neighbour sabotaging my crops!!

[PaulG]

nellie you're a genius!!!.. it'll help me fill in the blanks

Sorry for everything you have and are being put through, just catching up on this thread, before you use this thread for legal purposes please consult the owners of the website just in case there are legal reasons why it cannot be used. As a rule all posts on a forum are the property of the website owners and there are many laws that can make it hard on the owners if threads become embroiled in a legal dispute, not saying this site will be the same but always best to check.

I agree with those who say phone the police over every action, once it is logged in their system it is very hard for it to be ignored especially after a lot of complaints. Take photos of everything, like the car being parked that way, if you are buying a security camera make sure it has a proper date/time stamp which gets recorded onto the video it records.

Depending on your relationships with other neighbours you could ask them if they have ever seen or heard anything, could they keep an eye open and if they have or do see something would the give an independant report for you, one on one complaints can take a very long time to sort out, as soon as other people are making complaints or coming forward as witnesses the police step up the speed they work at because it increases the chances of a conviction should it need to go that far.

[zazen999]

Paul, I think ckfe was just using the posts on here to fill in the blanks in their diary, not as actual evidence.

[Storming Norman]

Re the squirrels - how about getting a trap for them, catching them and taking them away to the local park?

Far more frustrating for your neighbour [if they spot you - but they possibly won't] than trying to remove your nets, which could happen easily. Sounds like this could be par for the course.

Personally I don't think the nets will work with the squirrels, and it will only make the bombardment of nuts thicker. Have you seen them trying to get nuts from bird feeders? They are made of metal and the squirrel usually succeeds eventually.

Best of luck with this one, whatever you do please try to avoid retaliation in any way. It's tempting to sort this out but can backfire and ups the trouble for you.

Oh - having said that I had a problem with a neighbour and his music. It was so loud they could not hear me banging on the front door or me on the phone calling him. We borrowed a very loud sound system - turned it on full blast on some dreadful music, turned the speakers to their wall and went out for a few hours. It never happened again. But then again my problem neighbour was rational, if ignorant, I doubt yours is.

[ckfe]

It's tempting to sort this out but can backfire and ups the trouble for you.

yes it is REALLY tempting .. got to try and stay calm for my daughters sake though, don't want her to see any nastiness.. it was so sad the other day when her nana got attacked.. she didn't see the attack but as soon as she saw the scratches on her nana she went and got her kiddie plasters (very bright with disney characters) and put them on the cuts

heartbreaking

[NOG]

my partner has built me a cage with netting over it

Why don't you put your neighbour in it.

[ckfe]

Why don't you put your neighbour in it.

good idea!!! i could let the squirrels throw nuts at her

[FB.]

Squirrels are classed as vermin. Subject to being able to comply with the law and general safety precautions, I would pull out one of my air rifles - and within a couple of days, there would be no more squirrels.

[Incy]

Squirrels are classed as vermin. Subject to being able to comply with the law and general safety precautions, I would pull out one of my air rifles - and within a couple of days, there would be no more squirrels.

Unfortunately regulations around the use of an air rifle states that it cannot be used within 50ft of a public highway or footpath. Living in Eccles I very much doubt ckfe is able to be 50ft from a road in all directions.
It is however true that it is legal to kill grey squirrels as they are on the official list of vermin.

[ckfe]

Unfortunately regulations around the use of an air rifle states that it cannot be used within 50ft of a public highway or footpath. Living in Eccles I very much doubt ckfe is able to be 50ft from a road in all directions.
It is however true that it is legal to kill grey squirrels as they are on the official list of vermin.

is that a 50ft radius or does it mean that if i go to the far end of the garden (which including the house must be 50ft from the path) i can't shoot them?

[Incy]

Yes it is radius, so 50ft any direction.
We actually checked this out as OH wanted to get an air rifle to shoot the squirrels in our garden. There has been a population explosion this year
We are lucky to have a very big garden but if you stand 50ft from the back wall (squirrels live in the mature trees at the back) and are therefore far enough away from the public path at the back, then you are probably not quite 50ft from the road at the front the other directions don't matter as we are at the top of a cul de sac so no worries side to side.

[Hilary B]

Not only is it legal to kill grey squirrels (and apparently they are good to eat, waste not want not), but if you catch one in a trap it is illegal to let it go, you HAVE to kill it. Could you?
My own thought is that if the pesky things had been fattened on my veg, it would be only reasonable to enjoy a stew.....

[Incy]

Not only is it legal to kill grey squirrels (and apparently they are good to eat, waste not want not), but if you catch one in a trap it is illegal to let it go, you HAVE to kill it. Could you?
My own thought is that if the pesky things had been fattened on my veg, it would be only reasonable to enjoy a stew.....

I did wonder when I saw adverts for squirrel traps, what the heck you were supposed to do with them once you caught them
I'm fairly sure someone would have something to say if you released a bunch of squirrels in a local wood or anywhere near a farmers land.
Stew sounds like a plan

[FB.]

Unfortunately regulations around the use of an air rifle states that it cannot be used within 50ft of a public highway or footpath. Living in Eccles I very much doubt ckfe is able to be 50ft from a road in all directions.
It is however true that it is legal to kill grey squirrels as they are on the official list of vermin.

Hence why I said "subject to....." in bold type, since there are some little-known laws.

My understanding is that it is only an offence if a member of the public is made to feel uncomfortable or alarmed by your actions, within that 50ft radius.
Have a read of this link, from which I have lifted the following quote:

"....• It is an offence to fire your gun within fifty feet (fifteen metres) of the centre of a public road in such a way as to endanger or impede any road user."

Another important legal requirement is that any "misses" do not leave your land.

[Hazel at the Hill]

I did wonder when I saw adverts for squirrel traps, what the heck you were supposed to do with them once you caught them

You put the trap in a big bucket of water and drown them.

Well I wouldn't, but that's how it is done apparently.

[FB.]

You put the trap in a big bucket of water and drown them.

Well I wouldn't, but that's how it is done apparently.

Well, you certainly don't want to be putting your hands into the cage to get the squirrels out! Not even with thick gloves. Squirrels will literally chew their way through your hands in seconds.
I would despatch trapped small vermin (squirrels, rabbits, rats etc) with a large calibre, high-powered, airgun at close range (not your average tin-can-alley airgun, which may lack the power). If I were doing it on a regular basis, I'd get one of the Falcon multishot pneumatic pistols in .22 calibre - they can put out about 5ftlb muzzle energy, which will give humane kills of small vermin at very close ranges. Not many other air pistols have the power or accuracy, although a few people use a Weihrauch HW45, which can also make 5ftlb.