Would this bug you? Owl in Road...

goneandbrokeit · Jul 10, 2006

I have a right of way that goes by 2 neighbor's. The middle house is built close to the road. I live on the end. Two weeks ago the middle neighbor decided to plant grass along the edge of the ROW on what has always been gravel.
In the attached drawing you can see the situation. House-blacktop-grass-gravel. This did not really bug me much, the third neighbor did have a laugh as we wondered how the grass was going to stand up to snow-plowing.
I always go slow along the road and hug the outside, I can imagine having a ROW that close to your house not being ideal, but this was the deal when they bought.
This weekend they planted PVC in what I think of as the ROW ( I didn't get out the deed and measure it) and plopped a fake owl on top. This is the white cyclinder in the drawing. Can anyone help me see the reasoning behind this? Please let me know what you think.

MrSteve · Jul 10, 2006

Not sure... The only thing I can think of is trying to push cars to the other side of the road and making people think the owl is real, so not to hit the owl?

If I was you and the others that need to use that road, get it taking care of now, it will only get worse later if no one says anything to that person now.

AL_Josh · Jul 10, 2006

If they planted grass seed then I would think the owl would be to keep birds and other critters from eating the seed. If not I would have no idea.

Cowboyjg · Jul 10, 2006

AL_Josh said:
If they planted grass seed then I would think the owl would be to keep birds and other critters from eating the seed. If not I would have no idea.

Ditto...Things that make you go Hmmmm. Er dey furinurs? .....LOLOLOL

goneandbrokeit · Jul 10, 2006

AL_Josh said:
If they planted grass seed then I would think the owl would be to keep birds and other critters from eating the seed. If not I would have no idea.

That might make sense except they put the owl out after the grass is 2 inches high.

WhyNot · Jul 10, 2006

Look's like their way of saying "stay off our grass" instead of coming up to you and saying "could you please try and stay off our freshley planted grass so it has a chance to live". It wil be ashame the first snow storm that you get and the owl becomes part of a snow pile :<)

goneandbrokeit · Jul 10, 2006

WhyNot said:
Look's like their way of saying "stay off our grass" instead of coming up to you and saying "could you please try and stay off our freshley planted grass so it has a chance to live". It wil be ashame the first snow storm that you get and the owl becomes part of a snow pile :<)

If so it's a strange way of speaking. First of all, in my mind freshly planted grass speaks for it self, and I did not nor would molest it. Second although we mostly wave we do speak every so often.
A side story about this patch of road...in March on a rainy day I got an Oil delivery and the truck got stuck up by my house, they needed a wrecker to get him out and left ruts all over the place. The next weekend I asked the first guy on the road (not the owl guy) what happened. He told me what had happened and told me not to complain, he had a phone call in. On Memorial day weekend I show up and the whole road had been graded with 12 loads of gravel dumped in the area of the owl. This had been done gratis, courtesy the oil company.
So one Neighbor looks after the road, the other plants posts in it. It takes all kinds I guess.

63DH8 · Jul 11, 2006

Betcha a brushhog would make short work of a plastic owl!

Maybe putting some raw liver in the owl would bring more attention to what the neighbors intended for the owl.

goneandbrokeit · Jul 11, 2006

63DH8 said:
Betcha a brushhog would make short work of a plastic owl! Maybe putting some raw liver in the owl would bring more attention to what the neighbors intended for the owl.

Interesting ideas but I will keep this neighborly, if it ever comes to more drastic measures I suspect a FEL in a snowstorm will accomplish the deed with less animosity.

turnkey4099 · Jul 11, 2006

goneandbrokeit said:
Interesting ideas but I will keep this neighborly, if it ever comes to more drastic measures I suspect a FEL in a snowstorm will accomplish the deed with less animosity.

Best thing is to keep it friendly. Neighbor wars are ones that noone wins. If he is just trying to dress up the ROW it isn't a major problem, if he starts encroaching on it, then it is 'let's talk' time.

Harry K