open gates

I  have  some land about 14  miles from where I live where I keep horses at present, and am trying to do something with.  The problem is that someone (I think I know who it is) keeps going  over and opening the gates.  One time I actually found the gate taken off the hinges!

There is no question it is deliberate..two of us were moving straw onto the place and between trips someone opened the gate. I could lock it, but then I'm afraid that whoever it is will cut the fence.

The person I think  (am pretty sure!!) it is  wants to get the land from me; when I first got here he offered me about 1/3 of the value of the land and told me nothing would ever grow there.  (so why did he want it?)  Other neighbors have offered to help with various things but have told me to watch out for this guy and they won't have anything to do with him. Last fall he told actually  TOLD me that he had tried to make the horse come back to his place  but they wouldn't follow him!!

About 5 years before I got here, when I bought the place I lived/worked about 10 hours drive away) I had leased the land to him for two consecutive years for pasture in exchange for the fencing  being brought up to date and taxes ($90 year).  I then told him 2 years before I got here that I was intending to bring horses so I wanted the grass left, so I didn't want to lease the land. When I arrived, I found 30 cow/calf pairs, and a couple of metal feeders on the land, and the grass taken down to bare soil. And the fence next to falling down. So he is a sleaze bucket that at least some neighbors are afraid of crossing.

I have told him I have planted lupin around the place to help build the soil (lupin is poisonous to cattle) but I think he doesn't believe me (it's also poisonous to horses).  I have thought about opening the gates to HIS pastures and letting his cattle out but that seems to be being as sleazy as he is.

I phoned him last summer and told him to keep an eye out for his cattle etc as someone was leaving gates open and that stopped it for about a month but now it's started again.

Any creative ideas that don't involve napalm or Hell's Angels would be appreciated.

if you can use a trail cam that doesn't require a flash, with a motion detector on it pointed at the gate you can get proof of who is doing what..and then take the info to the police

you might want to securely secure your trail cam so it isn't stolen

I'll have to see if someone rents the things as when I checked they ran between 800 and $1000 around here and that definitely isn't in the budget.  Great idea tho.

is fur trapping legal in your area? just saying stepping in a steel trap or having to free an animal from one often gives folks a bit of respect for a no trespassing sign

Brice Moss wrote:
is fur trapping legal in your area? just saying stepping in a steel trap or having to free an animal from one often gives folks a bit of respect for a no trespassing sign

hmm  yes it is I think..I see ads asking for or selling traps from time to time..I'm tempted to try this since my last no trespassing no hunting sign which was painted on mdf board and nailed to a fencepost  developed wings.. Only thing is I sort of doubt leghold traps are still legal and not sure how the other kind work..trapping hasn't been part of my education. I might well check this out...thanks!

Call the police and ask for advice, sounds like they probably can't do anything yet but maybe they have some ideas as to how you can produce evidence and nail the guy.

Ok, I'm probably asking to get slapped upside the head for this but....
Are you sure your horses aren't opening the gate and/or lifting it off of the hinges? I've seen critters lift fences off hinges. The most impressive was a bull with a particular impressive set of large horns. He had been in with some cow, he was taken out and put in an enclosed area near them. As soon as the people who put them their started walking away, he put one horn tip through the gate, gently lifted it off of the hinges, pulled it back, dropped it and walked out!

I have goats who are really talented at opening my gates.. and just recently watched one of my dogs opening a gate to let the goats out. Sigh.

You can often find game cameras for under $100 on Ebay or some of the sporting good stores.

I am QUITE  sure the horses aren't doing it.   They would also have to be taking down several no hunting signs, and eating the bungy cords that I have put on the gates as a final security if somehow the two ropes tying the gate shut somehow get loosened.  I have been tying up stock and gates for a very long time.without ever running into this before..  Also horses, by and large, are not as clever with such things as goats are. 

However, I have also seen a gate taken off the hinges by a horse, (not mine) but it was put on wrong with both hinges facing up. No animal could get this gate off without pretty drastically bending something.

I have spoken to the police... EBay and sporting goods stores seem to be a whole lot cheaper in the US than up here in the frozen north.  Thanks for your input though..it is up there with have you checked to see if the non working gadget is plugged in and surprisingly often that is indeed the problem.  Not this time tho.

Sorry Pam! Bad on me, but I was wishing a clever horse on you... lot easier to deal with than a bad neighbor.
We have lots of problems in this area with trespassers. If the gates are fastened shut, it's not uncommon to have them pulled out of the ground....IF that's easier then cutting the fence.

I wish I had a solution for you, I don't. I wish you a speedy and happy resolution.