trespassing and seedy looking teenagers

E

emy

Cathlete
You input needed! So, at random times I see anywhere from 2-5 scruffy, smoking teenagers trespassing on my property. They walk down my driveway, past the side of my house, and through a forested path in my backyard and disappear into the woods behind my property. I think use it as a shortcut to a subdivision on the other side of the woods.

It really bothers me!

They have never done it when I am outside (they probably wouldn't if they saw us, but who knows!) What would you all do? Also, it has always been when I am home alone with my kids (2 and 6 months), so of course I never say anything to them (they look like they would either ignore me anyway or say something crude).

If this happened to you, what would you do?
 
I don't blame you for being upset. That would really bother me, too. And I can understand your hesitancy to say anything to them when you're by yourself with your children. Is there any chance your DH could say something? Is he ever home when this happens? If you knew who they were you could call their parents.

How about your neighbors--have any of them had the same problem? There's power in numbers. Maybe you AND a neighbor, together, could confront them and ask them to stop using your yard as a short cut.

HTH

Michele :)
 
I had the same problem this summer. A group of older kids would go through my yard in to the woods and it really bothered me. I called a friend of mine to put up a fence around my property line. It solved the problem right away.
 
I second the fence idea, if you can do that. I am not sure it would solve anything to actually confront the potential hoodlums, as they may be more likely to vandalize your property than to keep off. You know how kids are. (Ick.)

Good luck - I feel for you!

Marie
 
Hi emy,

If you can do it, I'd go with a fence and/or a no tresapssing sign on both ends of your property, so there's no question about your intentions.

HTH
 
We have 2 old english mastiff puppies for sale Emy. NOBODY EVER trespasses on our property.....EVER. EVER. Mastiff's are extremely friendly....but know when there is trouble and aren't biters. They're appearance is what detour's people. Best of all they love kids. I'll give ya an incredible deal and even throw in a copy of "created to be his helpmeet" ;) ;) ;) ;) . OOOOOORRRRRRRR you could hire AJ to stand on the property line....bicep veins speak for themselves...you'll never see them again.

This would REALLY bother me too. Hope you find a solution kiddo.

Briee
 
hi Emy!

Sorry you are dealing with this. DH and I have dealt with this same thing and then some! We have chased kids out of our Japanese Maples, off of our woodpile, away from our day lilies, told them to leave our plantings alone (they dug them up looking for worms and snakes), told them any bikes left on our front lawn would be given to Salvation Army and insisted that the neighborhood teenagers not spend all day hanging out at the bottom of our driveway (it's a dead end) smoking and littering. Fences are good but I will say that talking to the kids did help. When they were engaged in these behaviors we very calmly approached them and in a friendly way explained to them what we would not put up with. For instance, DH went out once and said to the teenage boys hanging at the end of the driveway, "Hey guys, go hang out in front of your own houses, please. You make alot of noise and leave butts in my driveway." Then before they could respond he said, "Thanks guys! Appreciate it!" and came back into the house. Shocking to say, it actually worked! Maybe you could just give the boys the heads up first. I have found that alot of kids today simply haven't been taught to respect other people's property so in their minds they may not be doing a thing wrong.

OK, it seems I am incapable of writing a short post. HTH, at any rate!

Sparrow

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
I work for a very small town that has a very large university in it. We deal with these types of problems on a continual basis (thank god for summer breaks!), so I have a little bit of insight.

First of all, fences & dogs are good. Fences & dogs are your friends. ;-)

Also, contact your town/city administrator and/or your councilmember. They are the closest governmental officials to you & they will listen. What they can do is "task force" your area, meaning stationing an unmarked police car there for a few minutes every couple of days--basically it's spot enforcement. If you know what time of day this occurs, they could catch the kids red handed, put the fear of god into them, & hopefully they won't bother you anymore.

And let me stress, DO NOT speak to them or confront them on your own. That will not solve your problem & probably will result in property damage or worse.

Hope this helps........
 
>And let me stress, DO NOT speak to them or confront them on
>your own. That will not solve your problem & probably will
>result in property damage or worse.
>
>Hope this helps........

Well, it might solve the problem, as it did in my case. Each person has to judge her own situation of course but if these are just a couple of kids scuffing through the yard I see nothing wrong with an adult who owns the property approaching them with a postive attitude and telling them you'd prefer that they did not shortcut through your yard. If it continues then call the police by all means. Many many many kids dress in that scruffy fashion today; does not necessarily mean that they are thugs or bad kids.

Wow, a positive post about kids from me! :D

Sparrow


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
>Around here, guns go off if your walking on another's
>property without their permission.
>
>Charlotte~~

LOL, Charlotte. My friend from rural GA said the same thing! She said if I lived in GA strangers on my property would have been a legally defensible reason for me to go out on my front porch and wave my gun around. I love it!

Sparrow


Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
Charlotte and Sparrow...you guys are too funny. Same thing here. In fact my dh just got a call from the local law enforcement office not more than 15 minutes ago asking for donations and dh turned them down. The officer said...."wouldn't you appreciate better protection" and dh told him he depends on smith and wesson. The officer started laughing uncontrollably and finally regained his composure and said..."that's the best come back I've had all night sir....how about just $10????". Dh said he'd use the 10 for ammo, but thanked him and wished him luck.

I like the country.

Back to Emy...I hope you have some ideas here (not from us obviously...but from others?)...keep us posted!!

Briee
 
>Charlotte and Sparrow...you guys are too funny. Same thing
>here. In fact my dh just got a call from the local law
>enforcement office not more than 15 minutes ago asking for
>donations and dh turned them down. The officer
>said...."wouldn't you appreciate better protection" and dh
>told him he depends on smith and wesson. The officer started
>laughing uncontrollably and finally regained his composure and
>said..."that's the best come back I've had all night
>sir....how about just $10????". Dh said he'd use the 10 for
>ammo, but thanked him and wished him luck.
>
>I like the country.
>
>Back to Emy...I hope you have some ideas here (not from us
>obviously...but from others?)...keep us posted!!
>
>Briee

Briee, that reminds me of the old saying, "God didn't create men and women equal, Colonel Colt did." :p

Sparrow

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming ‘Wow - what a ride!’ — Peter Sage
 
Maybe these "seedy" looking teens are not as terrible as everyone seems to be making them out to be. they are probably hanging out together, smoking, etc. because they feel neglected at home. How about inviting them over for some ice tea?
 
Hi Emy,
Have you thought of contacting your local police/sheriffs dept? I am a dispatcher for a rural Washington state sheriffs dept and a lot of people have the same problem you are having, and we send officers out to tell the subjects they are not to be on the property, or using it as a short cut. In our state, they get one warning, then they get a citations, third time they go to jail or juvenile detention. If this in not an option for you, I agree with the large dog and fence!!
Good luck!
Pam
 
We had various teenagers cutting through our property and that's why my DH put in a fence. We have a chocolate labrador but she only gets protective if it's a strange man, not if it's kids or women. Then she wants to play. The fence ended all the trespassing issues. HTH /karen
 
You all have good senses of humor! And yes, it is true, that all teenagers are not bad, but I still don't want them on my property. Also, don't want one of their cig butts burning down the woods!

I'm going to show my husband your posts and see what he thinks. He doesn't have a problem confronting them himself, but so far he has not been here during any of the incidents.

Does anyone think that discretely following them to see where they live and talking to the parents will help?
 
Original poster, in all honesty, I think it would be somewhat (perhaps exceedingly) risky to confront these teens alone, and even more so to follow them to their parents' homes. They could be the proverbial harmless kids with a bit too much time on their hands, OR they could be some miscreants with miscreant parents who are whacked out on booze, meth or what have you. As much as we'd all like to think we're in a "Pay It Forward" world, we're stuck here on Planet Earth, and PE gets more dangerous by the day. I'm sure if your local law enforcement were notified, that unit would know how to approach these teens kindly but firmly.

I still think that the idea of a fence is a sound one, albeit expensive. Not only do you have to consider your own personal privacy and safety, you also have to consider how you and your husband might be held liable if one of these kids were to be injured while on your property. Homeowners can be and are sued for injuries sustained by strangers while the strangers were on their property uninvited, and although it is a defense in a civil suit that the injured were there uninvited, this defense has no guarantee of a disposition in your favor, and it's expensive to get to that point in a civil suit. I'm not an attorney, but I've heard some horror stories of homeowners in exactly your position.

JMHO -

A-Jock
 
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