F!@#$%^&*! Neighbors!!!!

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kbaker

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How many people have Arses for neighbors? I've lived here for nine years and had tortoises the whole time. I try to be nice and say, "I know you need to do what you need to do, but can you let me know when you are spraying so I can keep my tortoises off the grass a few extra days?"

Both sides of me do whatever whenever. Today my one neighbor was spraying the whole fence line with weed & grass killer. So I was nice and went out to talk to her. I never say, "Don't ever spray around my yard." I just ask they let me know. As I am talking with her, she is spraying through the fence!!! "Oh, I don't want to over do it and hurt your dog...well, I don't want to hurt my dog either," she says with her dog running around as she sprays. Yeah, but what about the tortoises? They eat the grass!! I tell her again as if she does not know this after nine years.

Why can't she just use a weed wacker instead of spraying?

What does everyone else do about their neighbors?? :(
 

TortieLuver

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I here you! My husband and I don't particularly care for neighbors either for that same reason, so land away from all other houses is a perfect fit for us. I just don't know what is happening with people these days. Some people don't seem to care, have respect and understanding, and treat others well. The understanding to care for animals seems to be less and less along with neighbors who don't seem to care about your circumstances either. I only wish there were more people like us in the world. How about a paintball gun? That's so ridiculous that you ask nicely to be told when they spray SO your animals aren't harmed and they can be soooo rude. I am sure it would be expensive, but I have known of people who have a lot of problems with their neighbors that have joining fences and they put up their own fence within their own perimeters.
 
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Maggie Cummings

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I have lived here 5 years. 2 years ago a nag moved in next door and almost immediately started complaining about the way Bob's shed looks and how much noise he makes....I repeat...how much noise a tortoise makes. You know that they try to dig and rearrange their plywood before going to sleep. Every night about 5:30 Bob starts digging in his sleeping box. So it's that noise she complains about. She started playing a loud radio, so on Sundays I put NASCAR on and with the surround sound loud so i can hear the cars go 'round as I garden. She stopped with the radio, so I stopped with the NASCAR.

Maybe you could flood that area? I'd sure pull up all that poisoned grass and throw it into her yard. You aren't going to change her. Have you showed her a tortoise and re-explained how he lives on the grass? Just an idea...I sympathize with you...
 

Yvonne G

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I guess we all have a bad neighbor story. I have mine too. I find it best to try to ignore them and let whatever they do just roll off my back. I really like the alcoholics anonymous serenity prayer...

"God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change,
courage to change the things we can,
and wisdom to know the difference."

So, if I can't change it, I really try hard to ignore it and not let it get to me.
 

Seiryu

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I have neighbors like that too. They have one of those push things with fertilizer that shoots out as they move it on the grass. So my lawn gets it too.

However, because of that I have his outdoor enclosure nowhere near that fence. I don't let him just free roam the backyard. Soon I'll be putting up a nice privacy fence.

These neighbors are also known to call the city on you if you have your grass slightly too tall, or a random weed that got too big you might have missed. I can hear them yelling at each other just about every day.
 

Itort

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I once had neighbors who had a serious reaction to ants and other insects around our duplex and took it upon then selves to spray the periminder of the duplex, They splayed into the windows of our dwelling and killed a pair of breeding rainbow gobies on nest. I was fericous and conflonted them about it. The reaction was they just fish and we'll replace the stupid things. I said okay when do you leave for New Guinea. The kicker is that my brother does this as his business and sprayed correctly and safetly periodically. They moved shortly thereafter (leaving landlord 3 months in arears on rent) and we got good neighbors after all.
 

Jacqui

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I remember our neighbor, when we first lived here. He was fine until the day he saw my adult male Yellowfoot. He was honestly scared that this tortoise would attack and harm my children. I think to the day he died, he still firmly believed that. For some people, your never going to change their minds.

A year ago, my friend bought the house that runs behind ours. She is the person who cares for our critters, when the kids are in college and I am out in the truck. She loves all animals, but had no real affection for the shells. That changed, when the boyz (two med/small male sulcatas) came here to live. She fell in love with them. Since then, she tortoisenapped my baby cherryhead for her own. It is a relief knowing somebody lives next to me, who won't do anything that might endanger the shells. It also shows there is hope for neighbors who can't understand your attraction to tortoises and turtles (or reptiles on the whole).

I think good sturdy and solid fences are a good start for neighbors. Then never build enclosures right next to the fence. Leave some room for those "accidents" along the fence line.

I have to admit, if I had a neighbor from h***, I would at least mentally be plotting doing something equally bad back to them.
 

mightyclyde

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I love this thread. However, y'all have to eat your hearts out, because MY neighbor is a wonderful woman who has THREE CDTs (the eldest being over 30 yrs old). Also, she's raised 5 kids so she's never upset with my kids being in her yard on occasion. My two torts call her "grandma" ;) Oh... and she's always ready to baby sit our two tortoises. I think I'll just go count my blessings.
 

-ryan-

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I don't have too many problems with my direct neighbors, but the deadbeat teenage kids in the neighborhood cause me a ton of problems, as well as the younger kids. Already this year I had to yell at three teenage kids who were in my yard smoking cigarettes. I told them "you need to leave". They stood there, looked at me for a second, and went back to smoking their cigarettes. "I said you need to leave, now". To which they reply "Why?". Freaking idiots. That's why my tortoises have to live indoors and only come out when I am right there with them. We have a fenced in yard, but the area the teenagers were loitering on is outside the fence, because there is a creek that runs through our yard. Kids treat the creek like it's a park and don't realize (or care) that they are on our property. They have destroyed our private property, killed/taken snakes, frogs, and turtles out of the creek, and show no respect for us when we tell them they need to leave. When they found out about the business that my family is involved in they stopped showing up for a while last summer, but with the start of this summer we are having problems again.

One of the teenagers that was in the yard smoking is also the suspected perpetrator of a breaking and entering/burglary down the street. The sad thing is, our neighborhood is relatively expensive.
 

Lou

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I hear ya man. I can't say I have ever had a bad neighbor. They are either nice, or keep it to themselves and dont complain much.

Though I have a friend who has had the same type of neighbor as you, she didnt have tortoise, but a large pond with expensive kois....She just reported the neighbor for spraying pesticides (its illegal where I live), the neighbor got a big fat fine and my friend had a blast...lol...
 

webskipper

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We poison ourselves with processed foods, can't we find a better solution to poisoning our water without pesticides?
 

2Paisan

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We balanced eachother's posts today. Our neighbor saved our escapee Russian Frankie today. So we love our neighbor. But really we are lucky. There are few herbicide/pesticide users in our neighborhood as there are so many little children. Our one neighbor who is two houses down always comest to tell me if he uses roundup in case our kids were to get close. I always thank him (and kind of grimace at the same time.)
 

Tom

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Block wall. Solves a lot of problems.

I feel your pain. I've had a few neighbor problems too. Now I'm all alone at the top of a hill. Love it.
 

Shelly

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-ryan- said:
One of the teenagers that was in the yard smoking is also the suspected perpetrator of a breaking and entering/burglary down the street. The sad thing is, our neighborhood is relatively expensive.

It's not sad if crime only happens to poor people? Are you kidding me?
 

Madortoise

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I have a wonderful neighbor to the right of me who grew up w/DT and questionable ones to the left--they are renters (2 families in front/back house). Each time the new family comes into that house, it's always a different set of problems. Right now, I don't have much issue w/them except some BBQ smokes coming into our house (they BBQ in front of their house). I don't think they maintain their yard much so the pesticide has not been the problem. I just hope they p/u after their dog poos so that we don't smell them and get flies like last summer.
 
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stells

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I'm really lucky with my neighbours... they have always been really good and both only spray their front gardens not the back :D
 

-ryan-

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Shelly said:
-ryan- said:
One of the teenagers that was in the yard smoking is also the suspected perpetrator of a breaking and entering/burglary down the street. The sad thing is, our neighborhood is relatively expensive.

It's not sad if crime only happens to poor people? Are you kidding me?

I've sent you a PM. I think that is more appropriate than posting my feelings about what you've just insinuated.
 

Shelly

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I "insinuated" nothing. Some rich people think crime is fine as long as it stays in the "poor" neighborhoods, which is clearly what was "insinuated".
And BTW, I flushed your PM. Don't send me another.
 

kbaker

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How about we start a group called,
"Stay out of my swamp!!"

No Donkeys allowed - :p
 
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