Neighbors and potential herbicide usage???

[Alyssa412]

I live in southwest florida and have three 15 year old Asian brown/black tortoises who live in my yard full time. my yard makes contact with the houses on either side, and then the one directly behind me and kind of the ones on either side of that house, so 5 other properties. I am renting my house, and a lawn mower was provided for me, but not a weed eater. the whole yard is fenced in and the weeds right along the fence are fairly high (over a foot for sure). when I was mowing the other day I noticed that along one of the fence lines it looks like the weeds are all dead. that could be due to all the grass clippings from the mower piling up on them or something natural, but I'm wondering if a neighbor has sprayed some herbicide.

what is the tactful way to deal with this? I was hoping not to advertise the fact that I have three free roaming adult tortoises as I do not know the neighbors at all, and stealing them would be a piece of cake. I don't know for a fact that any of them are spraying anything, and seeing as how I have tall weeds along my fence line and no way to knock them down, I can't really fault them for it. I will ask my landlord about obtaining a weed eater, but for the time being (and even if I took care of the my weeds they could still be spraying), would you talk to the neighbors? do I knock on their doors or leave a note in their mailboxes?

has anyone dealt with this before? or how would you deal with it?

 

[ZEROPILOT]

I spray weed killer along my fence line but I've never allowed my tortoises near the areas, but I'm thinking that they wouldn't be interested in dead weeds anyway. Mine are Redfoot.
All of my neighbors know that I keep tortoises. I told them when the last hurricane blew the fences down.
I would suggest that you meet your neighbors. Hopefully they are friendly. It can be hit and miss. (Apparently I live near you)
Explain to them that you have grass eating pets and ask them to not spray over the property line.
If I had something like a Sulcata, I'd be worried about consumption. I'm not familiar with your species.

 

[Grandpa Turtle 144]

I live in southwest florida and have three 15 year old Asian brown/black tortoises who live in my yard full time. my yard makes contact with the houses on either side, and then the one directly behind me and kind of the ones on either side of that house, so 5 other properties. I am renting my house, and a lawn mower was provided for me, but not a weed eater. the whole yard is fenced in and the weeds right along the fence are fairly high (over a foot for sure). when I was mowing the other day I noticed that along one of the fence lines it looks like the weeds are all dead. that could be due to all the grass clippings from the mower piling up on them or something natural, but I'm wondering if a neighbor has sprayed some herbicide.

what is the tactful way to deal with this? I was hoping not to advertise the fact that I have three free roaming adult tortoises as I do not know the neighbors at all, and stealing them would be a piece of cake. I don't know for a fact that any of them are spraying anything, and seeing as how I have tall weeds along my fence line and no way to knock them down, I can't really fault them for it. I will ask my landlord about obtaining a weed eater, but for the time being (and even if I took care of the my weeds they could still be spraying), would you talk to the neighbors? do I knock on their doors or leave a note in their mailboxes?

has anyone dealt with this before? or how would you deal with it?

If you want to talk to your neighbor take a couple of "Buds " with you and talk ( unless it's Ken then take coors) but as for the weeds take a blow torch just brown the weeds and they will dye off ! And then your neighbor won't need weed killers !

 

[tglazie]

I had a similar problem with a neighbor of mine who used to use a giant can of pesticide on some shrubbery that ran adjacent to my property. This was a problem, given that since he was on top of the hill, I suspected the pesticides could potentially run downhill into the stream bed and contaminate a low spot I used to grow various grazing plants. Rather than informing him of my tortoises, I asked him to stop spraying so much on account of my mother, whose asthma, I claimed, was being affected by the toxins. Now, I keep regular casual relations with my neighbors, so broaching such a subject is rather easy. In your case, I don't know what creative white lie you could invent to maintain the privacy of your tortoises. I would recommend perhaps using cinder blocks to cordon off some of the area and planting a few flowering plants. This way, if your flower bed dies, you can use this as an excuse to broach the subject with your neighbor. But yeah, don't let folks know about your tortoises, but if you must, taking certain security measures may be in order. Closed circuit cameras and signs warning of security monitoring often work as great deterrents to would be thieves.

T.G.

 

[Lyn W]

What the heck is a weed eater?
I just pull my weeds up or cut them down with shears/small scythe
A bit back breaking but does the trick.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

We recently had a similar issue. The new neighbors hired a property maintenance company and they sprayed the entire fence line with weed killer. I made it clear that they had no permission or right to poison my property and showed them my boundary survey. They have full knowledge of our tortoise population, I stressed the possible deadly outcome and that i would hold him fully responsible for any illness or death associated with this event with full litigation. He was really taken back and emphasized that he would direct his property maintenance crew to stop using spray anywhere near our fence line. Fortunately we have a two foot border space between the outer fence sprayed and the actual field that the tortoises have access to eat, etc. Unfortunately, many have no true understanding of this and simply are ignorant. I was stern with this new neighbor because he has encroached on our property involving other issues and he seems oblivious to property lines and is not respectful of others. I tend to look at things from a legal view, if your fence is on the property line you may have no legal right to force them to stop spraying. If the fence has a setback from the property line you have a legal right to force them to stop and several legal avenues to take if they fail to comply, both criminally and civilly. If your fence is right on the property line you might consider making an inner boarder separating the fence (sprayed area) from the area the tortoise has access to eat, etc. to ensure no poisonous contamination.

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

What the heck is a weed eater?

~ Exactly, because many folks are flat lazy!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

I'm thinking that they wouldn't be interested in dead weeds anyway.

~ We have a significant wild gopher tortoise population in the area we live and i have seen them eating dead leaves, grass, etc. Unsure if the dead weeds, etc. are a result of poisons or not!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

has anyone dealt with this before? or how would you deal with it?

~ Many factors, your neighbors either respect you or don't. If they respect you a simple friendly approach may be the best option. If they do not, stronger methods are the only option!

~ I like Senator Lindsey Grahams recent statement, "I am big, strong and have a big hammer", LOL!

 

[Alyssa412]

~ Many factors, your neighbors either respect you or don't. If they respect you a simple friendly approach may be the best option. If they do not, stronger methods are the only option!

~ I like Senator Lindsey Grahams recent statement, "I am big, strong and have a big hammer", LOL!

I see that you also live in south west florida and I was wondering if I could come down one morning or afternoon and pick your brain about pretty much everything tortoise related. i will help feed or clean or do any tortoise keeping/husbandry related tasks (smelly or not) in exchange for the opportunity to ask lots of questions. I've had snakes before, but am totally new to tortoise keeping. is this something you would be open to?

 

[Alyssa412]

~ Exactly, because many folks are flat lazy!

hey! a large lawn in south florida during the rainy summer is a HUGE undertaking! by the time I finished picking the weeds at the end of the fence line, it would be time to start at the beginning again where they would already be 6" tall!

 

[Kapidolo Farms]

We recently had a similar issue. The new neighbors hired a property maintenance company and they sprayed the entire fence line with weed killer. I made it clear that they had no permission or right to poison my property and showed them my boundary survey. They have full knowledge of our tortoise population, I stressed the possible deadly outcome and that i would hold him fully responsible for any illness or death associated with this event with full litigation. He was really taken back and emphasized that he would direct his property maintenance crew to stop using spray anywhere near our fence line. Fortunately we have a two foot border space between the outer fence sprayed and the actual field that the tortoises have access to eat, etc. Unfortunately, many have no true understanding of this and simply are ignorant. I was stern with this new neighbor because he has encroached on our property involving other issues and he seems oblivious to property lines and is not respectful of others. I tend to look at things from a legal view, if your fence is on the property line you may have no legal right to force them to stop spraying. If the fence has a setback from the property line you have a legal right to force them to stop and several legal avenues to take if they fail to comply, both criminally and civilly. If your fence is right on the property line you might consider making an inner boarder separating the fence (sprayed area) from the area the tortoise has access to eat, etc. to ensure no poisonous contamination.

View attachment 149626

Look at all that beautiful Opuntia!!

 

[[email protected]]

I had a neighbor who used pesticides and gasoline to keep his side of the fence clean. That stopped when I volunteered to come over monthly and trim along his side of the fence we shared. He took me up on the "free yard" work.

We no longer live there but for three years I did keep that fence trimmed.

 

[Tom]

I would build an offset enclosure wall away from that fence line as Aldabraman suggested. There is no way to control what people do on the other side of a fence.

And you can get a weed whacker for less than $50. Seems like 50 bucks to make your tortoises safer and not get into a war with a neighbor is a good bargain. Ask anyone who has ever had a war with a neighbor if it would have been worth $50 to avoid the conflict. Further, just one of your tortoises is worth more than $50. Stop waiting on the landlord. Take the initiative and responsibility to keep your animals safe.

There are several on this page for around $40:
http://www.homedepot.com/s/electric%20weed%20whacker?NCNI-5

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

Take the initiative and responsibility to keep your animals safe.

~ I feel the same way, sometimes not worth the hassles and stress when things are out of your control!

 

[ALDABRAMAN]

I had a neighbor who used // gasoline to keep his side of the fence clean.

~ Unacceptable, dangerous and hazardous. Not to mention the EPA violations!

 

[[email protected]]

Boy did I know the gasoline was illegal! This was the kind of neighbor you didn't want to have as an enemy so I did what I had to to keep the peace. Just didn't want to risk the precious life of my tortoise and turtles.

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

I would definitely take the let's try to be pally with the neighbour's approach first.
Then get nasty, if it didn't work out!

 

[BeeBee*BeeLeaves]

RoundUp is a cancer causer, among other things and has finally been declared as such in California in the last month by the CalEPA.
Monsanto has suppressed a lot of information over the years to stay in business. Needless to say, to keep making profits at the expense of people, our soil, our air, our water ... bees and animals. Dogs get liver cancer from laying on residue. It is estimated to be 14,000 times more potent than we have been led to believe. And now you know why the push for health care. Between GMOs and pesticides, the government and their corporate sponsors know exactly how sick they have made the American public. Politicians should be made to wear corporate logos on their suits like NASCAR drivers do.

Public Trust betrayed. Like anything else, follow the money ... that's where you will find Judas. And keep your tortoises far,far away from that poison. It is evil stuff. Please. Thank you.

 

[ZEROPILOT]

Weed eaters don't work very well on wooden privacy fences. I have the "shadow box" type and still must use weed killer in the recessed areas. There would be much better, even easier and cheaper methods depending on the fence. Mine require weed eating and weed killing.
I also have an apron of mulch that runs about 20" from the fence line. Nothing in the yard gets sprayed.
Also, my fence is 100% within my property line and even though it is a shared fence with the neighbors, they also know not to tamper with it.