Unruly neighbor animals

kintyre 3/25/2010, 11:11 am

I just started a square on my patio Tuesday and went out today to see how it was holding up in the rain to find dog crap in it. I live in a townhome with open backyards and I'm furious. What idiot lets their pet crap in someones planter? Any ideas? Do I just dig it out and hope everything's okay?

Lavender Debs 3/25/2010, 11:38 am

kintyre wrote:What idiot lets their pet crap in someones planter?

The neighbor who lets their puppy out the back door to "go" in the AM instead of walking it with a bag at ready.

Yes, remove it to a plastic bag and put it into the garbage bin. I didn't see where you are at so I don't know how far along your garden might be but unless the feces came into contact with the edible portion of your plant (i.e. if it is a seedling, transplant or still just soil), you will be fine. I know that just the remembrance of it can do it for me. If it is the same for you, do whatever makes you feel better.

Then re-aim your security camera to your box so that you can catch the perp before you go to the landlord. A pet owner who is lazy enough to do this will tell you that it is natural and normal for their pet, choosing to overlook that the dropping was in your space, not theirs.

My son once solved the problem but did not make for good "over the fence" relations. Once he knew who was allowing this, had confronted them to no avail. He quietly shoveled up the pile, walked it to the owner’s home and dropped it in their yard, reminding them when they complained that they chose to have the dog, they can deal with "natural and normal".

Passive aggressive doesn't always work. I hope you come up with something better.

Deborah .....who later got blamed for everything she “let” her son do while they lived there.

kintyre 3/25/2010, 12:03 pm

We only planted on Tuesday, so I'm glad to know it's alright. Although we'll see about whether we eat it or not. It was a project with kids too, so they can at least have the joy of seeing things grow whether we choose to eat it or not. Thanks for the advice! And I enjoy your son's solution even if you did get blamed. I hope it didn't make life too miserable for you.

swripley 3/25/2010, 12:20 pm

Not sure if this is passive aggressive but I had the same problem with my neighbor’s cats. They were using my raised flower beds as their litter box and my favorite perennial geranium as a bed. I didn't have the health concerns as I wasn't going to eat anything that came into contact but it was very unpleasant and mashed the heck out of my geranium. I placed several of the old fashion spring loaded mouse traps in their favorite deposit sites and within a matter of days all signs of cat activity had disappeared. The traps weren't large enough to do any harm just scared them from using that spot. It's been several years, the cats still live next door but they steer clear of my beds. They must have long memories.

As the owner of two very large dogs (nearly 300 pounds combined) who do their business two - three times a day, it absolutely infuriates me when dog owners don't clean up behind their pets. Every time I walk them through the neighborhood and get the evil eye from people I know that someone has left poo in their yard and they think it is us. How hard is it to carry a plastic sack!

Lavender Debs 3/25/2010, 1:30 pm

Swrip it falls in the catagory of "sweet!"
We had to resort to that in our herb garden at our last place.
Kitty looked like a cartoon cat that jumped straight up and ran on air.
We might have put a few too many in the garden to make our point.

Deborah ....have you seen those water blasters that come on when the sensor detects an animal (or person?)

kintyre 3/25/2010, 1:59 pm

That would be awesome. I'm thinking mouse traps. Or I saw cayenne pepper somewhere else. Cayenne pepper is less trackable, as we have crazy nazi HOA members who cite you for everything. Which is why I thought it was a person allowing their pet into our planter, because any animal not on a leash would cause an uproar.

734Greenhouse 4/28/2010, 3:19 pm

Hello everyone I am new and will post an intro in a few but I just had to reply here before I forgot.
I have the same problems. I just implemented a "scarecrow". It is the battery powered motion sensor water shooting thing. I hook up my "scarecrow" so any sneaky visitors who come in the area are met with a quick blast of water. It scares them away plus it helps to train them not to come to your area. I just flip the switch to "off" when I am going out there. I need 2 more now for the front and side of the house to keep cats/dogs from "doin' business" in MY flower beds.

Lavender Debs 4/28/2010, 3:29 pm

Welcome green! You should talk to middlemomma, we just had a whole talk about dog poop from other peoples dogs in a thread called "Blackberries" I bet she would like to hear about your success.

kintyre 4/28/2010, 3:47 pm

As an update, I dumped half a bottle of cayenne pepper on my little box and haven't had a problem since (this was after the second incident). So glad it worked. And now the carrots are coming up! I hope they make it, our poor little patio doesn't get a lot of sun, and condos preclude moving to a better side. No north facing for me.

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Unruly neighbor animals

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