So yesterday my doorbell is ringing crazily, I get up and go to the door, open it, and… Nothing. No one is there, the mail lady’s truck is sitting at my post box and she is nowhere to be seen.
Weird.
I see that Helena my newest gosling girl is out and I run out for the tenth time to put her back inside her (electric) fence. (How does she do it?)
Suddenly the mail lady comes dashing around the corner and I make out something like…
DOG! CHICKENS!!!
I run to follow her as she goes back around the corner. And there he is. Twenty-five pounds of chicken terror on the paw and he has killed one of my chickens. I have been chasing that little dog out of my yard for weeks now and finally told the owner:
“Keep the dog in your back yard or I will call animal control!”
So after yesterday’s episode I called animal control. Later, when I thought the parents would be in I go to tell them what happened…
Lowlights of the conversation:
“This dog??? He’s been inside all day!” (NOT!) “That’s it this dog is dead!” (I don’t want you to kill your dog I simply want you to keep it in your yard!) “So the mail lady comes at 1:30, so why did you wait till now to come complaining?” (You were at work, I didn’t want the dog to get my baby goose too!) The lady marches to the back of the property and I hear “MARWAR!” (name withheld to protect the minor) “GIT OVER HERE NOW!!! The rest was unintelligible except for the part about killing the dog again.
At this point I loudly interjected: “I DON’T WANT YOU TO KILL YOUR DOG, JUST KEEP IT IN YOUR YARD!
We had this trouble (same neighbor) about a year ago when the two big dogs they owned then, got out and killed almost all of my chickens. Their solution? Send them to the pound. (You can read about that incident HERE)
Suddenly the lady is raging at me and calling me a liar, telling me her sons told her I had threatened to shoot them and their dog if they came onto my property again…
WHAT’S THIS?
Sorry lady but I don’t own a gun and I would never threaten anyone with being shot. I tried to reason with her (it didn’t work) and finally told her that her child had lied to her and left.
Meanwhile… the neighbors got an earful. I look over and there they are, standing there, just staring and cringing.
Why did I bother?
HINDSIGHT: When dealing with a lady who goes from a conversational voice to shouting in less than .00139 seconds, just shut up and leave. There is no reasoning with an irrational woman and in a moment you will end up sounding just like her. Honestly, just SHUT UP and walk away. It’s better in the long run.
Next time I’ll come prepared.
Life on the Farmlet 
Good advice in any confrontational situation. 😀 I’m really sorry to learn about the chickens. These sound like people you do not want to have a run-in with.
Thanks Lindy, and yes, they are scary.
I have to deal with this type of behavior ALL THE TIME arond here too. It is mortifying.
I have decided that they never got past highschool in these parts, never have seen the world, have never been exposed to society and have had no reason whatsoever to evolve past childish reactionary and emotionally crazy behavior.
And since they arent going to change, to yes……… just walk away.
We are getting a storm shelter put in… guess we will add the cost of a fence for the front of the property into that loan.
Lynda, I’m so sorry about your problems with your neighbors and the loss of your chicken. Sadly, I think there are unreasonable neighbors in every neighborhood…
Thanks Anke, the animal control officer came by this morning. Seems as long as my chickens are on my property I am not breaking any laws… However, the same cannot be said for the marauding dog. (That’s what I thought) Nevertheless, I will be putting up a fence out front.
Wow, you have all sorts of crazy adventures 😉 Sorry about your chicken :(( Maybe put the electric fence out front… as well to keep the chickens in and dogs out ?
Lunatic neighbours everywhere , last year the moron across the street called the city as my bushes were too bushy ? HUH ?? The city guy just laughed… but he still had to come out and interrupt my life for an hour .
Yeah, we were just talking about that. We are going to put in a permanent fence right after the storm shelter is installed, but in the meantime the electric will have to do!
I’m sorry to hear about your chicken. I am also sorry that there appear to be crazy people everywhere. There is a wack-a-doo up the street from me who is constantly harassing my children. I refuse to stoop to her level though, just like you. I hope you can get your fence up soon and that dog stays out of your yard until you do!
Thanks Ginger, I’m getting some new residents here on the Farmlet who ought to help keep the little doggies at bay! (But, that is a subject for another blog entry.)
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People like that just stump me. I manage to think of wonderfully witty responses hours after it’s too late. You handled it very well and your last comment here has my imagination going…sheep dog? rottweiler? lion?
Cindy, Hahahaaa! No, no big animals. I’ll be wearing my colander with the tin foil on it to keep my brains from being scrambled by all her angry vibes! I think it has something to do with all the holes in the colander, they break up the evil waves sorta like the door on your microwave keeps the microwave energy from escaping, but in reverse. Oh, and the addition of a bit of tin foil works wonders too! LOL!
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You are good at turning something tragic into something hilarious!
Ah Julie, Sometimes if I didn’t laugh I would surely cry. The good news is, that the Crazy Woman didn’t kill the dog, the kids are keeping it on a leash, and I haven’t lost any more chickens! Sometimes things do work out for the best. 😀