Well the neighbor did it. :(

[Fox-Gal]

She hit one of my strays with her car!!!! :( :o :o :o :o :(

Her speeding down the lane again as always, I was so afraid that this would happen one day and it did.

This is what she told me. Her father has cancer and the reason she speeds down the lane is because she gets calls to go see him. So the only thing she can think about is to get to him as fast as she can.

I'm sorry her father is ill and can understand her worrys and wanting to get to him fast, so she feels the need to speed down the lane out to him. The thing is she wasn't going out the lane she was coming in the lane, home when she hit my baby!!!

She never even said she was sorry, just gave me a roll of her eyes and off she went.

15 years I have lived here and never had a problem with my neighbors, they all knew to take their time going down the lane and to look out for the strays I feed. Every neighbor I've had, has been so good about it and understanding. They even tell their friends not to speed down the lane because of me. But now she moves in and I worry every time I hear a car coming down the lane, watching and waiting for something else to happen.

For some reason, she seem to think that because it was a stray cat, that I shouldn't be that upset and thats it not a big deal. I even e-mailed a friend and told her about what happened, just to vent a little and she too, thought it was no big deal. Just because they are strays make the lose no less painfull or their life less important, then any of my other pets.

My faith in people, is really being tested right now. How hard is it to at least say your sorry. As angry as I was at her, I still had the heart to tell her how sorry I was that her father was ill. It's the only kind, right thing to do.

I'm done venting, thanks for hearing me out. What a great way to come back to PT!! :( :(

And please don't anyone say anything about the fact that I have cats OUTSIDE, I couldn't take that right now and don't need it. I've done the best I can for the strays around here, I catch them, get them fixed and care for them the best I can, just some of them, refuse to become house cats. It's a shame that I even felt I had to add this.

[nibblets]

She needs to slow down just for the fact that it could be any living thing, cat, dog, child, jogger...whatever that she plows down. I had a neighbor who liked to speed up our street like it was a drag strip. I am not sure what happened, but he has slowed it down a lot. I am thinking someone in the neighborhood called the police on him. Either that or he finally blew up the engine in his truck. He was very dangerous, not to just animals but everyone.

[ramanth]

Oh Fox Gal, I'm so sorry. :(

How inconsiderate and rude of that woman. Would it even be worth it to complain to the guy she moved in with?

[jazzcat]

I'm so sorry!!!!:(

She sounds like such a witch and I'm sure her father is a convenient excuse for her driving. Like you said, she was coming in, not going out to him - grrr!!!!

Didn't you say that you are allowing them to use your drive to get to their house? Can't you use that as leverage? Like threaten to cut off their access if she doesn't slow down? Have you called the county and asked them what your options are for slowing down a speeding neighbor? It might be worth a try.

Again, I'm so sorry about the kitty.

[Karen]

Any chance of installing speed bumps?

[trayi52]

Fox-Gal, first so happy to see you back! I have missed seeing your posts.

Sorry to hear about the poor little stray kitty, that woman needs to learn to slow down and have respect for living things. I just don't know what you could have done to stop it, nothing I can think of. You have done everything to try and slow her down, so the only one to blame here is the speedy woman.

Again, I am so glad to see you back, hope you are feeling better, and things are getting at least a little better for you.

Willie:)

[guster girl]

Or installing strips of nails? ;) That'd slow her down a bit. I'm sorry about your kitty. Some people just don't get it. Heck, I know how you feel. I was upset the other day when a little baby bird I was taking to a rehabilitator died, and, I had only been aware of it's existence a few hours. It doesn't matter about the circumstances. A life lost, is a life lost, regardless. Again, in times like these, my quote (signature) rings very true.

[Fox-Gal]

Would it even be worth it to complain to the guy she moved in with?

I've done that so many times already, he says hes sorry, but I don't think he really cares. He getting sex thats all he cares about. :rolleyes:



Didn't you say that you are allowing them to use your drive to get to their house?

Yeah, but I have to, the county says that I have to give them use of my lane. Nothing I can do about that. I knew years ago that I should have bought that 1 acer of land and then I wouldn't have this problem. :mad:


Any chance of installing speed bumps?

We are working on that idea, we just have to figure out how and where. It is a dirt lane so that makes it a little harder to build speed bumps. I'm thinking about dig out small ruts along the road, so instread of bumps up, there will be bumps down. We just need to make it so it doesn't effect us to much. My husband drive a show car and the road, as it is now, is hard enough for us to drive without adding bumps. It alread takes us forever to get down the lane at .1 mile an hour.

[lizbud]

I see nothing wrong with installing speed bumps or even a
gate across the road. It would not have to be locked, but she
would have to stop her car to open & enter & stop again to close
the gate back.

I'm sorry Fox-Gal, but you are being way to nice to this person.
She & the boy friend are showing no respect or regard for you
or the animals who live there. This really ticks me off that it's the
poor kitties that have to pay the price for her stupidity.:(

[lizbud]

Fox-Gal,

Sorry, we must have been posting at the same time. I see
you all have considered the bumps.

This just makes me so angry & sad for the animals & I know
you sure don't need the aggravation. I have two outside cats,
my feral Momma cat & another stray (Baby) cat who spend their
nights in my garage. They are free to come & go as they wish
during the day. It would brake my heart if either one was hurt
by some stupid & careless person.

I wish you the best in solving this problem. Liz.

[emily_the_spoiled]

Instead of installing speed bumps have you thought about installing cattle "rails". I am sure the people out in cattle country can give you a better description but here is mine:

There is a trench that is dug into the road and then a piece of square metal with a number of pipes inside is laid into the trench. It looks kind of like a tic-tac-toe board without the vertical lines. They are designed so that cattle can not get out of the pasture area on the road. Having driven over them in the past, you definitely do not want to be going very fast!!!

I am very sorry to hear about your kitty. One of my strays was killed last winter because of anti-freeze so I understand your feelings. Even though they are not inside your home they are inside your heart :( :(

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by emily_the_spoiled
Instead of installing speed bumps have you thought about installing cattle "rails". I am sure the people out in cattle country can give you a better description but here is mine:


I've seen those and they are a great idea, it should make things a lot harder for her. Thanks for the idea. I was worried about digging ruts, thinking they might just fill them back in, but with the cattle rails they can't. :D :p


They are going to hate me, but who cares at this point, they showed me no respect, so they can't expect me to be forgiving forever.

[emily_the_spoiled]

At this point, do you really care what your neighbor's think of you... If you really want to slow her down add a gate onto the road (without the automatic opener). Using the cattle rails probably won't bother your husband's show car as much as a speed bump might...

[bluekat]

Aww I'm so sorry:( That woman was very inconsiderate and I'd be really really mad too if I were you. Not even a sorry or anything? And I hate when people think that its "just a stray". So what difference is that anyways...its still a living thing.
I hope you get something done and hope it doesn't happen again.

[rg_girlca]

I'm so sorry about your stray. May he/she Rest in Peace.

I hope whatever you decide to do works, so this inconsiderate, coldhearted woman finally learns to slow down. What irks me is the fact that it concerns a danger for animals and it is no big deal to her. Now, would she have the same thoughtfullness if it concerned a child?

[PayItForward]

Rest in peace little stray :(

I hope you find a way to slow that inconsiderate lady :mad:

Good Luck

[RICHARD]

put a kink in the road....

Pour some cement around some steel posts and either-

Narrow the drive with posts on either side or
Put an 'S' or chicane in....


That way she can still see her dad and has to slow down.

You still allow access but keep her speed down.

[leslie flenner]

What's a chicane? is there no way you can take her to court for killing your pet? She was not driving within the speed limit which is probably 5 miles an hour in the lane... I'm stretching probably but... After reading Richard's post about how easy it is to sue....(it's worth considering?)

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by leslie flenner
What's a chicane? is there no way you can take her to court for killing your pet? She was not driving within the speed limit which is probably 5 miles an hour in the lane... I'm stretching probably but... After reading Richard's post about how easy it is to sue....(it's worth considering?)


2 a : an obstacle on a racecourse b : a series of tight turns in opposite directions in an otherwise straight stretch of a road-racing course

It's an "s" in a straight piece of road....usually it's put on a race course to slow the speed down...

Divide the road length into thirds....put one pole on each side of the first and second thirds.....that way she cannot speed the length of the road. You also can make the pole removable, with a bolt and padlock on the bottom so larger vehicles can go down the road....like a moving van...

[leslie flenner]

aside from having aliens take her, this is the best course so to speak. And if aliens do take her, well, all of our questions will be answered. Sorry I'm a bit off and easily ired by these idiots who kill pets and offer nothing...they SHould be abducted.

[moosmom]

I am so sorry to hear about your cat! This lady is an idiot and you are being FAR to nice. I'd make her life a living hell. How about calling the cops and putting in a complaint of her speeding. Let them know that she hit your cat. They may just set a speed trap to catch her.

As far as using her father as an excuse, horse puckies!! She still should be obeying the rules of the road. Jerk!! :mad: :mad:

[leslie flenner]

yeah! absoluetly everthing moosmom said! yeah!

[catnapper]

I am so sorry! Life is life and it doesn't matter if its something adopted or something that comes by. She should be ashamed of herself.

I wish you luck in whatever plan you enact to get her to slow down.

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by RICHARD
put a kink in the road....

Pour some cement around some steel posts and either-

Narrow the drive with posts on either side or
Put an 'S' or chicane in....


That way she can still see her dad and has to slow down.

You still allow access but keep her speed down.


I love it. :D Some times it takes a mans mind to come up with the best ideas. ;) And I even have some steel posts around here so all I need is the cement. Let her speed past them. :p lol

[sirrahbed]

Originally posted by Fox-Gal
I love it. :D Some times it takes a mans mind to come up with the best ideas. ;) And I even have some steel posts around here so all I need is the cement. Let her speed past them. :p lol

Maybe everybody but me knows this but hubby and I discovered that you can use cement without even mixing it - bags of the redi-crete dry mix, poured into a hole with the post and cover with some dirt, then water the hole it is all in and the ground sucks out the extra water and the pole is cemented in place! Cool! Our privacy fence has been up several years now and nice and sturdy!

[Fox-Gal]

Thank you every one for the support and idea's.

About calling the cops on her, my friend is a cop, so I did talk to him about it. Of course I knew what he'd say, that because they are running free in a road, there's not much I can do. He did go down and talk to her for me, hoping that a talk from a officer might make her think a little harder next time she speeds down the lane. Like he told her, it could one day be a person standing there and then what will her excuse be. He asked her how she felt about jails. :D

I do feel so angry about what little respect she has for me or my babies and so bad I want to go down there and give her H#$l, but what good would it do me, I might just make more problems for me. I have a felling she the type that will get revenage. She what we here call a true back hills redneck, the type the feels naked with out her gun straped in her car and a knife in her pocket. No disrespect to any one, it's just a different life style then I'm from. Guns and knifes are not clothing accessories to me. I carry a purse. :D

[Corinna]

So sorry to hear that your worst fears happened. I thought since we'd heard nothing more the situation had cured it's self. The kinks and acattle gaurd sound like a good combanation to have.
to make a speed bump you can buy the bull rails like in the parking lots,but she'd probley just make a new track around it.
big boulders set in the road make good kinks too.

[trayi52]

I know the type Fox-Gal. Back years and years ago, when I was young and dating (hard to remember back that far), I went on a double date with my then boyfriend, and his sister and her boyfriend. Kays boyfriend was driving, and he seen a cat in the road, and actually swerved the car to trya and hit the cat. I screamed bloody murder. I did not go on anymore double dates with them again.

Its just that some of these people just has no respect whatsoever for life. I hope she comes back in her next life as a mouse living wild and lives in a house with a nice cat that is a very good hunter!;) I'm really not kidding, hope she does!!!

Willie

P.S. It really is good to have you back here with us.

[captain]

Originally posted by Fox-Gal

And please don't anyone say anything about the fact that I have cats OUTSIDE, I couldn't take that right now and don't need it. I've done the best I can for the strays around here, I catch them, get them fixed and care for them the best I can, just some of them, refuse to become house cats. It's a shame that I even felt I had to add this.

NO WAY, NEVER!!!!

You do more for them than anyone ............. you have such a good heart to do what you are doing!

As for the speeding neighbour .......... YUP, lets see how she feels speeding to her sick father when she knocks a person down!!!:mad:

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by trayi52

Its just that some of these people just has no respect whatsoever for life. I hope she comes back in her next life as a mouse living wild and lives in a house with a nice cat that is a very good hunter!;) I'm really not kidding, hope she does!!!

Willie

P.S. It really is good to have you back here with us.

Oh yes what a wonderful though, her as a mouse and I hope it's one of my strays that gets her. :D :D


P.S. Willie, it's nice to know that someone missed me. Thanks :o
Also I'm sorry about that virus, I didn't mean to do that to your mouse. LOL :D Poor mouse, it's just a shell of what it use to be. ;)



NO WAY, NEVER!!!!

You do more for them than anyone ............. you have such a good heart to do what you are doing!

Thank you captain, for that.
I just know that there are some here who belive in indoor cats, only or taking the strays into a shelter and I couldn't handle any grief right now, I'm going through so much right now. So I just felt it was better to say that right out front, before any comments might come up. Save that for when I'm feeling better, I'll be more up to defending my reasons then. :)

[shais_mom]

I am so sorry about your cat. And I know that you true very hard with all your strays. Unfortunately one person can't save them all, but you are doing boatloads more then some people to help them! Me included! :(
This woman would definatley try my patience. I can't even imagine how angry you are. My solution would be to install ranch/cattle type fencing. So at least she would have to stop to go thru. I don't know what keeps you from clawing her eyes out!
The blatant disrespect for people and animals is what would get me. Too bad you can't have someone shoot her tires out as she is flying up and down the lane!! Oh wait!!! Don't repeat that - That IS ILLEGAL!!!
oopsie

[Uniqueviking]

I'm so sorry about your cat :(


I'd also say go for the cattle rails...unless you ruled out the option of shooting out her tires! http://www.sitecenter.dk/uniqueviking/nss-folder/smilies/Evil.gif



Lack of respect for life makes me sooo angry!!! :mad:

[Ally Cat's Mommy]

Sounds like a horrible neighbor. I am so sorry to hear about the loss of the cat, and I understand how deeply it hurts - I have had small malnourished kittens die during the night between feeds, and even if I have only known them for a short while, it really hurts.

I think the cattle grid sounds like a great idea - I can't imagine her speeding over THAT!!

[moosmom]

And please don't anyone say anything about the fact that I have cats OUTSIDE, I couldn't take that right now and don't need it. I've done the best I can for the strays around here, I catch them, get them fixed and care for them the best I can, just some of them, refuse to become house cats.

To be perfectly honest with you, the thought NEVER, EVER crossed my mind!!

Hang in there and know that we're here for you, okay??

[catmandu]

Poor Little Stray Cat , and I know that it is very painful to have an ill Father , but there really is no excuse , for Carelessness. And it could have been a Child! And dont apologize , I ahce Strays that sleep , and eat , on the Porches , and I too , cannit afford , to take them all , in! You are doing the best that You can! Andyou get a Salute From All of US! MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMRRRRRR RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fox-Gal]

Originally posted by shais_mom
Too bad you can't have someone shoot her tires out as she is flying up and down the lane!! Oh wait!!! Don't repeat that - That IS ILLEGAL!!!
oopsie


:D I did sort of say something like that to her, when I first saw her. :D But then I thought, later like you, Oppps thats ILLEGAL!! So I back out of that statement, real quick. But in the back of my mind, it still sounds good. :p

Don't anyone get me wrong here, I wasn't so nice to her, there was a few harsh words spoken. It's just in between, I took the time to tell her that I was sorry about her father's cancer, cause I was sorry for that.

I talked to my husband last night about the cattle crossing rail, and he liked the sound of that idea, so he is going to look into them, once he get home from Tenn. We figure it will be harder for them to undo those then a speed bump or other things.

I wish she could take some lessons from her boyfriend, he comes down the lane so slow. This morning I watched him coming down the lane and there was Lita in the road, he came to a stop and waited for her to slowly get up and move out of the way. NOW IF HE JUST TEACH HER THAT!!!!!!

Just so you can see what I'm talking about and why the speeding down the lane, just seem dumb for anyone to do, here's the only picture I could find with our lane in it. As you can see, it not the best road to go hauling A$$ down and our end, we keep up, their end is nothing bumbs, so you think it would hurt her car. It was one of reason I use to feel a little safer about my cats, it's not like I live on a main road, it's a 1 lane dirt road!!!

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid104/p5f7e256c2972ca1972c8f73dbe33d334/f99cf0b0.jpg

[guster girl]

First off, that's a great photo! :) But, good lord! That's a terrible road to go even more than 10 mph on! She's going to hurt herself one of these days.

[emily_the_spoiled]

That is definitely not a road that I would want to go speeding down (unless I had a strong desire to replace my shocks, oil pan, etc... ;) )

I hope that the cattle crossing rails work out for you. They may cost some money to install, but I think that they might do the trick for you... please keep up posted to see if they work.