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["Gloria Morris" <gloriamorris59 AT gmail.com>]

I've never (yet) had to draw a gun on a trespasser, but I have taken
my gun along with me when I went to investigate who is prowling
around, especially at night. I figure better safe than sorry.

When a neighbor (a really disgusting ex-con who was in the habit of,
amongst other things, molesting little girls) decided to fell some
trees on a former homestead, I built a fence and posted the property.
I also made a point of doing some target shooting.  Additionally, I
let it be known in the neighborhood that I think child molesters ought
to be castrated at least, and possibly shot. He stopped wandering over
to my place!

In my present neighborhood, there have been attempts at nighttime
horse rustling close by. So when the dog sounds the alarm and alerts
back toward the horses, I take a gun along with a high powered spot
light - rustlers are generally not unarmed, and I won't take a cell
phone to a gun fight.

If I am successful in getting the house I'm presently negotiating to
buy, there is a problem with a neighbor who has recently built a fence
that encroaches on the land, and he's been mowing a portion of the
land as though it is his. His fence will be removed, and the entire
property will be fenced along the legal boundary. I've already asked
other neighbors about the encroacher. The consensus is that he's a
real jerk, but without any spine, so I should be able to right matters
quickly. He runs roughshod only over the spineless, which I'm not.

I welcome friends, but I don't care for strangers meandering about my
place. Don't at all care for finding a guy peering in my windows, etc.
Usually a dog is enough to scare off folks that don't belong, but I
think the appearance of someone packing a .357 is generally enough to
deter those who don't fear dogs.

Gloria

On 11/24/06, Gene GeRue <genegerue AT ruralize.com> wrote:
> Years ago I was at a dinner party at a nearby
> friend's house. Guests included our elected
> county judge. During after-dinner talk, John
> noted that the most contentious cases he heard
> involved property line disputes and charges of
> trespassing. Serious felonies caused anger but trespassing caused rage.
> Something there is in many of us otherwise gentle
> folk that brings out the base animal within when
> our territory is invaded. This article by TNYT
> gardening editor motivates me to ask you how you
> feel about and deal with those who violate your property rights.