Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Strays

I live in the country and own 40+ acres and two ponds. I just had to do something for the second time this year that rips my soul out. I had to put down a stray. This time it was a young cat. It wouldn't go away and my two dogs would have none of her being here. People must think that us country folk have herds of dogs and cats and want even more. If that isn't bad enough, they throw their garbage out on our properties too! Old carpet, mattresses, etc. Sorry for the rant, but I'm going on every forum I belong to with this message. If I catch you, your azz is mine!

I feel for ya. Cats are the worst predators of small mammals and birds out there.

I have the same problem with trash. Just get it picked up and someone throws more crap out of the car as they're driving along. Last one was a whole rib dinner, minus the meat and sides. Contaniner, bones, napkins, etc.

Tires are the thing that drives me insane. Gota pay to dispose of others tires... at least you can scrap or burn the other garbage.

Both my neighbors have cats that have breeded to insane #'s.. I have no problem getting rid of them, they've learned to stay away in the daylight hours..

Okie Bob, that's tough, but sometimes that's the only answer.
Semi-Thread Highjack Alert!!!
I've got a similar problem: When I moved here in Jan, I brought my cat that someone had dumped on the side of the road. Well, some wild neighborhood 'female of loose morals cat' wandered in and next thing you know I've got 7 cat's (the 5 babies are 4 girls and a boy). It just gets better, because the local 'female of loose morals cat' is pregnant again and will be popping those babies out w/in 4-5 days. My cat, "not-so-lucky" and I are going to the vet tomorrow for a little nip job. The local animal shelter will take the 5 that are about 2 months old (with a donation), if I can catch them.

That happened to me and they had their name (neighbor) on their trash. I picked it up, added a polite note to it, and attached the sack to their mailbox.

That has stopped it thus far!

Oh, don't get me started with neighbors.

House next door was sold in March. 2nd day after they moved in, a buddy and I were in the back of my property looking for Morels. There were 4-wheeler tracks all over the place, the food plot was rutted up, etc. Then I hear ATV's. Yep, the new neighbors. "But we were told that our property went 100 Yds past that green area." I politely told them what the green area was, and where the property lines were. I saw my old neighbor a week later, and he heard about what happened. He said he told them where the property lines were, and I believe him. I'm going to put "T" posts every 50 Yds and paint then Orange. If that doesn't work, then I'll end up putting up a 400 Yd long fence.

They also were driving down the rifle range at the far end....

They're burning trash, and I've found exploded aerosol cans in my pond and in the yard. Bunch of trash blows off the burn pile and into the yard.

They tore off the back porch (roofing shingles, vinyl siding and all) and lit it on fire, during a burn ban. A friend called the sheriff, and when nobody showed up after 20 minutes AND their siding started melting off one of their outbuildings, I called the fire dept. The fire was about 25' high and probably 30' in diameter and creeping towards the woods. When the siding started melting, they grabbed a garden hose, but the fire was so hot they couldn't stand close enough to the fire to get water to it.

They got talked to about burning trash then. Trash burning continued, so I ended up stopping at the county health dept. (burning trash is illegal) He said he would pay them a visit. That was going on 2 weeks ago. They still haven't gotten a garbage service, and haven't picked up the burned pile of trash. They were also filling in a hole in the woods with stuff. I'm stopping by the county health dept again this week.........

We're on wells here and my concern is contaminated water AND the woods getting set on fire.

On top of that, we were talking at the fence line ( I have one that's about 75 yds long - basically a cattle fence) and their dog was there. I put my hand down for the dog to sniff and he lunged thru the fence and took a piece out of my index finger on my right hand....... @#!!$&%*!!!!!!

Unfortunately there's no cure for inbreeding OR
stupid, but if you want a little help in eradicating pests, I can bring up the Glock and Model 70 Winchester...

Wow! Full range of emotions reading these posts - from anger to sadness to a real sense of hopelessness knowing we share this Earth with such poor specimens. One bad apple can sure make a heckuva negative impact. I can't say I'd possess the same measure of control, Scott - good for you. I feel fortunate to have neighbors whose only transgression is aiming their ranges at my property and I hear a whizzz every now and again. One friendly but firm discussion with the neighbor and it's typically been resolved. Crazy how city folk who move 5 miles out of town think it's the open range and shoot anywhere they want often...but again these problems are nothing like the others posted here.

Well known that dogs often adopt the tendencies/ personalities of their owner.





Apparently the same is true of cats.

I wish I could come up with a snappy response, TJ, but alas, I think you're on to something.

Are you headed to conference? Is it too early to start making dinner/drinking plans?

I'll be there. Never too early for that!!!

Okie Bob,

Sorry to hear about your issues, sadly it is getting more common. Vigilance is the only thing that keeps my trash problems under control, luckily most of these folks aren't too smart and often leave something behind with a name and address, etc. I would suggest calling the authorities and at least get it documented, pictures are a good idea too. I used to have a good state trooper that helped me out with these but he retired and I've had several others come out and all have been too lazy to do anything. On the last one that I found information and ended up calling the guy to verify he still lived at his address and called the cops, they still did nothing. I then rode to the guys house, (lives in a city of 100,000+) with the trash and dumped it in his yard in broad daylight. I don't think he will be back but I don't know if I'll do that again as it might be a good way to get shot. In the end he didn't stop me from throwing it in his yard but we were both furious and it nearly got out of control. Another thing that helps is as soon as it gets dumped I pick it up, leaving it out just attracts more.

Someone just dropped me off a TV, tires, entertainment center, and computer monitor this past Tuesday night. I've spent $140 bucks over the last couple years on disposal fees for the "smarter" ones that leave no clues.I have also caught people in the act, had people chew me out for catching them and pressing for charges/fines, several stray stories, ATV and neighbor issues but I'll save those tales for a later time. Good luck.

Bryan

Why don't I have any PBF members for neighbors?

I think this site draws people that want to be good stewards of the land. Not just for raising quality fish, but because it's the right thing to do.

I feel for you guys. The worst of my problems is the back neighbor that seems to think it's no big deal for his dog to roam the neighborhood. I chewed him out and he acted like he was going to mend his ways, and it wasn't so. I've told him I don't know what my 120 pound Akita will do to his lap dog if she jumps off the deck. 120 vs. 12 pounds? Considering what I saw her do to a muskrat I wouldn't want to be that dog.

Apparently he doesn't care as the dog's been down by the highway several times. Just a matter of time before it gets hit like the last one he had.

I thought it would be neat if I nailed it with a paintball and left a bright red paint spot, but then if by some chance my dog ever gets loose I won't have any high ground to stand on. She's always on a hand held lease or on the deck but things happen.

I'm in the process of completely fencing in the back yard (about an acre). Then I don't have to deal with it. Of course I think the dog will become dog meat on the highway before that.

I did have a brand new pickup truck stop in front of my driveway once, and not only did the woman passenger empty the ashtray but proceed to clean the front of the vehicle out. Fortunately for them I was not fast enough to get down there.

We once got some new neighbors who had never lived outside of cities. The guy had no respect for property boundaries, and certainly not for his dog. When the neighbor first moved in he set up a target range behind his house. I went into my barn one day, and the south facing wall was perforated. We had some less than friendly words. His dog, actually a very nice malmute, was always at my place. I started tying the dog up and calling him at all hours of the day and night, telling him that I rescued his runaway dog. I finally got really fed up and called the animal control people. I told them I didn't know whose dog it was -- no tags, no nothing. It cost him a bundle to spring the dog, after shots, licenses, etc. Anyway, within a few days he put in an invisible fence. That was at the height of one of the real estate booms. His place went up for sale, and they were gone a few weeks later.

But strays can make pretty good pets. We've got two stray cats and a rescue dog. They are the friendliest and happiest critters you've ever seen. Still, it is hard to believe what people do to their animals. As for dumping -- that is real bad around here. A few years back a guy who was supposed to be cremating animals dumped several hundred, many with IV needles in them, on property near us.

I sometimes haul "stray" dogs 70 miles home with me and turn them over to the SPCA.

I've shot my share of them and really, really hate doing it. One neighbor has a pack of 3 to 6 or more dogs that have run the area for years. They sometimes chase calves. I once found one of them chasing one of my horses. I've talked to the neighbor to no avail. Every Rancher in the area is shooting the guys dogs when they trespass. However, he just kept getting more. And then, one of the local guys gave him an old fashioned butt whuppin regarding one of his calves that got chased into barbed wire. Now, he usually keeps them tied.

We currently have a couple of beautiful almost white German Shepherds roaming the area. They have red collars. I asked a neighbor who they belonged to and nobody seems to know. He did tell me that they had bitten several people and to be careful. Great, just great! Now I go armed on my own land.

Strays are a problem. The local lake had a couple of rental cottages at the marina. People would rent them for the summer, buy their kids a dog, and leave the dog when they went back home at the end of the summer.

One year I was walking with my buddy, quail hunting. I heard one shot and yelled over to him if he needed help finding the bird. He said no, but you need to get over here. He looked like hell when I got to him.

Long story short, he ended up having a raggedy German Shepard growling and walking towards him. A load of #8 shot ended the problem. It turned out that the dog was living on it's own for the past few months after getting turned loose when the people left for home.

My neighbor's lab was found 1.5 miles away on the highway, dead. I told him about the dog running around last Fall, when I had coyote snares out behind the house. His reply was that if the dog got into one, that was the dog's fault.

Now they have a coonhound that roams around.......

I have lived on my 40 acres for 38 years and have experienced almost every problem mentioned here and more. It goes with the territory I guess.

I try to get along with everyone of my neighbors. I gritt my teeth sometimes. I have a cow farm across the road and they used to have 3 or 4 dogs that just run. The one got into it with my dog on my property and my dog ended up getting stiches. They were nice enough to pay the vet bill but I wasn't happy. That dog didn't live long. It got hit on the road. I have underground wire fence and my dogs do good about staying in the fence. But it doesn't keep out the strays. I took one to the pound last year that was very friendly but it was full of ticks. I too get upset seeing people letting their dogs run wild.