Neighbour protocol/ tree problem.

[newhome]

15 minutes ago, ProDave said:

I too have not had any experience of anti English issues up here. I did however meet a (English) family who had moved here from the Borders where they said they were hounded out by the Anti English sentiment.  I guess the Borders covers a large area.

 

I guess there are just some communities that can’t accept anyone who is ‘not like them’. And by that I mean born within a few miles so ‘not from round here’. The Borders tends to be a very mixed community with many English living here, unsurprisingly given its proximity to England. I think the villages are often the worst though. Some seem to be stuck in a time warp and with most villages having little building compared to towns it encourages insularity and intolerance. 

[Onoff]

17 minutes ago, newhome said:

 

I guess there are just some communities that can’t accept anyone who is ‘not like them’. And by that I mean born within a few miles so ‘not from round here’. The Borders tends to be a very mixed community with many English living here, unsurprisingly given its proximity to England. I think the villages are often the worst though. Some seem to be stuck in a time warp and with most villages having little building compared to towns it encourages insularity and intolerance. 

 

Yarp! 

[newhome]

1 minute ago, Onoff said:

 

Yarp! 

 

You in insular land up in Bidonville still, or do the horse owning incomers outnumber you now? 

[Onoff]

1 minute ago, newhome said:

 

You in insular land up in Bidonville still, or do the horse owning incomers outnumber you now? 

 

[newhome]

Well at least in the event of an accident you would still have 5 

[zoothorn]

Just had a MAJOR bust up with her.. I hear them calling in their cat/ deliberately close to me.. s'thing's up I think.. & the damn thing bounds right down & across my garden & I hit the roof. Deliberate provocation. I'm getting this on TWO sides, these two & this sod man with his dog (unsuccessfully now- I warded it off with a rake so thinks twice now) the other side. In leagues with each other/ friends as they are. Pathetic.

 

CSPO officer is coming round in a bit. Prob give me a bllking for launching stones at the cat.. but my call, & a 2nd call to him after her abuse before. Maybe I can get this provocation to stop.

 

 

[Nickfromwales]

This makes my blood boil. 

Give me £25 and 8 Ace, mark all the trees you don't like / want with fluorescent paint, go out for the afternoon and I promise you they'll be gone by the time you get back. 

 

Next....

When arse-face next door next throws a ball into your garden for his 4-legged shitting machine, bolt out of the door the same time and simply throw a succulent pork chop directiy in front of it, whilst smiling and waving. 

An hour later when said 4-legged item is tucked up back indoors wait for the fun to start, as they then realise the pork chop was injected full of max strength doggy laxative  

A neighbours bull terrier thing used to trample through an OAPs well kept garden and come into my neighbours garden. It would then start growling at my kids, and me, when I went out to see what was upsetting my kids. After shouting at it, it stood its ground and stared me out.

Ok, no problem. 

I got the water-filled jack ball from my kids bowling set and it found the dogs snout like it was laser guided. All I have to do now is look at the dog and it legs it, so, FYI, your neighbours dog can be trained.

Im not endorsing animal cruelty, but mine and my family's life will never be compromised by an animal, especially if I didn't own it Growl at my kids.....prepare to die. Simples.  

 

If you want some help cutting the trees give me a shout. . 

 

Oh, and yes to a real-time video and audio camera. And yes to calling the police. They get very pissed off when they have to attend the same imbeciles time after time. Any time you feel threatened or intimidated you just walk away and ring them. Do not retaliate as you must keep the higher ground. 

Unfortunately I prefer the direct route, ( recently had a similar issue ), but as this was a she not a he, the pen had to be mightier than the sword. Bloody effective too I might add, with the situation going from stark raving lunatic to silent in less than 48 hours. Not a peep since .     

[Jeremy Harris]

One way to dissuade cats is to hook up a water sprinkler on the area where the thing crosses, hooked up to a solenoid valve powered by a passive infra red sensor.  I made a gizmo like this to stop cats using our gravel drive as a toilet, and it worked very well (until I forgot to turn it off one morning and it soaked the postman...).

[zoothorn]

Had to call police last night.. sods provocatively loudly calling cats over my garden > things bound across & I see/ angry & it all kicked off/ to & fro of words & anger. 2nd time Ive been onto 101/ CPO (minor police stuff) re. her. They called police them same time. But as Id called before, 2nd time now then.. the CPO parked @ theirs/ 2 vists, with 1 to me between. I got a minor bllking re words, ok, but they got a shock the squad car & focus was on them, & all concilliatory apparantly "not our tree- he can cut" as well as some awful lies I'd said s'thing about his recently rip'd Ma (on contrary I offered my symapthies, gently at the time, now 3 months ago, & I've not mentioned her since.. why would I have?). CPO understood my pov I could tell thank goodness. But for gods sake: all this toxic atmos & vile hatred, ruined relations.. & they admit its not their tree. Utter childishness. Problem now tho.. they'll up the provocation re. cats & now visible all the time in front of my windows/ back area talking loudly etc. The CPO couldn't agree they were being provocative too: frustratingly.

 

Same shenanigans from another n'bor (friend of theirs- oh what a coincidence) opposite with a big heavy very out of control dog/ onto my property etc, mess & bins being launched about. ~65 yr olds these lot are. My 1st house this is. Pathetic childishness.

 

NOT welsh these 3.. english from up north, ganging up on the new southener guy on his own no less.

[newhome]

That all sounds pretty terrible. Just a point re the pets, dog owners are required to keep their dogs under control and are absolutely not allowed to let their dogs come onto your property. There are no laws that relate to cats though so they can come and go wherever. So you might have cause to complain about the provocation but not the fact that the cats are coming across your garden even if they are being encouraged to do so. TBH if you ignore that behaviour they’ll get bored of it, or better still rig up something like @JSHarris has suggested and then the cats will avoid coming across your garden without you even doing anything. Animals are straightforward and will avoid adversives. 

 

@JSHarris any chance you can add some details about how to make such a thing work please? 

 

And get some cameras on your property! 

[Ferdinand]

4 minutes ago, newhome said:

That all sounds pretty terrible. Just a point re the pets, dog owners are required to keep their dogs under control and are absolutely not allowed to let their dogs come onto your property. There are no laws that relate to cats though so they can come and go wherever. So you might have cause to complain about the provocation but not the fact that the cats are coming across your garden even if they are being encouraged to do so. TBH if you ignore that behaviour they’ll get bored of it, or better still rig up something like @JSHarris has suggested and then the cats will avoid coming across your garden without you even doing anything. Animals are straightforward and will avoid adversives. 

 

@JSHarris any chance you can add some details about how to make such a thing work please? 

 

And get some cameras on your property! 

 

If dogs are straying accidentally on purpose, then perhaps leaving the gate open sometimes may help.

[Jeremy Harris]

2 hours ago, newhome said:

@JSHarris any chance you can add some details about how to make such a thing work please? 

 

 

The gizmo I made was a bit Heath Robinson, and as such I'll give a note of caution.  Mains electricity and water are not a good mix at all, so I'd not copy what I did without being aware of the risk.

 

What I did was use what I had to hand, which was a spare passive infrared (PIR) outdoor light switch, set so that it would operate in daylight (just turn the light sensitivity to minimum).  This had an adjustable timer built in.  I used that to provide mains power to a solenoid water valve that had been salvaged from one we'd scrapped some years earlier.  The solenoid valve was connected inline with the water supply from the outside tap to the hose feeding the sprinkler, which was easy to do as the valve I used had a threaded fitting to accept a standard washing machine hose, and that hose also had a threaded fitting on the other end that screwed straight on to the outside tap.  The outlet side of the solenoid valve had a hose connection that took a normal size garden hose, with a jubilee clip to secure it.

 

The sensor was fitted to a post at the side of the drive, low down, so it would be triggered by the cat.  The cable from that ran to the solenoid valve, which I fitted inside a plastic box to protect the electrical connections.  The hose ran to a rotating garden sprinkler, set in the centre of the gravel drive.

 

With the tap turned on the sprinkler wouldn't operate, but when the PIR sensor was triggered, it then turned on the solenoid valve which turned on the water supply to the sprinkler.  |I had the time set to keep the sprinkler on for around 30 seconds, as that was more than enough to scare the cat away.

 

If doing it again, then I think I would opt to use 12 VDC, from a suitable isolated power supply, or perhaps a battery.  There are plenty of 12 VDC PIR sensors and 12 VDC water solenoid valves available cheaply on ebay, and a 12 VDC system wouldn't present any electric shock risk.

[zoothorn]

I really appreciate the help here, support if it can be called as such.. that's how I deem it: best of the www I don't hesitate to say that/ better help than my family by fathoms.

 

I will look into the sprinkler.. but its a long garden of 100+ yds (not bad for 125k eh? half of it "I bought by mistake" the seller didnt know hers let alone the estate agents, so overgrown/ wasteland so it was.. hence cats used to it as WC their whole lives) so not easy or cheap. chicken wire to usual to/ fro spots 1st thing: a days work alone, but maybe a precursor to my ferocious, savage...... WHIPPET who might now make an earlier appearance in my life (Wilbur he shall be called.. whoever he might be!). Now THAT's the tonic for cat problems.

 

But its not the cats.. its then owners of course.

[Hecateh]

1 hour ago, zoothorn said:

I really appreciate the help here, support if it can be called as such.. that's how I deem it: best of the www I don't hesitate to say that/ better help than my family by fathoms.

 

 

You're not the first and you won't be the last to say that or something similar.

 

First is the relief that you are not alone or going mad, that others have had similar and often worse problems

Second is the element of emotional support from people who understand

and

third is (or are) the practical suggestions and advice that can alleviate the situation

 

All often washed down with a dollop of (sometimes dubious) humour.

 

The commonest complaint from many of us is the regret we didn't find the site sooner.  

[newhome]

So maybe part of the issue is that the seller neither knew nor claimed that the extra ‘half’ was hers previously and now there you are, a newcomer wanting to stake claim on a bit of land that has been used by their cats for years. Chicken wire is cheap and cheerful although may not be cat proof. I’m not a cat person so not sure. We had sheep netting here for ages round the perimeter of the plot. Mostly to keep the dogs in. Worked well. So it should keep dogs out and really doesn’t take that long to put up. 

[jack]

15 minutes ago, newhome said:

Chicken wire is cheap and cheerful although may not be cat proof.  

 

Most dogs won't jump fences unless they're very low. Most cats, unless old or fat, will easily get over 6+ foot fences.

[newhome]

5 minutes ago, jack said:

 

Most dogs won't jump fences unless they're very low. Most cats, unless old or fat, will easily get over 6+ foot fences.

 

Even mesh type fence? I’ve seen them scale high wooden fences that they can grip onto but thought they might not fancy scaling a mesh fence. 

[Jeremy Harris]

I can vouch for the fact that an electric fence wire, set about 8" above ground level, and energised by an old motorcycle ignition coil, run from a 12V power supply and timing relay, will VERY effectively "dissuade" cats.  After the incident with the sprinkler and the postman, SWMBO was not impressed with the sprinkler system, so I rigged up a bare copper wire, fitted to short lengths of plastic conduit as stakes, around the edge of the drive.

 

The most impressive thing about this cat deterrent was that it gave satisfying feedback.  The first time the tom cat from next door tried to take his early morning dump on our drive after I'd fitted it, we were both woken by a very loud "yowl", presumably as his nose touched the wire at around 15,000 volts.

[jack]

15 minutes ago, newhome said:

Even mesh type fence? I’ve seen them scale high wooden fences that they can grip onto but thought they might not fancy scaling a mesh fence. 

 

Ours used to jump several feet from a standing start, with very little scrabbling. The mesh might discourage them, but I personally wouldn't rely on it.

[Ferdinand]

15 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

After the incident with the sprinkler and the postman...

 

That beats "It is a truth universally acknowledged.." into a cocked hat.

 

So tempting to sponsor a story competition with that as the defined opening sentence.

[newhome]

26 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

After the incident with the sprinkler and the postman, SWMBO was not impressed with the sprinkler system, so I rigged up a bare copper wire, fitted to short lengths of plastic conduit as stakes, around the edge of the drive.

 

Ha ha, so she was happy to give the postie the electric fence treatment but not a soaking . 

 

Your house sounds fab rigged up with all sorts of gizmos! The hubby was into all sorts of stuff like that too. And yes we’ve had electric fencing too in the mad phase where he decided we needed to keep sheep! ? Electric fencing doesn’t keep a determined sheep in, nor a determined dog. If motivation is high they will go through it. If they are just wandering around aimlessly it’s enough of an adversive to keep them in (or out). 

 

Edited June 15, 2018 by newhome

[newhome]

34 minutes ago, JSHarris said:

we were both woken by a very loud "yowl", presumably as his nose touched the wire at around 15,000 volts.

 

We had the electric fence switched off when an enormous bloody dog wandered into the field and pushed through the fencing into the area containing the sheep. The hubby switched the fence back on and ran at the huge dog waving his shepherd’s crook. The dog shot back towards the previously inoccuous fence, ran into it, got shocked, yelped and jumped back, saw my hubby and large stick running towards him and decided to take his chances with the fence. He ran through it yelping and carried on screaming as he legged it out of the field. We didn’t see that dog again lol. 

[Jeremy Harris]

The electric fence was only around the edge of the drive, running along next to a flower bed, and only about 8" high, so not easy to accidentally touch.  It did cover the only route the cat could use to get to the gravel on the drive, though.  The thing I learned during the time I was doing battle with this cat was that cats aren't like dogs.  A dog will remember having had a nasty experience and not go there again, whereas cats seem to forget about it after a while and become repeat offenders.  I found that the fence had to be on every day, as the cat would quickly find out if the fence was off and resume his behaviour on the drive. 

 

I should add that this was around 20 years ago, when we were living down in West Sussex.  The only "animals using the garden as a toilet" problems we have in the new house are ducks that sleep and crap on the front doorstep and an otter that periodically wanders up from the stream and marks his/her territory with spraint around the outer edges of the lawn.

[LA3222]

1 hour ago, JSHarris said:

I can vouch for the fact that an electric fence wire, set about 8" above ground level, and energised by an old motorcycle ignition coil, run from a 12V power supply and timing relay, will VERY effectively "dissuade" cats.  After the incident with the sprinkler and the postman, SWMBO was not impressed with the sprinkler system, so I rigged up a bare copper wire, fitted to short lengths of plastic conduit as stakes, around the edge of the drive.

 

The most impressive thing about this cat deterrent was that it gave satisfying feedback.  The first time the tom cat from next door tried to take his early morning dump on our drive after I'd fitted it, we were both woken by a very loud "yowl", presumably as his nose touched the wire at around 15,000 volts.

Now this made me chuckle.  @JSHarris going to war with the local cat population?

 

I have two cats myself but they stay indoors and don't dump on the neighbours property! (Someones cat keeps dumping in my garden at the minute?)

 

On another note why the hell do people think it is acceptable to behave like the scrotes @zoothorn is having to deal with!  I'd be tempted to get a BB gun but I think the 12v battery/electric fence solution is far more elegant and satisfying.  

 

Can't do much about the neighbours but can take measures to deter the cats/dog - small victories and all that.

 

Aren't there noise deterants available that emit high pitched noises that dogs/cats hate? 

[Jeremy Harris]

In my lengthy battle with the tom cat from next door, I tried several approaches.  The first was to rig up a camera, so I could see which cat it was that was taking a dump on the drive, and where it was coming from. 

 

The next was to fit an ultrasonic sounder that was supposed to scare off cats.  It didn't, the cat wandered over to it and looked at it before going for it's morning dump.

 

I then tried filling empty 2 litre clear plastic bottles with water, as someone at work suggested that cats didn't like the distorted reflection from them.  That had no effect at all.

 

I then tried putting out some cat food with chilli powder in, and although (according to my neighbour) the cat had a dose of the runs (luckily in their garden) there was no lasting deterrent.

 

I'd tried a Super Soaker water gun, which scared the cat off, but didn't have a lasting effect, and was no use at dawn which was the normal time for this cat to have a dump.

 

The effect of the super soaker led to the PIR triggered sprinkler, which was very effective, but had to be powered on all the time, as the cat would quickly learn whn it was powered off and resume its antisocial behaviour.

 

The low electric fence was the final solution, and worked well, with no real side effects, other than being a nuisance when working on the flower beds.

 

Overall, the water sprinkler is the safest and simplest solution, as long as it's not going to spray water on anyone by accident.