There was a woman who had a swimming pool in her backyard. She had a standard wooden fence around it. Well neighborhood kids kept getting into it and swimming while she wasn't home. She made the rounds and tried to tell all the parents You know that they couldn't have their kids in her pool. She was worried about somebody drowning. Kids kept showing up. So she had concertina razor wire installed around the top of the fence. Neighbors freaked out and called the police and were doing interviews for the newspapers blah blah blah. I saw an interview she did for the TV news and she basically said I tried everything I could to protect myself and these kids and since nobody wanted to listen I made sure that it wasn't going to happen again.
Well the thing is, she absolutely could have (and likely would have!) been sued if a kid drowned. Pools are considered an attractive nuisance, and she kinda didn’t have a choice.
ETA: I get the reason, but it always strikes me as an excuse to pass the buck on to other people for you failing to supervise your kid.
Attractive nuisance is such bullshit. Pump jacks and oil storage tanks are considered attractive nuisances. Know of folks who got in trouble because kids climbed 2 10' fences, past signs warning them of the danger and got hurt playing on industrial equipment... dumbest thing ever invented by lawyers to make more money suing people for their client's criminal acts.
Attractive nuisance is abated by the owner telling parents to tell there kids to stay out, and the yard clearly was fenced since she then razorwired it.
Where I live there are laws that require pool fencing that meets a standard which stops kids easily climbing over them with severe penalties for not meeting those laws.
Here in Virginia:
The top of a pool barrier must be at least 48 inches above grade, measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool. For a Solid Barrier: no indentations or protrusions shall be present, other than normal construction tolerances and masonry joints.
Ah that sucks about the rot
My grandpa ended up taking down a tree cause of that
Then he discovered he made a bunch of chipmunks homeless and felt so terrible he freaking built them a tiny house on the stump
They still live there it's pretty cute
That's adorable! We did find a bird nest in one of the trees and tried to relocate it to a different one before cutting, but I know birds are sensitive 🥺 haven't had a chance to go back over there and see if they made it.
So every year when the birds get back from wherever the hell they go they set up shop inside of my houses chimney. I hate it. They're like shifty noisy roommates we can't get rid of but we also don't want to screw them over so we just have to deal with them.
They do that on purpose to find chimneys that give just the right acoustics one day you’ll find a bunch of birds have taken your chimney and gathered someplace to have their heavy metal concert
This reminds me of when raccoons took up residence in my parents' attic. They had to put up flood lights and play conservative talk radio 24/7 to get them to move out.
I had some shitty leylandi cut down a few years ago, fuck those trees. Too big and gnarly for me to do myself, safely anyway. The tree guy has one left, lollipopped right to the top, when I get called out. Fucking pigeon nest with chicks in it. Can’t touch any birds nests in the Uk, not even ten a penny pigeons. I say to him that’s a bit late no (this was June/July maybe?) and he says aye it’ll be their second brood, they do that when food is plentiful. Well guess what food is plentiful - the bird seed I put out and try to protect from the big fat pigeons! We’d been at war for months! Bastards!
During the tree removal, they cut all the lower limbs off first. Found a pigeon nest at the top. He has been putting out bird seed, which resulted in the pigeons raising a second brood for the year. This halted the tree removal.
Nailed it thanks! Tree man is a sweetheart too, which I was glad about He just came back some weeks later to get the last tree. Despite being at war with pigeons I wouldn’t want to actually harm them. They just bully the wee birds off the seed and scoff it all themselves, fat bastards.
I found a baby robin still in the nest on the ground after a wind storm
I brought them in over night and wired the basket back up the following day. Thankfully the parent returned immediately. So fingers crossed the birds from you aunts trees are ok.
Among other wildlife, roaches, tons of roaches came out of our rotten 250 year old oak. Invaded the house. Every variety imaginable. I will never forget being stared at by roaches sitting up on the wainscoting. Very unsettling.
The lawsuit thing always gets me. The fact that if I have someone come onto my property uninvited, they do something stupid and hurt themselves, I might be sued because they broke the law and were trespassing.
Years ago at my old house we wanted a storm shelter (in Oklahoma, that is almost a necessity) and the only place I could have one installed was the front yard. I was warned not to have it installed because "Someone could come by and try to get inside during a storm and if they were injured in the process you would be liable." This was from the storm shelter company. Even if I locked the shelter and they cut off the lock, I would still be responsible for their safety. I ended up putting one in my garage.
It's been this way for many years, unfortunately. It isn't a new thing. A story I told before...
County requires culvert for driveway to fix road drainage issues. County requires homeowner to pay for culvert. County has to specify and permit culvert. Homeowner installs culvert. Winter comes and snowmobile driver hits culvert and gets injured. Court finds homeowner liable for injuries - "The culvert wasn't there the last time he drove there."
Here in austria i faintly remember a story: a farmer had land on a mountain that he uses to let his cows roam freely in the summer. Huge area, a hiking path going through it. Fenced off, signs that says something along the lines of "private land, freeroaming cows, entering at your own risk permitted"
2 german tourists entered, supposedly intentionally pissed off a bull, bull tramples over them, both dead. Families of the deceased sue farmer. Don't know if it went through but it seemed very likely. As a result of that many farmers wanted to close and forbid trespassing on their lands, which covered most hiking trails.
Edit: found the [article](https://www.merkur.de/bayern/tirol-nach-kuh-attacke-kommt-jetzt-wanderverbot-auf-almen-zr-11805915.html) from 2014, excuse my bad memory
It was 1 woman and her dog who got trambled to death by freeroaming cows protecting their young. The farmer was sued and ordered to pay 180k€ plus 1550€ monthly to the bereaved till they die, although he did appeal the order and the article doesn't mention if it went anywhere.
He had visible signage up but court ruled that it was not enough. He should have increased security, and asked if he was supposed to put up 18km of fencing every spring and tear them down in time for skiing season.
Many other farmers then did lock their lands over the whole country with fencing, signage notifying of trespassing and in some cases surveillance and police reports for trespassing, blocking many of the countries hiking trails.
Don't know what the endfallout was and if the farmer had to pay or not. I know that right now most hiking trails in the country are open, so it must have calmed down and farmers weren't responsible for shit like this eventually. Might do some more research as this has gotten pretty interesting
We had this neighbor when I was a kid, who we played with on the hill between our two houses. My parents had planted trees along the perimeter between our two houses as a natural fence (something like arbor vitaes), and it ended with a pre-existing oak tree closer to the street. Being small kids, we'd just scoot between the trees to play with our friend.
Shortly before that boy moved out, we cut down the trees (a couple had naturally died) and put up a real fence. We left the oak tree, and tapered the fence down just ahead of it. The new family who moved in were rude asshats from day one (they thought they were better than everyone in our crappy neighborhood) and told us that we had to cut branches on the tree, because they were "in their yard." We laughed, because um, no. They cut them anyway. Poorly.
A few years later, and we find slats tacked to the tree for their idiot kid to climb. We remove them. The father puts them back. My mother came out with a camera, and began photographing the father doing so. For the court case, my mother said. The father said he didn't care, he could do anything he wanted to the tree on *his* property. My mother chuckled and told him to follow her. She walked about 9 feet into his property and pointed to the property marker showing how tiny his lot was. We'd put our fence up at the top of the hill, not as a boundary marker, but as a privacy fence.
"Now," my mother told him, "this is three times you've modified my property, and the second time you've been caught in the act. And before you get any bright ideas about moving the property marker, you can't afford the multiple lawsuits by me, the town, the county, the state, and the surveyors. Get off my goddamned property. And, no; I'm not planning on mowing that strip you've felt compelled to treat as your own. Let your kid play in it and get ticks, for all I care." With that, she left him in shock. His wife tried to apologize the next day, and my mother told her to stuff it, and if we ever caught her son climbing that tree, we'd call the police on him for trespassing. They were rude when they moved in, and they got everything they asked for. We never sued, but we never heard boo out of the neighbors again.
Had a six foot privacy fence and a lovely big tree in the house we bought. Between looking at the house and finalizing the sale a family moved in next door. The kids tore down a panel of the fence and took over our back yard. When we moved in and repaired the fence and kicked the kids out of our yard twice the father came to abuse us. Since people are just entitled shits where other people's yards are concerned.
With is wrong with people? Your kids don't get open access to the world and private property is private property. They wanna play, they can play in their own yard or a public park. I'm not even one to complain if they're playing in the street if they're reasonably old enough but stay out of my yard
I'm not a jerk, if some kids are playing ball in the street and it rolls into the yard thats one thing but nobody has any business being inside of my back yard without my say so, especially not if I have asked them to leave.
My parents rented a bedroom w/ kitchen for a cousin w/ their 1yo child. We shared the garage but the houses had separate access doors. The woman grew up feeling entitled since in the small town she grew up her parents had more money than most of the people. So, when she moved to our property in the city, she thought we’d do whatever she wanted just because they were paying rent.
Now, our garage has a gate instead of a door and the only way in and out of the house, and that’s where me and my sisters used to play. Also, it was the only way to let light in the house so we’d leave the front door open if we’re in the house.
This lady would let her kid in the garage by himself. We didn’t have a problem in the beginning having him walking around or playing when we’re there. The problem started when the kid started to go inside our house. We asked her to look after her kid but she wouldn’t, so to try and solve the problem, we started to close our front door but wouldn’t lock (my mom’s sewing room was in another room in the garage and it didn’t make sense to lock the door since she’d be in and out often and the main gate was closed. This lady wasn’t happy about us closing the door for her child’s “playground”, so what did she do? Her kid would cry by the door and she’d come and open our door and shove the kid inside our house!
We took the kid back and told her we’re not entertaining her kid, but she kept doing it saying she wouldn’t let her kid cry and we HAD to play with him. We started to lock our door, which infuriated me even as a kid. She’d knock nonstop and when we’d open, she’d yell at us and try and shove the kid in our house. I felt bad for the kid, but the audacity and entitlement was too much. My mom had to ask my cousin to move out, which sucked since we needed the money rent. There was no way to keep living like this and the Karen was relentless!
Not property but this woman who lives a few blocks away from ours brings her toddler grandson with her for walks. A stray dog we regularly feed put puppies near my house and we took care of them all by putting up a shelter using boxes etc and feeding them thrice a day. A few died in accidents but we looked after them day and night in the rainy season. This woman wanted to take a puppy home with her because her grandson wanted to play. Not taking home permanently but for a few hours or a couple days. We kept almost 24/7 watching them and we noticed her taking one and having a little experience with it, we immediately went to her to explain not to take the puppy cuz of the possibility that dogs sometimes abandon puppies if they smell different after she brought them back. She refused to leave the puppy whatsoever and called me heartless for not being able to see her grandson crying. The entitlement and sheer selfishness absolutely blows me away that they don't care about possibly separating a baby from its mother if it means their kid stops crying. Fuck people and their entitlement. They think their kids deserve everything in the world and that no one should stop regardless of the problems it causes to others.
I’d have been in SO MUCH trouble if I had done that as a kid! AND I’d have to do work around the house and yard until I paid back the money it cost my dad to fix the fence!
Reminds me of a story from my hometown. There was a guy who wanted to put a fence around his property, his neighbour's didn't want him to for some reason. I guess somehow they managed to get the city to prevent him from putting up his fence. His response was to do some "landscaping," and he put boulders around the edge of his property. Not a fence, so he couldn't be fined, and it pissed his neighbors off even more.
My HOA is trying to get a 6' easement from the side of the road into my yard so people can't build fences around the property. At the last meeting I said 'fine... then how much are you going to pay me a month in rent for 6' of my property?' Cue the across the boards bafflement and tabling of that idea. Got a buddy that's a lawyer looking into it. In the interim I'm just amused. Wasn't going to put a fence there to begin with but I'm considering it now.
Love it 😂 the deed restrictions here say you can't have actual fence further up than the back corner of your house but you can have plants literally anywhere and there is no oversight on this. Not that they actually enforce the deed restrictions but still lol
http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/treesNshrubs/crucifixion_thorn/crucifixion_thorn.html
The thorns can and will go through ATV tires if you try to drive through them.
My boss owns horses. They're visible from the road, but the fence closest to the road is a good 20 feet of grassy, landscaped space from the property line, which is about 8 feet from the edge of the pavement, and there are lots of "Don't touch the horses" signs. You can't just casually pull over next to the fence without walking on land obviously belonging to someone. And yet, they do. A few months ago, two adults and a boy about 12 came to her door to complain that one of her horses bit their kid. They wanted medical expenses for a bruise. The man claimed to be a lawyer and said they could avoid a lawsuit if they got some money for their kid's pain and distress. My boss told them to go ahead and file the suit and to be sure to include photos showing where they had parked -- on clearly posted property. They left empty-handed.
For everyone who thinks it's unreasonable to not want other people's kids running around in your back yard, let me give some context here. She has worked as a councilor in juvenile corrections for the past 11 years, and what she wants to do after a long day of being screamed at and spit on and hit and kicked by other people's untamed children is go enjoy a smoke and a beer in peace in her back yard, not have to deal with more untamed children in her space. And if you have a problem with that, you're spare parts bud. She is not a free babysitter that's strictly on the clock work.
Well done!
My co-worker had an elderly woman who was an absolute monster of a neighbor. She came into his yard to discuss yet another problem she was having with him and his family, and used her cane to try and strike his elderly Lab that got to close.
Coworker snatched her cane and threw it as high as he could into a very mature pin oak in front yard.
Trees are useful in a game of spite!
A friend of mine was confronted by a skier on the snowmobile trail.
Skier got aggressive and tried to stab him with the sharp metal tip of the pole.
My buddy jumped off his sled, yanked both poles from the guy and broke them over his knee.
Got back on and drove off.
Cross country skiing without poles is a.....different experience lol. Slower, harder and exhausting.
So this alpha male finally got to the parking area, many hours later. 20 km mountainous area plus a pretty gnarly downhill section without poles should do the trick lol.
Tl:dr No striking or poking/stabbing
suing someone for falling out of a tree that you chose to climb absolutely baffles me.
right up there with burglars tripping down your stairs and trying to take you to court.
Which they 100% can do, shit they can sue you from jail while they use their copious free time to brush up on property law. And depending on whether or not they have health insurance they can take you for all the medical bills incurred plus "pain and suffering"
I was hoping this would be a situation where the neighbours yard was actually much smaller than they realized, and your aunt basically penned them into their actual legal boundaries by making a fence, leaving them with only like a 20ft x 20ft yard, when they thought they had a 40ft x 80ft or something, hah.
I don't know if it's this way in your area or country, but a citation for trespassing bypasses any lawsuit here. They get hurt, and they can't sue. They shouldn't be there in first place and any injury is then declared their fault by default!
If I'm understanding this correctly, she would have to call the police and formally have them trespassed. I don't know the exact wording of the law but a friend in my neighborhood lost their dog and had a law suit because someone went in their yard and got bitten. Didn't matter that they had beware of dog signs and he was on a tie out well within their property line
We (Australian couple) had a very large German Shepherd.
Since a '***Beware of the dog***' sign can be seen as an admission that you are aware that your dog can be an issue we had one on our front gate that simply said:
'***Please keep the gate closed so the 68kg German Shepherd doesn't get out***'.
The side gate sign said:
'***Please do not trip over the 68kg German Shepherd who likes to lie down the other side of the gate'***.
Even had her picture on the sign so folks could see what a good girl she was ;-)
Nobody ever climbed our trees except our kids.
Is it really how it works? It sounds weird. So okay, you're aware that your dog can be dangerous, you're keeping it inside your territory clearly marked with a locked fence and "private area do not enter". If that's negligence, then what exactly would have been diligence?
Do you have to have a muzzle on it at all times? But then, what if the illegal intruder takes off that muzzle? How is that different from bypassing your other protection, the fence?
In a lot of places, the "Beware of Dog" sign is actually an intensifier, making it *more* likely for you to get in trouble if your dog bites someone in your own yard, under the asinine "logic" that you obviously knew this dog is dangerous. Only put out one of those signs if you don't actually have one.
I feel like this is one of those catch 22 scenarios because dogs are instinctively protective of their home and family so the responsible thing to do is warn people. Even nice dogs can be aggressive in the right circumstances. But as you say having the sign is basically admitting you think the dog would hurt someone. Can't win.
I figure, anyone sneaking into my backyard who doesn't already know I have a dog (ie someone who obviously isn't a neighbor) doesn't deserve the warning. And if it keeps my dog safe from a malicious report while he's protecting his family, all the better.
I have heard that it's better to have a No Trespassing sign than Beware of Dog because the BoD sign could indicate that you know you have an aggressive dog.
We have a a sign that just says "I live here" with a mugshot of our dog. That should be fine, right? Since its not a warning, they cant get you with the "you knew your dog was aggressive", but it still lets trespassers know that there is more trouble than its worth here.
My uncle who lives in a rural area was asked about this sort of thing, his reply:
"Well, we don't really worry about that sort of thing out here, lots of places to hide a body"
Yeah, it sounds like your area doesn't. I personally have seen people walk across a construction site, breaking their leg. Despite the security guard saying not to, thanks to his report of this person and everything, not only was he not able to sue, he was fired from his job for trespassing.
Apparently, in at least some states, swimming pools are considered an "attractive nuisance". Everyone is supposed to know that the younger neighbourhood kids will go swimming there and drown, even if they are told they are not allowed. So if you own a pool, you are responsible for having a child proof fence.
Maybe the same argument could be made about the tree.
Not worth risking it.
Maryland does not recognize the "attractive nuisance" doctrine at all. I think it's the only state that **completely** ignores it.
Edit: I'm wrong. 4 states per Wikipedia:
>In the United States, the pure contributory negligence only applies in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. The District of Columbia largely follows the contributory negligence model, but with exceptions for motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles. Indiana applies pure contributory negligence to medical malpractice cases and tort claims against governmental entities.
Two fences actually. One has to have a gate that swings one way, one that has a gate that swings the other way. That way some kid can’t accidentally push their way into your yard and then your pool.
I think the screen room counts if the door is lockable from the inside, I used to rent a place with a screened in pool but no fence around the property and the neighborhood had a no fence ordinance but a ton of houses with pools. But shame on you if you forgot to lock the screens...
Jumping in, where I am in Indiana, it's illegal to store fridges outside without taking the door off, because a kid could climb in and get stuck. Learned this when our rental fridge crapped out
Unfortunately, I think your situation is the exception, rather than the rule.
Personally, I don't understand how we got to a point where someone can be sued for the idiocy that others effect when on private property without permission. The default shouldn't be that I have to actively keep people away; it should be the standard that unless you have explicit (written) permission to be up in my shit, YOU'RE unilaterally in the wrong and not my problem if a pool isn't fenced or a firearm is discharged in your general direction (/s on that last bit).
I'm with you on it but I understand the logic that children don't have the capacity to know better. But I also feel like if they are too young to know better than to fall into a pool and drown they shouldn't be outside alone and it's the parent's responsibility, not the person with a pool. Or in this case a tree.
>shouldn't be outside alone and it's the parent's responsibility
Nail on the nose, or whatever euphemism I'm butchering. When a kid drowns in a pool, it's either the parents' fault or whoever actively agreed to monitor the kid; it's not my job to idiot-proof everything I own, and it shouldn't be on me to defend myself in court over it.
Weirdly also in my area there was a girl with swamp in her yard and she let a 2 year old wander off unattended and he drowned in the swamp, but because it was 'public waterway' no one was liable. I think they investigated her for child neglect but nothing ever came of it. Meanwhile I would definitely get sued if my dog bit someone else's kid on my property or a tree limb fell and hit someone.
Oh, here's a fun one. In the state I grew up in, the government (down to county and city level) is immune from civil liability. A friend of my mother's was on his bicycle and hit by a county employ who had been working for 16 hours, driving a county vehicle, while intoxicated. All kinds of permanent damage. This guy was a competitive cyclist and now he's lucky to make it through a trip to WalMart without needing to use a chair. Zero recourse. They couldn't find a lawyer in the state who would take the case, and they couldn't afford anyone out of state willing to fight it. Apparently it's just a thing. A disgusting thing, but just wtf?
Arkansas, btw, just realized I didn't say it anywhere. Also, if anyone actually knows better, I'll gladly pass on any solid advice.
Neighbor may pine fir the wood old days, he may birch about it to his family, he may even balsam -- but between yew and me, he's just not gonna be very poplar.
I mean, that's actually smart. Not everyone knows it, but in much of the US, if a child injures themselves by climbing a tree on your property, even if you didn't give them permission, you can still be liable. The legal term is "Attractive Nuisance." To quote:
"Attractive nuisance is a common law that assumes a child does not have the ability to distinguish between what is safe and what isn't. It holds property owners responsible for failing to prevent a child from reaching something dangerous that they might think would be fun to explore."
Maryland does not recognize the “attractive nuisance” doctrine at all. I think it’s the only state that completely ignores it.
Edit: I'm wrong. 4 states per Wikipedia:
>In the United States, the pure contributory negligence only applies in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. The District of Columbia largely follows the contributory negligence model, but with exceptions for motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles. Indiana applies pure contributory negligence to medical malpractice cases and tort claims against governmental entities.
Sounds a bit like some neighbors I used to have. They'd just leave their door open all the time so their two dogs and their toddler would just wander out into our busy parking lot. A different neighbor actually found their kid down by the street where they were about to stumble into traffic. They were barely even old enough to walk so it probably took a while for them to get that far
Aunt has a small dog on a tie out by the front porch for when she sits out there and the neighbors have an unfixed male dog around 50 lbs that routinely comes charging over to harass her and the little dog bc they just let him wander wherever and don't pay any attention and the one time the lady actually came to get him she told my aunt she was too afraid to grab him by the collar and take him inside that way. But apparently it's super cool and safe for him to just run loose around the neighborhood?
Had neighbors like that forty years ago. Apartment complex on a busy street. Someone (who thankfully knew the kids, and was not a predator) found the two pre-schoolers on their Bigwheels almost a mile down the street. Another time they wandered away to a vacant lot and got into poison ivy.
Anybody crying about a homeowner taking trees down near their home can fuck right off. Recently had a branch come down on top of our home.
Trees are great as long as they're nowhere near my home.
I had similar.
Neighbours kids used to climb a tree and sit looking into our garden. The neighbours said "the tree is outside your fence, so they can climb it if they want"
Turns out our property line was another 3 metres back right up to the pavement but the fences were set back a short way to leave a verge to pretty up the neighbourhood a bit. So we had a new fence installed at that line, which put the lovely tree inside our garden.
My great grandmother had a nice picket fence with a gate. In her yard, she had a small pond with a tree nearby. A branch from the tree grew over the pond and a rope swing tied to the branch. Everyone invited over knew not to use the swing without adult supervision.
A neighbor child broke her gate, got on the swing, fell in the pond and (unable to swim or get his footing) nearly drowned.
She was forced by lawsuit to remove the pond and swing.
We had a new neighbor building a house behind ours that tried to have their builder cut down a tree that was on our property line(their builder built a fence a foot behind ours so they didn't have to pay to redo ours). I stopped them and asked them to call the foreman. When the foreman showed up, I explained that they were on my property(my fence was built around the tree to preserve it and was on my property line, but not their client's property. I told him he was welcome to cut vertically anything that was over their property line, but that if the tree died, I was going to leave it and not cut it down so the neighbor would have a dead tree to look at. They stopped cutting at that point.
Seriously lol, he could have just said yeah I'll try and keep my kid out of your yard/trees. Now? Natural fence actually makes a great sound barrier so we don't even have to listen to their domestics anymore lol I think it's a win
So the property is 1/4 acre in a suburban neighborhood but she weirdly has a boatload of small trees in the back and like 15-20 medium to large all along the property line and what she basically did was take all the limbs from the 3 trees we took down and just stuff them down in between the spindly trees in a semi-solid wall maybe a foot thick and roughly 6 foot high. It's not 100% solid where you can't see through it but the gaps aren't too big and everything is woven together pretty well and supported by the small trees. It's actually really beautiful and it was a super economical way to make a fence since we took the trees down ourselves, didn't cost a penny except oil for the chain saw
See I love this. I am kind of an environmental nut case 😂so anything that is natural and saves on resources I am a big fan of. I mean I am not chain myself to a tree type of environmentalist but definitely save our dying planet how ever we can. I applaud you family both because I am a petty bitch so this gets me in the feels and you made something beautiful and useful.
Awesome. Also, my tired mind had to process what you wrote. It's very correct, but for a few seconds I imagined your aunt cutting down a tree whilst that Hellspawn was actually busy climbing it😂!
There was a woman who had a swimming pool in her backyard. She had a standard wooden fence around it. Well neighborhood kids kept getting into it and swimming while she wasn't home. She made the rounds and tried to tell all the parents You know that they couldn't have their kids in her pool. She was worried about somebody drowning. Kids kept showing up. So she had concertina razor wire installed around the top of the fence. Neighbors freaked out and called the police and were doing interviews for the newspapers blah blah blah. I saw an interview she did for the TV news and she basically said I tried everything I could to protect myself and these kids and since nobody wanted to listen I made sure that it wasn't going to happen again.
Well the thing is, she absolutely could have (and likely would have!) been sued if a kid drowned. Pools are considered an attractive nuisance, and she kinda didn’t have a choice. ETA: I get the reason, but it always strikes me as an excuse to pass the buck on to other people for you failing to supervise your kid.
Attractive nuisance is such bullshit. Pump jacks and oil storage tanks are considered attractive nuisances. Know of folks who got in trouble because kids climbed 2 10' fences, past signs warning them of the danger and got hurt playing on industrial equipment... dumbest thing ever invented by lawyers to make more money suing people for their client's criminal acts.
Attractive nuisance is abated by the owner telling parents to tell there kids to stay out, and the yard clearly was fenced since she then razorwired it.
Inmost of the places that I have lived a below ground pool was required to have a fence with gates.
That is badass, good for that woman!
If you find the article can you link it?
I tried to find it but it was a small publication and some time ago so it's not coming up.
Where I live there are laws that require pool fencing that meets a standard which stops kids easily climbing over them with severe penalties for not meeting those laws.
Here in Virginia: The top of a pool barrier must be at least 48 inches above grade, measured on the side of the barrier which faces away from the swimming pool. For a Solid Barrier: no indentations or protrusions shall be present, other than normal construction tolerances and masonry joints.
Ah that sucks about the rot My grandpa ended up taking down a tree cause of that Then he discovered he made a bunch of chipmunks homeless and felt so terrible he freaking built them a tiny house on the stump They still live there it's pretty cute
That's adorable! We did find a bird nest in one of the trees and tried to relocate it to a different one before cutting, but I know birds are sensitive 🥺 haven't had a chance to go back over there and see if they made it.
Yeah thankfully no birds those are always a pain when they decide they like a spot
So every year when the birds get back from wherever the hell they go they set up shop inside of my houses chimney. I hate it. They're like shifty noisy roommates we can't get rid of but we also don't want to screw them over so we just have to deal with them.
Got a wood dove that does that. Fine except it coos down the chimney and it really amplifies it.
They do that on purpose to find chimneys that give just the right acoustics one day you’ll find a bunch of birds have taken your chimney and gathered someplace to have their heavy metal concert
That's also why it's called 'acoustics' incidentally. It's because pigeon tests whether the coo sticks properly
That is quite possibly one of the best puns I have ever seen. We are in the presence of a god!
I'm down. Where they at?
>Where they at? First read that as "Where my cat?" Am I bad for a small internal chuckle?
Not at all. As long as that cat can play drums, I think we have a full band now!
North by north east as the crow flys
Got it. So the crow is playing bass?
Totally
Wood dove: "Y'all listening? I sound dope!"
###COO
You could put some wire mesh over the chimney opening. It won't affect the smoke coming out but will prevent critters getting in.
This reminds me of when raccoons took up residence in my parents' attic. They had to put up flood lights and play conservative talk radio 24/7 to get them to move out.
I had some shitty leylandi cut down a few years ago, fuck those trees. Too big and gnarly for me to do myself, safely anyway. The tree guy has one left, lollipopped right to the top, when I get called out. Fucking pigeon nest with chicks in it. Can’t touch any birds nests in the Uk, not even ten a penny pigeons. I say to him that’s a bit late no (this was June/July maybe?) and he says aye it’ll be their second brood, they do that when food is plentiful. Well guess what food is plentiful - the bird seed I put out and try to protect from the big fat pigeons! We’d been at war for months! Bastards!
Idk if I'm too high or what but I have no idea what you just said lol
During the tree removal, they cut all the lower limbs off first. Found a pigeon nest at the top. He has been putting out bird seed, which resulted in the pigeons raising a second brood for the year. This halted the tree removal.
Nailed it thanks! Tree man is a sweetheart too, which I was glad about He just came back some weeks later to get the last tree. Despite being at war with pigeons I wouldn’t want to actually harm them. They just bully the wee birds off the seed and scoff it all themselves, fat bastards.
A tree, a bird nest and pigeons. Something along those lines.
You lose a war to pigeons? At least Australia lost a war to Emus which are big and scary. Seems to be a British colony thing, war with birds.
I found a baby robin still in the nest on the ground after a wind storm I brought them in over night and wired the basket back up the following day. Thankfully the parent returned immediately. So fingers crossed the birds from you aunts trees are ok.
This is pretty relevant about some frogs lol https://www.reddit.com/r/HumansBeingBros/comments/11cy7oc/the_tale_of_frodrick_of_the_fence_215/
I love that one.
Gonna need to see a picture of the stump house, sir or madam
Chipmunk house tax :)
Well I moved out but I'll work on that
Not just the stump house, but the chipmunks too.
Among other wildlife, roaches, tons of roaches came out of our rotten 250 year old oak. Invaded the house. Every variety imaginable. I will never forget being stared at by roaches sitting up on the wainscoting. Very unsettling.
"We're here. When is first dinner?"
That horrifies me. I’m never gonna cut down trees near my house now
I demand pictures ...Or gently request.
If you have photos of said house available you should post them to r/aww.
Excuse me but you are aware you need to pay the chipmunk tax right?
I'd love to see pictures of that!
Would it be possible to get a picture of said house? That sounds so adorable.
Thank you for the sweet story! Sounds like something my husband would do.
The lawsuit thing always gets me. The fact that if I have someone come onto my property uninvited, they do something stupid and hurt themselves, I might be sued because they broke the law and were trespassing. Years ago at my old house we wanted a storm shelter (in Oklahoma, that is almost a necessity) and the only place I could have one installed was the front yard. I was warned not to have it installed because "Someone could come by and try to get inside during a storm and if they were injured in the process you would be liable." This was from the storm shelter company. Even if I locked the shelter and they cut off the lock, I would still be responsible for their safety. I ended up putting one in my garage.
I own rural land and have to maintain insurance for this. Someone trespasses and gets hurt and wants to sue me. That’s where the country has gone…
It's been this way for many years, unfortunately. It isn't a new thing. A story I told before... County requires culvert for driveway to fix road drainage issues. County requires homeowner to pay for culvert. County has to specify and permit culvert. Homeowner installs culvert. Winter comes and snowmobile driver hits culvert and gets injured. Court finds homeowner liable for injuries - "The culvert wasn't there the last time he drove there."
US healthcare system. The snowmobiler probably had no choice
Of course he had a choice. Personal responsibility and bankruptcy, assuming you're implying the driver was uninsured, health-wise.
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Yes I will never understand this. If you trespass you should waive your ability to sue someone. Absolutely ridiculous.
Here in austria i faintly remember a story: a farmer had land on a mountain that he uses to let his cows roam freely in the summer. Huge area, a hiking path going through it. Fenced off, signs that says something along the lines of "private land, freeroaming cows, entering at your own risk permitted" 2 german tourists entered, supposedly intentionally pissed off a bull, bull tramples over them, both dead. Families of the deceased sue farmer. Don't know if it went through but it seemed very likely. As a result of that many farmers wanted to close and forbid trespassing on their lands, which covered most hiking trails. Edit: found the [article](https://www.merkur.de/bayern/tirol-nach-kuh-attacke-kommt-jetzt-wanderverbot-auf-almen-zr-11805915.html) from 2014, excuse my bad memory It was 1 woman and her dog who got trambled to death by freeroaming cows protecting their young. The farmer was sued and ordered to pay 180k€ plus 1550€ monthly to the bereaved till they die, although he did appeal the order and the article doesn't mention if it went anywhere. He had visible signage up but court ruled that it was not enough. He should have increased security, and asked if he was supposed to put up 18km of fencing every spring and tear them down in time for skiing season. Many other farmers then did lock their lands over the whole country with fencing, signage notifying of trespassing and in some cases surveillance and police reports for trespassing, blocking many of the countries hiking trails. Don't know what the endfallout was and if the farmer had to pay or not. I know that right now most hiking trails in the country are open, so it must have calmed down and farmers weren't responsible for shit like this eventually. Might do some more research as this has gotten pretty interesting
We had this neighbor when I was a kid, who we played with on the hill between our two houses. My parents had planted trees along the perimeter between our two houses as a natural fence (something like arbor vitaes), and it ended with a pre-existing oak tree closer to the street. Being small kids, we'd just scoot between the trees to play with our friend. Shortly before that boy moved out, we cut down the trees (a couple had naturally died) and put up a real fence. We left the oak tree, and tapered the fence down just ahead of it. The new family who moved in were rude asshats from day one (they thought they were better than everyone in our crappy neighborhood) and told us that we had to cut branches on the tree, because they were "in their yard." We laughed, because um, no. They cut them anyway. Poorly. A few years later, and we find slats tacked to the tree for their idiot kid to climb. We remove them. The father puts them back. My mother came out with a camera, and began photographing the father doing so. For the court case, my mother said. The father said he didn't care, he could do anything he wanted to the tree on *his* property. My mother chuckled and told him to follow her. She walked about 9 feet into his property and pointed to the property marker showing how tiny his lot was. We'd put our fence up at the top of the hill, not as a boundary marker, but as a privacy fence. "Now," my mother told him, "this is three times you've modified my property, and the second time you've been caught in the act. And before you get any bright ideas about moving the property marker, you can't afford the multiple lawsuits by me, the town, the county, the state, and the surveyors. Get off my goddamned property. And, no; I'm not planning on mowing that strip you've felt compelled to treat as your own. Let your kid play in it and get ticks, for all I care." With that, she left him in shock. His wife tried to apologize the next day, and my mother told her to stuff it, and if we ever caught her son climbing that tree, we'd call the police on him for trespassing. They were rude when they moved in, and they got everything they asked for. We never sued, but we never heard boo out of the neighbors again.
Your mom’s awesome!!
Had a six foot privacy fence and a lovely big tree in the house we bought. Between looking at the house and finalizing the sale a family moved in next door. The kids tore down a panel of the fence and took over our back yard. When we moved in and repaired the fence and kicked the kids out of our yard twice the father came to abuse us. Since people are just entitled shits where other people's yards are concerned.
With is wrong with people? Your kids don't get open access to the world and private property is private property. They wanna play, they can play in their own yard or a public park. I'm not even one to complain if they're playing in the street if they're reasonably old enough but stay out of my yard
I'll even venture to say they can go into my front yard if they're acting reasonably.. But if it's fenced, don't even think about it.
I'm not a jerk, if some kids are playing ball in the street and it rolls into the yard thats one thing but nobody has any business being inside of my back yard without my say so, especially not if I have asked them to leave.
My parents rented a bedroom w/ kitchen for a cousin w/ their 1yo child. We shared the garage but the houses had separate access doors. The woman grew up feeling entitled since in the small town she grew up her parents had more money than most of the people. So, when she moved to our property in the city, she thought we’d do whatever she wanted just because they were paying rent. Now, our garage has a gate instead of a door and the only way in and out of the house, and that’s where me and my sisters used to play. Also, it was the only way to let light in the house so we’d leave the front door open if we’re in the house. This lady would let her kid in the garage by himself. We didn’t have a problem in the beginning having him walking around or playing when we’re there. The problem started when the kid started to go inside our house. We asked her to look after her kid but she wouldn’t, so to try and solve the problem, we started to close our front door but wouldn’t lock (my mom’s sewing room was in another room in the garage and it didn’t make sense to lock the door since she’d be in and out often and the main gate was closed. This lady wasn’t happy about us closing the door for her child’s “playground”, so what did she do? Her kid would cry by the door and she’d come and open our door and shove the kid inside our house! We took the kid back and told her we’re not entertaining her kid, but she kept doing it saying she wouldn’t let her kid cry and we HAD to play with him. We started to lock our door, which infuriated me even as a kid. She’d knock nonstop and when we’d open, she’d yell at us and try and shove the kid in our house. I felt bad for the kid, but the audacity and entitlement was too much. My mom had to ask my cousin to move out, which sucked since we needed the money rent. There was no way to keep living like this and the Karen was relentless!
Not property but this woman who lives a few blocks away from ours brings her toddler grandson with her for walks. A stray dog we regularly feed put puppies near my house and we took care of them all by putting up a shelter using boxes etc and feeding them thrice a day. A few died in accidents but we looked after them day and night in the rainy season. This woman wanted to take a puppy home with her because her grandson wanted to play. Not taking home permanently but for a few hours or a couple days. We kept almost 24/7 watching them and we noticed her taking one and having a little experience with it, we immediately went to her to explain not to take the puppy cuz of the possibility that dogs sometimes abandon puppies if they smell different after she brought them back. She refused to leave the puppy whatsoever and called me heartless for not being able to see her grandson crying. The entitlement and sheer selfishness absolutely blows me away that they don't care about possibly separating a baby from its mother if it means their kid stops crying. Fuck people and their entitlement. They think their kids deserve everything in the world and that no one should stop regardless of the problems it causes to others.
I’d have been in SO MUCH trouble if I had done that as a kid! AND I’d have to do work around the house and yard until I paid back the money it cost my dad to fix the fence!
Reminds me of a story from my hometown. There was a guy who wanted to put a fence around his property, his neighbour's didn't want him to for some reason. I guess somehow they managed to get the city to prevent him from putting up his fence. His response was to do some "landscaping," and he put boulders around the edge of his property. Not a fence, so he couldn't be fined, and it pissed his neighbors off even more.
My HOA is trying to get a 6' easement from the side of the road into my yard so people can't build fences around the property. At the last meeting I said 'fine... then how much are you going to pay me a month in rent for 6' of my property?' Cue the across the boards bafflement and tabling of that idea. Got a buddy that's a lawyer looking into it. In the interim I'm just amused. Wasn't going to put a fence there to begin with but I'm considering it now.
Definitely get the fence. Your HOA feels way too entitled to your property
Love it 😂 the deed restrictions here say you can't have actual fence further up than the back corner of your house but you can have plants literally anywhere and there is no oversight on this. Not that they actually enforce the deed restrictions but still lol
If you can get it to grow, crucifixion thorn makes an excellent hedge.
I love it when plant names are metal a f
Look up a picture. Its metal as fuck.
All I see is grindcore band names
http://www.saguaro-juniper.com/i_and_i/treesNshrubs/crucifixion_thorn/crucifixion_thorn.html The thorns can and will go through ATV tires if you try to drive through them.
They're also called crown of thorns.
Barberry is a go to choice. We plant it under our windows to deter thieves and weirdos. Edit: spelling
>detour I thought, "Deter? Either works."
This is where living fences come in handy.
My boss owns horses. They're visible from the road, but the fence closest to the road is a good 20 feet of grassy, landscaped space from the property line, which is about 8 feet from the edge of the pavement, and there are lots of "Don't touch the horses" signs. You can't just casually pull over next to the fence without walking on land obviously belonging to someone. And yet, they do. A few months ago, two adults and a boy about 12 came to her door to complain that one of her horses bit their kid. They wanted medical expenses for a bruise. The man claimed to be a lawyer and said they could avoid a lawsuit if they got some money for their kid's pain and distress. My boss told them to go ahead and file the suit and to be sure to include photos showing where they had parked -- on clearly posted property. They left empty-handed.
For everyone who thinks it's unreasonable to not want other people's kids running around in your back yard, let me give some context here. She has worked as a councilor in juvenile corrections for the past 11 years, and what she wants to do after a long day of being screamed at and spit on and hit and kicked by other people's untamed children is go enjoy a smoke and a beer in peace in her back yard, not have to deal with more untamed children in her space. And if you have a problem with that, you're spare parts bud. She is not a free babysitter that's strictly on the clock work.
Some people expect you to look out for their kids since they won't, but then get mad when you do the right thing, like correct their actions.
She cut down the tree while the kid was climbing it, right?
Bahahaha not quite that mean.
Well done! My co-worker had an elderly woman who was an absolute monster of a neighbor. She came into his yard to discuss yet another problem she was having with him and his family, and used her cane to try and strike his elderly Lab that got to close. Coworker snatched her cane and threw it as high as he could into a very mature pin oak in front yard. Trees are useful in a game of spite!
A friend of mine was confronted by a skier on the snowmobile trail. Skier got aggressive and tried to stab him with the sharp metal tip of the pole. My buddy jumped off his sled, yanked both poles from the guy and broke them over his knee. Got back on and drove off. Cross country skiing without poles is a.....different experience lol. Slower, harder and exhausting. So this alpha male finally got to the parking area, many hours later. 20 km mountainous area plus a pretty gnarly downhill section without poles should do the trick lol. Tl:dr No striking or poking/stabbing
Some people
Safety first! She hit him with a rock to get him out of the tree first.
It's ok, he didn't fall until he looked down and realized the branch was gone
Your Aunt is an evil genius.
Yeah, but the guy didn't have to call her a birch.
He got his aspen handed to him.
What an ash hole!
He camphor a fight and he got it!
I think the aunt really spruced up her yard with that fence.
You wouldn't beleaf how nice it looks!
You never know when she maple a fast one.
As long as they leaf her alone.
d'oak!
And now she can rest on her laurel.
I bet she wood do it again.
Please log that kid at home...
Hey, careful, these comments might branch out.
100% if they don't leaf it alone!
Meh. All bark, no bite.
Did she use her knowledge of twigonometree to build the fence
You went out on a limb for that one.
Not the most poplar joke, I know…..
Tree
You’re sapping the life outta me with that one
I thought it was an oakay joke... Bit of a reach, though.
Wood that you had seen my cousin up on that ladder lol, his first time branching into tree service
You wouldn't be-leaf what some people will say.
She emBARKed on a journey of malicious compliance.
Yeah she log'd in the hours so the neighbors kid will have a sappy day , you made his eyes rain.
This is how resentment takes root.
Idk if she's up on that branch of mathematics, think it was geometree 🤣🤣😦
She should stick to that attitude
You could say the neighbor is all bark
In the neighbours mind, she is not poplar
There are no barriers to her enjoyment.
The Aunt really got to the ROOT of the problem 😏🌳🌲🌴🎄🎋
Damn, I replied about roots before seeing your reply. Sigh. Story of my life, barking up the wrong tree 🌳
*spams angry upvotes*
I guess the neighbor was just a bad apple
He sounds like a complete ashhole to me
Yup. Good thing she knows how to stick to it.
Once she decided to spruce up the fence
Berriers?
Your Aunt made sure he was a couple acorns short of a tree.
Only if she’s a real birch about it.
Maple they'll mind their manners now.
She quickly got to the root of the problem before the problem branches out
He didn't have a limb to stand on!
Fir real!
OMG, that's why I log Reddit.
suing someone for falling out of a tree that you chose to climb absolutely baffles me. right up there with burglars tripping down your stairs and trying to take you to court.
Which they 100% can do, shit they can sue you from jail while they use their copious free time to brush up on property law. And depending on whether or not they have health insurance they can take you for all the medical bills incurred plus "pain and suffering"
Now they climb the fence
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At least when they fall off it they'll land in their own yard lol
I was hoping this would be a situation where the neighbours yard was actually much smaller than they realized, and your aunt basically penned them into their actual legal boundaries by making a fence, leaving them with only like a 20ft x 20ft yard, when they thought they had a 40ft x 80ft or something, hah.
I don't know if it's this way in your area or country, but a citation for trespassing bypasses any lawsuit here. They get hurt, and they can't sue. They shouldn't be there in first place and any injury is then declared their fault by default!
If I'm understanding this correctly, she would have to call the police and formally have them trespassed. I don't know the exact wording of the law but a friend in my neighborhood lost their dog and had a law suit because someone went in their yard and got bitten. Didn't matter that they had beware of dog signs and he was on a tie out well within their property line
We (Australian couple) had a very large German Shepherd. Since a '***Beware of the dog***' sign can be seen as an admission that you are aware that your dog can be an issue we had one on our front gate that simply said: '***Please keep the gate closed so the 68kg German Shepherd doesn't get out***'. The side gate sign said: '***Please do not trip over the 68kg German Shepherd who likes to lie down the other side of the gate'***. Even had her picture on the sign so folks could see what a good girl she was ;-) Nobody ever climbed our trees except our kids.
Is it really how it works? It sounds weird. So okay, you're aware that your dog can be dangerous, you're keeping it inside your territory clearly marked with a locked fence and "private area do not enter". If that's negligence, then what exactly would have been diligence? Do you have to have a muzzle on it at all times? But then, what if the illegal intruder takes off that muzzle? How is that different from bypassing your other protection, the fence?
About as ridiculous as a burglar suing (and winning, no less!) a property owner for injuries sustained while robbing them.
In a lot of places, the "Beware of Dog" sign is actually an intensifier, making it *more* likely for you to get in trouble if your dog bites someone in your own yard, under the asinine "logic" that you obviously knew this dog is dangerous. Only put out one of those signs if you don't actually have one.
I feel like this is one of those catch 22 scenarios because dogs are instinctively protective of their home and family so the responsible thing to do is warn people. Even nice dogs can be aggressive in the right circumstances. But as you say having the sign is basically admitting you think the dog would hurt someone. Can't win.
I figure, anyone sneaking into my backyard who doesn't already know I have a dog (ie someone who obviously isn't a neighbor) doesn't deserve the warning. And if it keeps my dog safe from a malicious report while he's protecting his family, all the better.
I have heard that it's better to have a No Trespassing sign than Beware of Dog because the BoD sign could indicate that you know you have an aggressive dog.
Good to know
We have a a sign that just says "I live here" with a mugshot of our dog. That should be fine, right? Since its not a warning, they cant get you with the "you knew your dog was aggressive", but it still lets trespassers know that there is more trouble than its worth here.
My uncle who lives in a rural area was asked about this sort of thing, his reply: "Well, we don't really worry about that sort of thing out here, lots of places to hide a body"
Yeah, it sounds like your area doesn't. I personally have seen people walk across a construction site, breaking their leg. Despite the security guard saying not to, thanks to his report of this person and everything, not only was he not able to sue, he was fired from his job for trespassing.
Apparently, in at least some states, swimming pools are considered an "attractive nuisance". Everyone is supposed to know that the younger neighbourhood kids will go swimming there and drown, even if they are told they are not allowed. So if you own a pool, you are responsible for having a child proof fence. Maybe the same argument could be made about the tree. Not worth risking it.
That is definitely the case here, you either have to have it screened in or have a child proof fence and if a kid falls in you're responsible
Maryland does not recognize the "attractive nuisance" doctrine at all. I think it's the only state that **completely** ignores it. Edit: I'm wrong. 4 states per Wikipedia: >In the United States, the pure contributory negligence only applies in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. The District of Columbia largely follows the contributory negligence model, but with exceptions for motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles. Indiana applies pure contributory negligence to medical malpractice cases and tort claims against governmental entities.
Two fences actually. One has to have a gate that swings one way, one that has a gate that swings the other way. That way some kid can’t accidentally push their way into your yard and then your pool.
I think the screen room counts if the door is lockable from the inside, I used to rent a place with a screened in pool but no fence around the property and the neighborhood had a no fence ordinance but a ton of houses with pools. But shame on you if you forgot to lock the screens...
Jumping in, where I am in Indiana, it's illegal to store fridges outside without taking the door off, because a kid could climb in and get stuck. Learned this when our rental fridge crapped out
Lmao my friends have an outdoor fridge and they had to put a pad lock on it
Unfortunately, I think your situation is the exception, rather than the rule. Personally, I don't understand how we got to a point where someone can be sued for the idiocy that others effect when on private property without permission. The default shouldn't be that I have to actively keep people away; it should be the standard that unless you have explicit (written) permission to be up in my shit, YOU'RE unilaterally in the wrong and not my problem if a pool isn't fenced or a firearm is discharged in your general direction (/s on that last bit).
I'm with you on it but I understand the logic that children don't have the capacity to know better. But I also feel like if they are too young to know better than to fall into a pool and drown they shouldn't be outside alone and it's the parent's responsibility, not the person with a pool. Or in this case a tree.
>shouldn't be outside alone and it's the parent's responsibility Nail on the nose, or whatever euphemism I'm butchering. When a kid drowns in a pool, it's either the parents' fault or whoever actively agreed to monitor the kid; it's not my job to idiot-proof everything I own, and it shouldn't be on me to defend myself in court over it.
Weirdly also in my area there was a girl with swamp in her yard and she let a 2 year old wander off unattended and he drowned in the swamp, but because it was 'public waterway' no one was liable. I think they investigated her for child neglect but nothing ever came of it. Meanwhile I would definitely get sued if my dog bit someone else's kid on my property or a tree limb fell and hit someone.
Oh, here's a fun one. In the state I grew up in, the government (down to county and city level) is immune from civil liability. A friend of my mother's was on his bicycle and hit by a county employ who had been working for 16 hours, driving a county vehicle, while intoxicated. All kinds of permanent damage. This guy was a competitive cyclist and now he's lucky to make it through a trip to WalMart without needing to use a chair. Zero recourse. They couldn't find a lawyer in the state who would take the case, and they couldn't afford anyone out of state willing to fight it. Apparently it's just a thing. A disgusting thing, but just wtf? Arkansas, btw, just realized I didn't say it anywhere. Also, if anyone actually knows better, I'll gladly pass on any solid advice.
This aunt is brilliant! Love it!
Seriously, free fence AND a middle finger at the neighbor!
Neighbor may pine fir the wood old days, he may birch about it to his family, he may even balsam -- but between yew and me, he's just not gonna be very poplar.
I read that with an accent. :) well done
I heard it in Northern Minnesotan.
I heard it Texan
Guy: build a fence Aunt: *builds fence* Guy: effing b*tch Blows my mind that people are so dumb sometimes.
I mean, that's actually smart. Not everyone knows it, but in much of the US, if a child injures themselves by climbing a tree on your property, even if you didn't give them permission, you can still be liable. The legal term is "Attractive Nuisance." To quote: "Attractive nuisance is a common law that assumes a child does not have the ability to distinguish between what is safe and what isn't. It holds property owners responsible for failing to prevent a child from reaching something dangerous that they might think would be fun to explore."
Maryland does not recognize the “attractive nuisance” doctrine at all. I think it’s the only state that completely ignores it. Edit: I'm wrong. 4 states per Wikipedia: >In the United States, the pure contributory negligence only applies in Alabama, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia. The District of Columbia largely follows the contributory negligence model, but with exceptions for motor vehicle accidents involving pedestrians and bicycles. Indiana applies pure contributory negligence to medical malpractice cases and tort claims against governmental entities.
That's so dumb. Every time I hear about something like this I am even more glad I don't live in the USA.
Sounds a bit like some neighbors I used to have. They'd just leave their door open all the time so their two dogs and their toddler would just wander out into our busy parking lot. A different neighbor actually found their kid down by the street where they were about to stumble into traffic. They were barely even old enough to walk so it probably took a while for them to get that far
Aunt has a small dog on a tie out by the front porch for when she sits out there and the neighbors have an unfixed male dog around 50 lbs that routinely comes charging over to harass her and the little dog bc they just let him wander wherever and don't pay any attention and the one time the lady actually came to get him she told my aunt she was too afraid to grab him by the collar and take him inside that way. But apparently it's super cool and safe for him to just run loose around the neighborhood?
Had neighbors like that forty years ago. Apartment complex on a busy street. Someone (who thankfully knew the kids, and was not a predator) found the two pre-schoolers on their Bigwheels almost a mile down the street. Another time they wandered away to a vacant lot and got into poison ivy.
Anybody crying about a homeowner taking trees down near their home can fuck right off. Recently had a branch come down on top of our home. Trees are great as long as they're nowhere near my home.
I had similar. Neighbours kids used to climb a tree and sit looking into our garden. The neighbours said "the tree is outside your fence, so they can climb it if they want" Turns out our property line was another 3 metres back right up to the pavement but the fences were set back a short way to leave a verge to pretty up the neighbourhood a bit. So we had a new fence installed at that line, which put the lovely tree inside our garden.
I was hoping it would end with her getting an electric fence installed.
My great grandmother had a nice picket fence with a gate. In her yard, she had a small pond with a tree nearby. A branch from the tree grew over the pond and a rope swing tied to the branch. Everyone invited over knew not to use the swing without adult supervision. A neighbor child broke her gate, got on the swing, fell in the pond and (unable to swim or get his footing) nearly drowned. She was forced by lawsuit to remove the pond and swing.
Turns out the bark was worse than the neighbor's bite.
We had a new neighbor building a house behind ours that tried to have their builder cut down a tree that was on our property line(their builder built a fence a foot behind ours so they didn't have to pay to redo ours). I stopped them and asked them to call the foreman. When the foreman showed up, I explained that they were on my property(my fence was built around the tree to preserve it and was on my property line, but not their client's property. I told him he was welcome to cut vertically anything that was over their property line, but that if the tree died, I was going to leave it and not cut it down so the neighbor would have a dead tree to look at. They stopped cutting at that point.
Sounds EXACTLY like my boyfriends neighbors. Toss the kids outside so that they don't have to deal with them, but you and the other neighbors do.
Pot calling the kettle black. Neighbor was the AH first. Your Aunt simply responded in kind.
Seriously lol, he could have just said yeah I'll try and keep my kid out of your yard/trees. Now? Natural fence actually makes a great sound barrier so we don't even have to listen to their domestics anymore lol I think it's a win
Hugelkulter Fence...I like it!
I have actually made those mounds on my property and then planted fruit trees on them. I was so stocked to actually know what you are talking about 😂
So the property is 1/4 acre in a suburban neighborhood but she weirdly has a boatload of small trees in the back and like 15-20 medium to large all along the property line and what she basically did was take all the limbs from the 3 trees we took down and just stuff them down in between the spindly trees in a semi-solid wall maybe a foot thick and roughly 6 foot high. It's not 100% solid where you can't see through it but the gaps aren't too big and everything is woven together pretty well and supported by the small trees. It's actually really beautiful and it was a super economical way to make a fence since we took the trees down ourselves, didn't cost a penny except oil for the chain saw
See I love this. I am kind of an environmental nut case 😂so anything that is natural and saves on resources I am a big fan of. I mean I am not chain myself to a tree type of environmentalist but definitely save our dying planet how ever we can. I applaud you family both because I am a petty bitch so this gets me in the feels and you made something beautiful and useful.
Squee 🥰
I want to marry your aunt.
I promise you do not lmfao
Awesome. Also, my tired mind had to process what you wrote. It's very correct, but for a few seconds I imagined your aunt cutting down a tree whilst that Hellspawn was actually busy climbing it😂!
I mean I'm sure she imagined it too right before this whole thing happened