borrow our tractor ( a couple of years old and not as fancy as his) because he was afraid that the task he needed a tractor for might damage his new one. LOL

I hate the response "Huh?", but I used it that day. I just couldn't believe the guy's request.

And what's terribly frustrating about stories like these is that the "idiot" doesn't understand what's wrong with his request. He thinks it makes perfect sense, and probably still doesn't know why you said no.


d