Neighbors, City vs Country

A lot of people who move to these rural areas seem completely ignorant of nature. They can't understand that leaving out garbage bags and dog food will attract animals. It is one thing if a racoon tears up your garbage, it is quite another when a bear does.

My DH's cousin was very put out when the animal control in his rural,lakeside community suggested that he keep his garbage inside or get a bear proof garbage container, when he spotted bears around his property. He didn't follow the suggestions and ended up having to replace his back stairs after a big old bear sat on, and broke them while he was snacking on the unsecured garbage from dinner.lol

I live on the fringe of a major urban area, less then 2 minutes to town. I have five acres of forested land buffering my house from the road, a four lane highway.

I have no neighbours within a half mile or so, except for an industrial complex accross the road. This complex is very nice, shipping for Tositos and other major companies. All in all a very nice area, truly rural with every convinience of city living.

The other day I had a brush fire to burn the shake from splitting my firewood. Someone driving by saw the smoke and called the fire department. They resonded with two trucks, eight firefighters and two police cars. They put out the raging inferno by shoveling snow on it.

Then I was told I can no longer burn in my area. The city has extended the "Urban limit" and even though my property is zoned Agricultural I am now considered "Urban." Next time they respond I have to pay a $500 response fee, plus $175 an hour after the first hour.

I think it's time to sell my land to a developer and move farther out.

Pete

Pete, where are you in Ontario?

Although I live in a rural designated municipality far removed from any big city, we require a township burning permit. Many don't bother, but it's at their risk. I like to burn before the April permit requriement, if the snow is off the ground. It's safer in my area, as the grass abuts beaver swamp and ponds.
If a fire did get out of hand, the MNR and local fire response team would arrive on the scene similar to what you describe and cost big money.
Seems it's a bit more lenient here, but can't completely get away from a list of regulations from one source or another.

__________________
The human spirit needs places where nature has not been rearranged by the hand of man.

Had a new neighbor pull alot of this crap on us. My family has owned this land for five generations. This guy decides that since he is retired he can move back down here from chicago. Nothing worse than a city boy except one that was born country and transplanted at a early age and then comes back at an older age.

We have raised roosters here almost a hundred years. I had one forty acre field with about three hundred on it. So I decide to sell some of my property. City guy stops and we talk. He knew my dad in school way back before his transplant to chicago. He wants the parcel right next to the roosters. Its thirty one acres all wooded with a creek. I sold it to him. Instead of getting on the other side or even in the middle etc he parks a "yankee retirement condo" single wide with all the typical accutriments. All within about twenty feet of the fence separating the chickens from his property. I caught him in the act and explained the noise etc etc he would have to listen to. Oh he loves chickens and remembers with cherish the sounds of a rooster crowing at dawn as a child on the farm. Everything gets set up and he moves in. Within a week he called me and asked if there was anything I could do about the crowing lol. Seems he forgot roosters have a habit of crowing at ''false dawn'' as we call it or roughly 230 300 am. ANyone that has ever heard that many roosters crowing at 3 am will let you know their is no sound like it. He threatens legal action. I offer his money back. I offered for me and my boys to relocate his mobile home somewhere else on his property with trees etc to buffer the sound all for free. He refuses

I had a 4 ft chainlink fence with electric at top and bottom and all of a sudden dogs are popping up in my fowl. A dozen or so mauled to death at 200 a pop gets discouraging really quick.

I caught him on tape dropping two dogs over the fence. I sue him and get 4500 off his homeowners. I finally decided to sell that land as well so I move the roosters. He thinks he won. I sold it to a poultry producer. There are now five commercial poultry raising houses on it. Now instead of a few crows he gets the smell of the sweet summer breeze with feces off of a few thousand chickens all the time lol. On the opposite side of him I have six acres with a hog parlor on it. I offered to buy it back from him but he isnt budging so far. I have nothing but time and in a few short years when assumes room temp his citified kids wont have any part of it and I will buy it back and by the then the broiler houses will be out of date and I wont have to smell them and if possible I will buy that back as well.

Lesson learned. Never sell several parcels of land and live close by. At least once a week I have a owner calling complaining about their neighbor. Its not my issue its theirs but they expect me to go over and chastise other owners. If I could I would buy it all back and sell as one big chunk to one person.

I Had a burn permit.

They told me it was issued "in error" and that I would not be getting another one. My property is the last property inside the urban limit.

I live just outside of Hamilton, Ontario

Pete

The city people moving to the country aren't looking to get out of their prison cells, they just want a picture window installed!

DrippingSprings, sounds like you're having entirely too much fun at his expense. :haha:

I've already decided that if the chronic complaining doesn't end, I'm gonna take the field out front by the road and turn it into a hog farm. Let him have a load of that smell instead of the sight of a few parked cars on a full time basis.

Oh yea, when he griped to the county about the half dozen roosters crowing at all hours of the night, I picked up a dozen more roosters from a neighbor, so now there's a bigger chorus. I plan on keeping each and every cockerel that hatches out of this first 2005 incubator load, and add them to the spare roo population.

You would think this guy would learn, every time he complains about something, I make it worst just for his benefit. :haha:

Bob

__________________
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
George W. Bush 8/5/2004
source: White House Web Site

LOL, my neighbor to the side complains because the neighbor behind him spreads chicken manure on his field. I still wonder why these folks moved out here. We do now have plans for where our coop and hog pen will go. My cure for his complaining is to avoid him.

I think that chickens and hogs have long been used to "buffer" or for revenge. There was the couple in Alabama who owned a good bit of land and had a beautiful mansion built. Well they got divorced. She got the house and he got the land. Now, sitting in front of that beautiful mansion are two commercial chicken houses. I don't think that was the only place on the land that he could have put those chicken houses...

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Everything works, if you let it.

I would much rather have chicken manure used for fertilizer than the harsh chemical fertilizers, unless the manure were from commercial poultry growers. Wouldn't want that extra arsenic in my groundwater.

I don't avoid this guy. It may make him feel better to rant, but it doesn't accomplish a thing. More often than not, it keeps me amused.

He's upset now that his lawn died. The cold weather had stunted the growth. He spread fertilizer, expecting it to rain a lot and wash it in. Well it barely rained, and the fertilizer killed his lawn! :haha:

Bob

__________________
"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we."
George W. Bush 8/5/2004
source: White House Web Site