Absolutely, resoundingly, yes it annoys me! What has happened to civility?

I had to laugh when I saw this thread though. It was timely. This afternoon coming home from work, I pulled up at the stop sign just by my house. I look over and see half a dozen little kids (and a teenager!) on the dirt slope we are preparing for planting. Three of them were tossing dirt like it was confetti. I whipped into the garage, raced through the back yard into the front and let 'em have it. "Who did this?! Let me see your hands!" These are the kids from a couple of doors down and the parents are lax but fairly responsible. Out comes mom and grandma and they weren't pleased. They made the kids go get brooms and sweep my sidewalk and stairs. The grandma is from Dutch-speaking Belgium and I speak Dutch. So we switched languages and while using very stern tones, had an amused little conversation about how kids will be kids and how cute they were looking so busted.

Believe me, this is heaven compared to what we used to put up with before the Pig People moved on.

I too get really riled...I am 100 percent with you on this. I taught my kids to stay on the sidewalk when walking somewhere. They were never even allowed to cut thru the neighbors back yards or short cut the corners on corner houses. It is my pet peeve. The neighborhood kids think I am mean about it I am sure..but it really riles me...my two dogs go haywire and wont shut up until the kid is out of sight and that alone drives me nuts..let alone the fact they cut across right under windows or thru flower beds sometimes.

I'm starting to think of investing in a fence.
In our part of town, homes line the streets, but everyone's backyard consists of huge tracts of open land. Since our heavy snowfalls late this winter, I have been serenaded at all hours of the night with the din of snowmobiles roaring past my bedroom window.
My neighbor calls the cops.
I just pray for rain.
(of course once the snow disappears, it will be the 4-wheelers!)
PattiOh who agrees that there could be far worse things happening!

YES! We live on a corner lot, and get a lot of traffic/people going by. A lot of kids walk to and from school on the sidewalk in front of our home. I've seen them cut through the yard, as well as messing with the plants along the walk. Last fall, I completely rearranged my plants out there due to this problem. They were breaking the tops off of some of my grasses! You guys know how much of a grass guy I am. I was furious. Apparently, no one teaches kids to respect other peoples property anymore.

It would not only annoy me, it would freak me out! Whenever I watch an American movie I always shake my head in disbelief at the fact that most houses seem so unsecure, with people being able to walk right up to your door without the security of a fence, wall, gate, etc. This does not happen here. Whenever a new house is being built, one of the first things to go up is a wall all around the property line. There are strict rules on how tall these permanent walls can be, but many people add additional chain link or solid metal fence on top.

Some of it is really too much for my taste, but I really enjoy the privacy and security this provides. Not to mention that damage to one's property is virtually non existent, if you keep your gate shut (or else is done by cats, who can climb everything :-)) I know the cultural context is different and habit is everything, but I would have a tough time at first to get used to the idea of someone knocking on my door unannounced or going to my back garden straight away. It would scare the bejeezus out of me! I think you are all very brave to live without fences.

Eduarda

In general I would say yes but I have an exception with this particular property. I live on a very busy street with no sidewalk. A lot of people walk down the street to the grocery store or the township park and pool. There is a fairly generous shoulder (parking lane they call it) but some people are still more comfortable walking in the grass. I actually didn't realize at first that people did this and I put in a flowerbed right along the street. Some people go around on streetside and some walk on my lawn. I don't really care about that. It's just grass and so far there has been no damage. The neighbor kid and his friends trying to climb my trees, however, was a whole different story.

What does truly piss me off about my busy street is all the people that drop their ciggarette butts (and other trash)out their window. They very quickly end up in my lawn and flowerbeds. In the last warm spell we had I avoided starting cleaning up my front beds for spring because I know the first thing I have to do is spend an hour picking up those nasty things.

"What does truly piss me off about my busy street is all the people that drop their ciggarette butts (and other trash)out their window. They very quickly end up in my lawn and flowerbeds. In the last warm spell we had I avoided starting cleaning up my front beds for spring because I know the first thing I have to do is spend an hour picking up those nasty things."

AH! This too! How could I forget? Being on a corner by a stop sign, I get all sorts of junk thrown into my yard. I walk my property pretty much everyday just to pick up trash(cig butts are always disgusting). Sad.

Thanks! I thought it was something wrong with "me" for being so annoyed about this.

I would love to have a fence around our property, but we have 1.5 acres and it's not in our foreseeable budget to put a fence in right now.

Eduarda when we lived in Europe, I enjoyed the security I felt with the homes having some manner of a wall/fence/gates constructed around them. Upon coming back to America and looking at our lifestyle, and given the crime in our society, it seemed odd to me that we do live in such an "open" manner.

I thought it'd be fun to share...here is a picture of a European home we lived in , and I truly fell in LOVE with this house. Notice the gate and wall. As Eduarda alluded to, this is standard in their society and I liked it a lot. I used to tell my DH that I wanted to build this exact house in America, he used to just look "dazed" and say (yeah?). LOL

This is my official dream house.

{{gwi:600129}}

I have to admit that it bothers me a little, but in a neighborhood w/ so many young children, there's not a lot I can do about it (since most are coming to play w/ my 3 kids!). I'm fortunate in the fact that most neighbors are meticulous about their lawns/gardens, so even the youngest kids know to behave in that regard. But there are still bikes/trikes/basketballs/footballs/scooters/etc. lined up along the drive, the edge of the yard along the street, the walkway, etc.

What can ya do - gotta let 'em play, I suppose. DH teases that, once all of the kids are grown & gone, I'm gonna be the "crazy flower lady" who yells at all the kids to "GET OFF MY LAWN & OUTTA MY FLOWERS!".

Ilsa

Flowermum, yep, this would be pretty much standard here - the wall and gate, I mean, not the house (we wished) :-) Where was this picture taken? Looks like Southern Europe, maybe Spain? due to the flat terrace roof with the stairs.

Of course, fencing a property here is not the same as in the US, because land is ridiculously expensive and so plots are waaaayyyyy smaller than in the US. All things in life have a reason, of course.

Eduarda

Hi, this house is in Southern Italy, on the outskirts of Naples.

It was amazing, I loved it there so much! The picture only shows directly in front of the house, the wall begins at the street with a double iron gate to the driveway which leads to the house. On a "clear" day (not smoggy) we could see the Mediterranean Sea from the rooftop.

: )

Well, I can certainly understand that cutting through your yards is annoying and a problem in city/town properties. I'm happy that I don't have to cope with that.

That said, we live on about 55 acres in a rural community and we've had our share of trespassers. For the most part it's just folks not knowing the boundaries. No way we are going to fence it all! Sometimes it's annoying though.

Our house is on a big corner lot with 40 acres of (our) woodlot behind. The first several years we had people driving in our yard thinking it was a road to somewhere! We had little kids so it was always a concern - even tried signage, but some people just didn't get it. Once the street got paved, the problem lessened. One time some guy walking a dog came right up our driveway, into the backyard, and on into the woods! The freaky part was I didn't even recognize him! In a rural community you get to know who your neighbours are, even if they don't live all that close. This guy was not a local.

I've had to "educate" some of the neighbourhood kids about trees and gardens and lawns. They all know now what the "rules" are and yes, they probably thought I was an ogre, but too bad. My own kids learned to respect other's property. It's a shame not all parents teach this. Then again, sometimes kids just do stuff without thinking - mine included!

One of the neighbour boys used to trespass IN MY HOUSE! He was about same age as my oldest DS and used to come looking for him (they were around 6 or 7 at the time). This kid would just walk in if no one answered the door. He came into the bathroom one afternoon while I was in the shower!!! Scared the crap out of him AND me! That was the LAST time he came in without knocking (and the last time I showered without locking the door) :)

Last summer a young fellow riding a 4-wheeler decided that the "newly cut" woods road, complete with bridges, that DH had just finished was a public "wheeler trail". I ran out like a madwoman one day and stopped him - 40 feet from my back deck!!! - to let him know it was private property. I was nice about it - he was pretty nonchalant and rude like I'd interfered with HIM. He didn't come back though. I didn't know him, either. DH put up a "no wheelers please" sign after that and so far it's been good.

There is a snowmobile trail through part of our woodlot (OK'd by the previous owner) and we don't mind them as much, as long as they stay out of our backyard. Once in awhile we got some "lost" snowmobilers, though. We just redirect them to the right trail.

Flowermum, have you tried talking to the teenagers in question. It's hard sometimes, but if you approach them at a time when they aren't in your yard and you aren't upset, and just explain your concerns it might solve the problem. For the most part, I'd like to think kids are basically good and sometimes just don't think about it from another point of view.

steven - I got a chuckle out of your "Dutch conversation" with the grandmother. Those poor kids were probably sweating!

Balsam, I wanted to say something but I thought perhaps I would have been over-reacting. I was trying to be the understanding, patient neighbor, but the more I tried to be understanding, the more annoyed I became. LOL

Actually I did tell the kid who repeatedly trespasses to not ride his bike on my grass...can you believe he actually rode his "bike" through our grass? I thought this would have registered with him to stay off my property, but after the lawn mower incident, he clearly needs the more direct approach.

Everyone here has helped me validate my feelings.

Thanks a lot!

We had a similar problem. None of the parents on our street teach their children to respect others property - not even their own. There is trash EVERYWHERE, especially from one home. The kids are free to smash up our postal box (or they where, but the police took care of that one), parents just stand out there and watch.
When we moved in, we found out the children had used this property for about 40 years as a playground. We had to make it very clear that since we did not have children, we did not want them playing here. They proceeded to egg our home for a few years. That is until I pretended I LOVED to have our house egged. Then it stopped. The smaller children stopped when I consistantly yelled and hassled their families about the problem (I am not a yeller, but it is the form of communication most used with this particular extended family) - I basically told them it was easier to just stop than have to deal with me. The teens continued so I started taking photographs of the tresspassing. Then I had proof. I simply showed the kids the photos and explained that tresspassing on property that is posted with a no tresspassing sign is illegal - and that I had unquestionable proof. I explained that all I was asking was for them to stop doing it, and to respect my property as I did theirs. This WAS a new concept to them, but they have done it and are now friendly to me.
We did put in a small fence around the main garden area that stopped people from entering the garden. It is not secure but gives the illusion that we are requesting security.
We had an unlocked partial fence on our adjacent property, and found someone in the area stealing our manure. A lock and a no tresspassing sign, then showing the individual the camera I would be using worked like a charm.

The teens were the most annoying. You know, they just go through that phase where they don't care what anyone thinks. Their parents however may feel differently. Try the camera a few times. You don't need to be consistant, it is better to catch people off guard. I also took photos in the dark. Honestly, they didn't capture a thing but the flash going off in the dark was effective. People would tell me to stop taking photos, I'd say "sure, when you stop tresspassing on my property". Using 'legal' words gets the message across.

GGG

Well, circumstances are different of course, but the tresspassers we get are hunters. They come at all times of the year. I could really care less if it's deer or coyote that they are after but I do get a little upset when it's turkey or pheasant. DH on the other hand goes after them loaded. Signs ARE posted so they've been warned. He hasn't shot anyone yet but he certainly gets his point across. Some of them stop at the house, ask permission etc. When they do he gladly tells them his rules and usually shows them where they'd have the most luck. All they have to do is ask...no need to invade.

Those who don't ask, tear up the pastures and knock down fences. They disturb the livestock and that really gets DH mad. They haven't accidentally (or on purpose?) shot a cow yet but they have no business in someones pastures or feilds without permission. And these are full grown ADULTS who not only know better but know it's completely against the law to boot.

Strangely, when I lived in the city, I never had tresspassers going through my yard. My first house was in a very derelect neighborhood and the second in a very nice neighborhood. I actually found the people in the poorer neighborhood to be friendlier and more polite. I also felt safer there, no one in the neighborhood ever got their homes broken into. Not so in the "nice" neighborhood. Strange.

MeMo

memo - I hear ya about the hunters too! We don't mind a few folks we know on the land hunting, but it's the ones that haven't got a clue where they are (back on to a subdivision!) and don't have enough respect to ask! We are seriously considering posting it this year. DH likes to hunt there, too, and 50 acres isn't a lot with more than one hunter. Hard to break old habits, I guess - not much enforcement of the "rules" in past years, but our area has built up a lot recently so it's now an issue of safety, as well as trespassing.

My problem is not so much trespassers, but dogs running around the neighborhood. There are several, two of them pit bulls, and I'm worried they'll eat my cat or my puppy one day. I let the puppy out in the front yard, but I always stay out with her, and so far she's never run off (knock wood). The dogs also poop in my yard, which I'm sure is not my puppy's poop, b/c these turds are bigger than she is!

The other problem I have is the girls in the neighborhood fighting in the street (it's a deadend street) and using bad language. I hollered over to them once, "that language is not very ladylike" and they looked at me like I was from another planet. They also yell at my cat, for no reason.

Also, there's a house at the other end of town that I walk past with my dogs, which has 2 big black labs that they let roam free. I think the dogs generally stay in the front yard, maybe roam to the neighbor's yard. We always walk on the opposite side of the street so as not to "intrude" on their space. Today they waited until we were 3 blocks away, and then ran after us. It startled my dogs, and my dogs started growling, which made these dogs growl, and I really thought there was going to be a fight.

Jen

Jen, many years ago we lived on a dead end street which was just as you described. The feeling of living around "uncivilized" people was both weird and scary. It was a wonderful place to walk, but at the end of the street there were several homes where mean, snarling dogs were allowed to roam free and grim-faced adults and teens just glared at you as you walked by. One dog attacked my husband in the middle of the street and he kicked the dog, who went howling back to his owner. The entire family of Neanderthals then followed my husband back up the street threatening to beat his brains out, shoot him etc. etc. Of course husband called the cops. Something is very wrong in the world when you can't walk down your own street without having to worry about being attacked by dogs. I hope something is done about them soon, Jen!!!

PattiOh

The only trespassers that I have to deal with are the four legged kind! I think I would rather deal with the 2 legged since they don't usually pee and poop (not to mention walk all over) my flower beds and yard!!! ARGH! It really is no fun to be out with your hands in the dirt to then notice you've just dug into a dried up poo left by my inconsiderate neighbors dogs. Not exactly the best fertilizer! Then I go out the other day to check on my new seed beds that have seemed to overcome torrential downpours and frost since I see sprouts (yes I'm sooo happy) and theirs dog paw prints all over them! So for me I'll take the 2 legged and you can have my 4 legged! LOL
Meghan

Before we built on our land, we used to have a couple of kids riding dirt bikes (motorcycles) come up a steep hill here, and cut across to a road. I stopped one once, and found him to be pretty decent about listening to me, but his response (whine) was "Well, where are we supposed to ride?" Not my problem, kid.

This reminds me of the folks that ride the four wheel ATVs. In our county they are quite restricted as to where they are allowed, and a group of them recently presented a petition to the county road commission signed by a thousand or so ATV owners. They said they had no place to ride. It was nice to see them going through the right channels, but I was struck by the thought that if they are right, then a thousand people had bought ATVs with no place to ride them. How smart was that? Does the public now owe them a place to ride?

After reading your stories and others I have heard elsewhere about trespassers, I feel very lucky that I live where I do.

ThinMan

TM, around here they have started letting ATV's drive on what have always been horse trails.

They tell the ATV'ers that they have to "yield" to the horses, but as anyone with half a brain can guess, the horses are totally freaked out by the 4-wheelers. Then the horse people started riding on the hiking trails, and now the hikers complain about the droppings they leave behind.

I think ATV's are great, if you have land and want to ride around on it, but it seems that most of these 4-wheelers have a sense of entitlement, that they should be able to ride them wherever they want. I don't ride my "4-hoofer" on other people's property without permission, nor do we trail-ride except on designated horse trails.

Jen

Anyone who walks by my home annoys me. My dogs bark at anything that moves. One positions himself on top of the couch to keep a look out the window. When someone passes by he alerts the others. Three dogs barking, OMGosh, it about sends me through the roof. Why didn't I get cats instead?...they are so much quieter.

Edna

Edna, I'm (muffling a giggle at the sentry dog on the couch) sorry about your canine chorus.

Dickens would like you to know that CATS can make a perfectly wonderful din by smashing through the Venetian blinds and clawing maniacally at the windows while yeowling (off key) at intruders.

Though they ARE quieter than dogs,
and smarter too, he thinks. ;-)

Patti

Any suggestions for this one? My neighbor who has 2 boys, under 12ish, that are there to visit with him 2 days a week and every weekend. They cut down the 4 large trees in their back yard and put in a full size basketball court! One of the backboards is right up at my 6' fence. Needless to say they miss a lot and I end up with a collection of basketballs in my back yard. They just open the gate and come in to get them. I have a small dog and fear that they will open the gate when she is outside and she will be gone in a flash. In the winter it hasn't been bad but the first time the ball lands in my gardens I think I will lose it completely. Have called the cops in past years when they rode ATVs around the house for hours including the 8 feet of property between our houses. It was all I could do not to damage the ATVs when they went to bed! Cops wrote them a ticket for not having helmets on and said it is private property and other than putting a fence between the house there was nothing I could do.

Marozneckinj - I don't know about the laws in your area, but in many places (most? all?) there is a trespass after warning law. Once the trespasser has been warned by the property owner or a police officer, they can be arrested the next time they trespass. It's good to have an officer do the warning, because there will be a record of it when the case goes to court. The basketball problem is a tough one, because you want to be a good neighbor, but at the same time, they can't legally make your backyard part of their ball court either. If you don't want to be a hardnose and ban them completely, you could always lock the gate and make them climb the fence if they need their ball. At least that way your dog would never get out.

ThinMan

Maro, that is a tough one. I have been the one on the other side of the fence however. I had young children and the neighbor was very elderly...and MEAN! lol When the kids lost a frisbee over the fence they never saw it again. I never allowed them to retrieve it however and your neighbor is being inconsiderate by allowing his children to cross over into your space. Have you tried speakig to the parent? Plant some shrubs in the space between the houses, that should stop the four-wheelers.

Good luck,
MeMo

Maro, yes it's rather a tough call, but in my thinking I'd try to go the tolerant route. From experience on both sides of an issue like this, I know that "the heavy" gets seen in a bad light, whether or not it's justified and, unfortunately, some kids (or even adults!) will retaliate by increasing the behaviour.

There is a simple solution to the basketball thing, though: talk to your neighbour and kindly explain why his boys shooting and retrieving basketballs in your yard is unacceptable. It is your property, after all. Then suggest he erect a catch net on top of the fence behind the basketball court. Fairly inexpensive, fairly easy. I would definately try this route before calling the police. Sounds like this father is just trying to make a good home life for his boys? They are AT home where he knows they are, rather than out somewhere he doesn't.

If you try a friendly approach, you may even find that these kids are pretty nice - just "uneducated" in neighbourly etiquette. That's what I've found in my neighbourhood.

As a former neighbor to a family with three sports-playing kids, I heartly agree with MeMo and Balsam. Speak to the parent. The old "catch more flies with honey than vinegar" adage never HURTS.
Aristole was a great beliver in the power of praise, and I am too. I realize this is "easier said than done" but even if you don't have a good existing relationship with the father, it doesn't automatically mean it can't be imporved upon. A smile and PRAISE to the father for his efforts in making a wholesome environment for his lads, and how lucky the boys are to have such a caring dad, blah, blah, might help to start things off in the right direction. Then tell him your problem with the balls coming into his yard and ask for his help. Some kind of catchnet as Balsam suggested, sounds good to me.

Very tough, dealing with neighbors. No easy solutions, that's for sure. Best of luck to you!
PattiOh

Yes! We had two men break into our barn while I was home alone one day. I didn't know they were there and I went outside to stand in the driveway in front of our house while I talked on the phone. I just happened to look up when one of them stepped out of the barn. I stood there and stared and he popped back inside. They waited awhile and then both of them stuck their heads out. Eventually they came walking out and acted all nonchalant because, as they put it, they were just working on the house next door. I didn't say anything, just stared at them. They got in their truck and drove away. A couple days later, someone stole my husband's lawnmower out of the garage. Then a few days after that, they stole our bbq grill. My husband reported it to the police and when our neighbor's dad found out what had happened, he spoke very sternly to the people working on that property and told them that the barn wasn't theirs and that the workers were to stay off our property. My husband installed a motion detector light after that. I still jump up with my heart pounding when it goes off in the middle of the night.

We also get hunters, which I don't like because they aren't smart enough to shoot away from the houses around here and my neighbors and I all have small children that like to play outside.

On top of that, we have a nasty neighbor who dumped their oil cans on the conservation land across the street and dumped several wheelbarrowfuls of dirt on our property, right on top of one of our old rock walls. He also liked to mow part of our hay field when he mowed his lawn and I suspect that he drains his swimming pool onto our property. My husband left a note on their door once asking them to not mow our field and not dump anything on our property. I haven't seen them do any of that since then, but I got wind of someone saying that our neighbor once told them that they hope we're not mad at them. If they don't want me to be mad at them, then either they should have thought of that or they should have come to apologize.

I would be furious if anyone opened my gate without my permission. I have 3 dogs. I would say something to the kids and parents, then quickly put a lock on my gate.

The nerve of some people these days. What happened to ethics and being polite?

Circa1825, now that's downright scary. It happens out here too. People snooping, looking for buried treasure or something??! But to snoop and then come back over and over and steal from you...scary!

I have to ask...is your home circa 1825? I'm envisioning one of those old east coast mansions.

MeMo

MeMo - I guess they were just being dorks because they thought no one was around to catch them. I suspect if there had been something worth stealing out of the barn, and if I hadn't shown up in the driveway, then they probably would've stolen something out of there. When my husband came home, we went in the barn to see what they had done. There was a very old bike up on a platform in the barn and they had taken it down and ridden it around until they bent the rim. I was a bit annoyed about that because I had wanted to clean it up and hang it in the barn for display, but things could have been much worse so I didn't let that get to me. My house is circa 1825, but it isn't anywhere close to being a mansion. I hope to finish painting it this year... FINALLY!... and maybe that'll make it seem more mansion-like. You can see it on my member page: circa1825.

I don't have to deal with trespassers in my yard, but I do live on a street with a lot of foot traffic. There are a couple of mercados at the end of our street and several ice cream trucks that go up and down our street all day, which results in tons of trash (namely plastic bags and various wrappers) that people throw into the street. However, the trash doesn't stay in the street, but rather blows under my picket fence and into my yard. Not to mention people will leave beer bottles and other trash on our curb and we are littered with advertisements being hung on our fence. I'm always cleaning up someone elses trash and it makes me crazy!

Also, people feel they have a right to pick my roses that are grown in pots, in my yard, near the picket fence. I've even had some little girls down the street tell me that their mother will cut those roses and give them to relatives. I had my first bloom on my Barbara Bush rose clipped and taken this morning. I can't move the plants because they get the most sun in that spot, but it's so frustrating to put all that work into roses and have someone so callously take the fruits of your labor.

Prior to living where we are now, we lived in the country in a mobile home on 3 acres of land in a mostly wooded area. Every year on opening hunting weekend I would leave home before first light and return after dark. The year before we bought our home someone shot right through the middle of the living room with the bullet coming in the north side and passing out the south side! We didn't find this out until after we purchased the home.

We lived there for 10 years. The past few years it had gotten better as most neighbors had posted their land. But still, a few would try to hunt there anyway.
Marylu

It's amusing to see that the problem exists whether you live on acres of land in the country or a corner lot in the city.

I just bought a house in a college town next door to a houseful of students. My house had sat vacant for at least a year before I bought it and during that time they got used to walking through the front yard to access a parking lot and a liquor store South of our street. At first it was just startling to look up from my sofa to see a head bobbing outside my window, but also they had worn a path through the poor raggedy lawn. I thought about it for a little and then added a bit of decorative fencing to the area where they were cutting through a hedge. This at least stopped the traffic over the lawn, but they still use my front walk as if it was a short cut to their house rather than to my front door. It's gotten to the point that I've started calling out "Hi!" through the window when I see them on my walk. I mean, they must be coming to visit, right? ;-)

Ah well. The whole houseload will be moving out within the next two weeks and DH and I have vowed to train this new bunch from the very first day...

Nah. I just shoot them.

I live on a little 3 acre lot that backs up to a 700+ acre Civil War historical park. Once I began clearing the brush from the woods, (which were impassable when I first moved here), I began to have problems with trespassers metal locating for relics. The latest relic thief has been unbelievably destructive. He apparently sneaks in at night, has left hundreds of holes all over the property and damaged the banks on the creek to the point they are beginning to collapse in places. Here in NW Georgia we had several years of drought conditions until late this summer and his damage to the roots on ferns, dogwoods, wild azalea, etc., weakened or killed many of them. Worst of all was his sneaking right into the yard and flower beds near the house and destroying heirloom plants I had brought from my grandmother's farm and from the property I grew up on. I don't guess in the dark he can tell he is digging in fill dirt and compost as the house is built on 3-5' of fill dirt.
I have posted signs, filed reports with the police, left lights in the woods, put up two cameras (which don't do much because the red glow of the infrared lighting is too easy to spot). He always manages to dig where I don't have lights or cameras.
I tried using a metal detector before I planted anything but along the edges of the old terraces where I most want to plant there seem to be strands of disintegrated barbed wire that is impossible to totally get rid of (plus too many iron containing "hot rocks").
I even planted some "kitty land mines" by poking a hole, dropping in a bottle cap or bent nail, some really fresh cat poop, then covering the hole back up. (Can you hear how desperate and half crazy this has made me?!)
Finally it dawned on me to try laying chicken or hog wire down around where I plant and around existing plantings, then covering it with dirt and mulch. It should block signals of anything else and make it really hard to dig.
Crossing my fingers that this will do it.
Has anyone else run up against something like this?!

Grace, that is absolutely terrible that you have to endure that crap. What a jerk this person is!

I ran across a no-trespassing sign that I thought was funny and could do the trick: "Prayer is the best way to meet GOD, Trespassing is Faster."

LOL

Grace, that is just crazy! Only in Georgia, huh?

Grace - use black electrical tape to block the lights - that's what I was going to say, then thought, idiot - that's how they work!!! Sigh. There must be a stealth way to do it. Then again, the really nasty side of me said bear traps!!! If you post that you have them - lit signs - are you allowed to have them on your property. I know this is really awful, but talk to the local cops. There is a large stone quarry up the road from me - it has a huge sign at the gate: Attention: bear trapping in progress. I suspect that it keeps more a few people off the land. And btw, don't cry wolf.

Who says Canadians are nice?? lol.

Nancy.

"Has anyone else run up against something like this?!"

Heavens no! Who would have the nerve? Oh my gosh, what a creepy person(s)