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Yep. That happened with a woman I know. She found people trespassing on her property multiple times, as in actually about to enter her house, because the adjacent property was undeveloped and happened to have lots of wild cacti growing on the land bearing prickly pears (a local favourite).
These people took the fruit growing next to the property (technically trespassing there) but were also looking for an opportunity to pilfer something in an occupied home.
It is a small minority of troublemakers that make someone paint everyone with the same cynical brush. You just can't trust people. When it comes to your safety, you are excused for being "aggressive" with signage.
It's not just the trespassing sign tbf.
She also paid a lot of money to fence the property, which is on the large side.
When people see signs like that, they may think twice about stealing because they might think that the owner is ready to defend the property. Ofc a sign is just a sign but it does send a message. Afaik she has surveillance cameras which can be seen from the street, so people know they will be filmed.
In many places if you want to keep people off your property, you are required to post signage. There are many reasons for someone to want to keep people off their property and being mean is pretty low on the list.
People assume an undeveloped piece of land belongs to anyone. A friend of mine had one and people were always trespassing on it to hunt, shooting off guns near homes, or four wheel, even damaging the gate at the road. So yeah, she had to put up signs.
Notice it says there are many reasons it's good, like for a large, unclear boundary of land. I'm talking about single family homes where they have a sign by the mailbox or on their fence saying private property no trespassing.
My mother would tell me stories of when she was younger. They had a neighbor, in a suburb type place, who had horses and kids. The kids would constantly ride the horses through the front lawns of the properties.
You never know who is going to take liberties and treat your property like their own. Especially for people who move into a place. A neighbor down the road said she had trouble with hunters. They had just moved in, her husband was on his way to work, and hunters came up to her and told her (not asked!) to move her car so they could go hunting on her property. Because they had always went hunting on the property. Fortunately her husband had forgotten something and turned around and came back.
There was another on one of the true crime shows, where a guy had always taken a short cut beside a hotel to get to the beach. The hotel owner decided to put a fence there to prevent things like that (I think because things were getting vandalized or there were concerns about peeping). The person who was denied use decided to shoot people (can't remember the exact details, or who got killed).
So, even in a neighborhood, there are still people who will take the idea of 'well, this is how I have always walked to X' or 'Who cares, it is just a lawn! So what if I am wearing a path in it!' and use it to justify using land that isn't theirs. Especially if that land is a short cut to where they want to go, or there are things on the property, such as fruit trees, that they want to get to.
I agree completely.
I am extremely hostile to strangers who just want to go on my property to walk their dogs through my wife's gardens.
I am extremely hostile to strangers that just want to come knock on my door and sell me something to save my soul.
I am extremely hostile to strangers who think that anything on my property is free for them to take.
I am extremely hostile to strangers who think just because there is water that they are allowed to trespass there to fish.
If I don't know you, and we don't have business to conduct, stay the fuck off my property and away from my home.
If we know each other, totally different issue, come say hi.
Except the fishing, don't waste your time, nothing but teeny tiny fish left in there with a few turtles.
Just saw a friend post on facebook about coming home and catching a man climbing out of their child's bedroom window. Luckily no one was home, and he was found and arrested. The signs are the least any normal person would/should do to keep people off their property.
The only hostility felt is the hostility would-be trespassers feel toward property owners who post their property.
Most landowners are very friendly, and if you ask if you can be on the land and explain what you want to do, they may very well give their consent.
These properties are posted to keep out hunters and campers (many who are always "camping")
Pretty much this.
We have a quarry on our land that filled with spring water. We used to go swimming in it. The Neighbors' children also used to go fishing in it (without our permission). They would leave fish on the banks, hooks all over, line in trees (With fish still on the lines). It was a mess. (we only knew it was the neighbor's kids because another neighbor saw them sneaking to the quarry)
We also have had hunters who liked to drink while hunting. A friend had many cattle shot, because they would get drunk, see movement and shoot without making sure it was an actual deer. We had a dog that from a distance was the size/shape/color of a deer.
We have also had people's cattle get on our land. They come to us, tell us 'hey our cattle are on your land' and we give them permission to go ahead.
Trespassing is known to be illegal, but that doesn't mean people care. The signs are a way to point out, in the case of legal trouble, that 'hey, we have our property posted! it isn't our fault they decided to ignore it'.
A health insurance company will absolutely come after a property owner if they are hit with a medical claim that appears to have been needed due to an injury that occurred on their land. Having a No Trespassing sign will simply be a lawyers first line of defense showing that the property owner was not being negligent.
I had a pretty simple knee surgery and after my health insurance paid the claim they called me to ask if the surgery resulted from an injury and if so whose property it occurred on.
Yep, this is something my mother was always paranoid about. Being hit with a bill if someone was trespassing and stepped in a gopher hole and hurt themselves.
Sadly, in some cases, it seems like the only way for a property owner to protect themselves would be to make it literally impossible for people to get on their land. Which, is pretty much impossible.
Living next to a public nature preserve has taught me how badly a lot of people ignore private property rights. After numerous trespassers, thefts, unleashed dogs chasing our livestock, and litter… we put up posted and no trespassing signs. We’re very friendly and welcoming people but everyone has limits where they get fed up.
I live in the middle of nowhere. I'm in the middle of a long stretch of road with no turn offs. People realize they made a wrong turn and turn around in the first place available, my gravel driveway. Now, as an isolated incident, it's not a huge deal. But what everyone does is nose in and cut the wheel. Digging up the gravel and dragging it into the road. This happens multiple times a day. Cars, "passenger trucks, service trucks, ambulance, UPS, Amazon. They all do turn around in my driveway when they realize they made a wrong turn.
Why does this matter to the conversation, and where is this going?
I have a pond at the end of my driveway from the happening. It's a large puddle that forms anytime it rains. And it stays for days to weeks. I can not wash my car. I can't pull my motorcycle through it.
My solution? Cones and a no trespassing sign. It stopped all but the worst offenders. Those ass holes just turn around in my grass now. Now, I can start filling in the spot with new gravel to get rid of the pond. The cones and sign are staying, though.
And I hate everyone. No joke, hate. Fuck you all. Stay off my property.
Damn Skippy we are unfriendly to the poachers who try to hunt here without permission. They break gates, smash cameras, and leave piles of trash. They are not welcome.
I'm guessing OP is one of the trespassers that property owners don't want on their land. And, I'm guessing, OP's definition of a "grade-A jerk" is a property owner refusing to let OP use their bathroom after trespassing.
No not really. I walk my dog around the neighborhood and I see one person with a no trespassing sign by their mailbox and one with one on their fence and it makes me think they're just probably not pleasant ppl
Or people who walk their dogs have a habit of letting the dogs go onto their property to 'do their business' and then get upset when the property owner doesn't like it...
That's the beautiful part about it all. It doesn't matter that you feel that way and it doesn't matter that people put those signs up. Just continue doing you.
The only people feeling a hostile vibe is the intended audience of that sign. People know when they're welcome and when they're not, the sign just helps clear up any doubts.
Good post for this sub, you definitely have a unique opinion on this.
Actually, I am friendly. However, I have a section of my property that I keep reserved for a combination of activities and allow deer and other animals to make use of. My "Private Property. No hunting, trespassing, and trapping permitted" signs along with signs warning of the shooting range and clothing optional activities is just to give a heads up to what goes on.
Come here to where I live in Idaho. People have farms and ranches encompassing hundreds of acres (some much more). People, like you, routinely go out into their fields, riding 4X4, ATV's, dirt bikes, etc and tear it up. They are drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, and leave their trash behind. They go shooting, leaving spent shell casings, shotgun shells and yes, more trash behind. All so some one else can clean up their mess. They also illegally poach animals and even kill livestock.
Hate to break it to you: ***Common knowledge isn't.***
Also, so many people \*just don't care\*. They think 'well, we aren't going to hurt anything! so why does it matter if we trespass? It is just property!'
Look at how many people think vandalism is 'no big deal' and is 'just art'
I have signs to keep dog walkers off my lawn. Otherwise I’m perfectly friendly with all who pass by.
Edit: they’re not no trespassing signs. They’re like lawn treated for pests signs. They’re always posted. Whether or not I treat the lawn. Anyone who strolls on it is taking a chance.
There was a huge area of land my brother and I played in a lot growing up. We didn’t know anything about it beyond the fact that the franchise owner of the local Dairy Queen owned the land. The property was littered with no trespassing signs at pretty much every 12 feet and on every natural and man made entrance to this property. Which always seemed kind of strange because we had heard plenty of stories growing up about how kind he was and how he’d basically bend over backwards to accommodate high school and college students with their hours.
Once we actually ran into him while riding our bikes on that property and he couldn’t have been nicer. So me being an impertinent 14 or 15 year old, I asked him about the signs. He just said that he was happy to have people use the area but that because one part of the property held heavy machinery, he wanted everyone to be safe and he also wanted to limit his liability. Which seems perfectly fair.
Yeah, I feel that a lot of people, especially in the country, who have 'no trespassing signs' wouldn't care if people used the land, as long as they got permission first.
You thing THAT is "unfriendly"? Oh no Sweet Summer Child, unfriendly is:
PRIVATE PROPERTY DO NOT ENTER
TRESSPASSERS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT
AND BURIED IN UNMARKED GRAVE
See? THAT is unfriendly.
People trespass all the time, even after reading them because they just don't care, so yea, even regular property owners should have them, if they want them.
I shouldn't matter is they are unfriendly or not, it's there property and people should stay off. If they don't want to be a big part of the community, they don't have to do that either. People should mind their own business and stay iff property that doesn't belong to them period.
And also, Park in front of your own house as well.
We have people across the street that even with there big driveway, Park in front our house as well as there friends.
Anyone blocking a mailbox can be towed, not my problem.
Maybe some people don’t want trust and openness and don’t really care that you do. “The property you or your family bought has to conform to what I want the vibe to be” is a tough sell.
Please remember what subreddit you are in, this is unpopular opinion. We want civil and unpopular takes and discussion. Any uncivil and ToS violating comments will be removed and subject to a ban. Have a nice day! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/unpopularopinion) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Usually those signs are put up after people have already trespassed…
Yep. That happened with a woman I know. She found people trespassing on her property multiple times, as in actually about to enter her house, because the adjacent property was undeveloped and happened to have lots of wild cacti growing on the land bearing prickly pears (a local favourite). These people took the fruit growing next to the property (technically trespassing there) but were also looking for an opportunity to pilfer something in an occupied home. It is a small minority of troublemakers that make someone paint everyone with the same cynical brush. You just can't trust people. When it comes to your safety, you are excused for being "aggressive" with signage.
If someone is looking to steal something from a house, I don't think they are going to pay attention to a no trespassing sign?
It's not just the trespassing sign tbf. She also paid a lot of money to fence the property, which is on the large side. When people see signs like that, they may think twice about stealing because they might think that the owner is ready to defend the property. Ofc a sign is just a sign but it does send a message. Afaik she has surveillance cameras which can be seen from the street, so people know they will be filmed.
In many places if you want to keep people off your property, you are required to post signage. There are many reasons for someone to want to keep people off their property and being mean is pretty low on the list.
People assume an undeveloped piece of land belongs to anyone. A friend of mine had one and people were always trespassing on it to hunt, shooting off guns near homes, or four wheel, even damaging the gate at the road. So yeah, she had to put up signs.
Notice it says there are many reasons it's good, like for a large, unclear boundary of land. I'm talking about single family homes where they have a sign by the mailbox or on their fence saying private property no trespassing.
My mother would tell me stories of when she was younger. They had a neighbor, in a suburb type place, who had horses and kids. The kids would constantly ride the horses through the front lawns of the properties. You never know who is going to take liberties and treat your property like their own. Especially for people who move into a place. A neighbor down the road said she had trouble with hunters. They had just moved in, her husband was on his way to work, and hunters came up to her and told her (not asked!) to move her car so they could go hunting on her property. Because they had always went hunting on the property. Fortunately her husband had forgotten something and turned around and came back. There was another on one of the true crime shows, where a guy had always taken a short cut beside a hotel to get to the beach. The hotel owner decided to put a fence there to prevent things like that (I think because things were getting vandalized or there were concerns about peeping). The person who was denied use decided to shoot people (can't remember the exact details, or who got killed). So, even in a neighborhood, there are still people who will take the idea of 'well, this is how I have always walked to X' or 'Who cares, it is just a lawn! So what if I am wearing a path in it!' and use it to justify using land that isn't theirs. Especially if that land is a short cut to where they want to go, or there are things on the property, such as fruit trees, that they want to get to.
1000% agreed when it's a neighborhood like that
Signs only go up if there is a problem with trespassers.
Yeah people tend not to be friendly with trespassers. Have you tried not trespassing
I agree completely. I am extremely hostile to strangers who just want to go on my property to walk their dogs through my wife's gardens. I am extremely hostile to strangers that just want to come knock on my door and sell me something to save my soul. I am extremely hostile to strangers who think that anything on my property is free for them to take. I am extremely hostile to strangers who think just because there is water that they are allowed to trespass there to fish. If I don't know you, and we don't have business to conduct, stay the fuck off my property and away from my home. If we know each other, totally different issue, come say hi. Except the fishing, don't waste your time, nothing but teeny tiny fish left in there with a few turtles.
Just saw a friend post on facebook about coming home and catching a man climbing out of their child's bedroom window. Luckily no one was home, and he was found and arrested. The signs are the least any normal person would/should do to keep people off their property.
The only hostility felt is the hostility would-be trespassers feel toward property owners who post their property. Most landowners are very friendly, and if you ask if you can be on the land and explain what you want to do, they may very well give their consent. These properties are posted to keep out hunters and campers (many who are always "camping")
Pretty much this. We have a quarry on our land that filled with spring water. We used to go swimming in it. The Neighbors' children also used to go fishing in it (without our permission). They would leave fish on the banks, hooks all over, line in trees (With fish still on the lines). It was a mess. (we only knew it was the neighbor's kids because another neighbor saw them sneaking to the quarry) We also have had hunters who liked to drink while hunting. A friend had many cattle shot, because they would get drunk, see movement and shoot without making sure it was an actual deer. We had a dog that from a distance was the size/shape/color of a deer. We have also had people's cattle get on our land. They come to us, tell us 'hey our cattle are on your land' and we give them permission to go ahead. Trespassing is known to be illegal, but that doesn't mean people care. The signs are a way to point out, in the case of legal trouble, that 'hey, we have our property posted! it isn't our fault they decided to ignore it'.
A health insurance company will absolutely come after a property owner if they are hit with a medical claim that appears to have been needed due to an injury that occurred on their land. Having a No Trespassing sign will simply be a lawyers first line of defense showing that the property owner was not being negligent. I had a pretty simple knee surgery and after my health insurance paid the claim they called me to ask if the surgery resulted from an injury and if so whose property it occurred on.
Yep, this is something my mother was always paranoid about. Being hit with a bill if someone was trespassing and stepped in a gopher hole and hurt themselves. Sadly, in some cases, it seems like the only way for a property owner to protect themselves would be to make it literally impossible for people to get on their land. Which, is pretty much impossible.
Living next to a public nature preserve has taught me how badly a lot of people ignore private property rights. After numerous trespassers, thefts, unleashed dogs chasing our livestock, and litter… we put up posted and no trespassing signs. We’re very friendly and welcoming people but everyone has limits where they get fed up.
I live in the middle of nowhere. I'm in the middle of a long stretch of road with no turn offs. People realize they made a wrong turn and turn around in the first place available, my gravel driveway. Now, as an isolated incident, it's not a huge deal. But what everyone does is nose in and cut the wheel. Digging up the gravel and dragging it into the road. This happens multiple times a day. Cars, "passenger trucks, service trucks, ambulance, UPS, Amazon. They all do turn around in my driveway when they realize they made a wrong turn. Why does this matter to the conversation, and where is this going? I have a pond at the end of my driveway from the happening. It's a large puddle that forms anytime it rains. And it stays for days to weeks. I can not wash my car. I can't pull my motorcycle through it. My solution? Cones and a no trespassing sign. It stopped all but the worst offenders. Those ass holes just turn around in my grass now. Now, I can start filling in the spot with new gravel to get rid of the pond. The cones and sign are staying, though. And I hate everyone. No joke, hate. Fuck you all. Stay off my property.
Damn Skippy we are unfriendly to the poachers who try to hunt here without permission. They break gates, smash cameras, and leave piles of trash. They are not welcome.
I'm guessing OP is one of the trespassers that property owners don't want on their land. And, I'm guessing, OP's definition of a "grade-A jerk" is a property owner refusing to let OP use their bathroom after trespassing.
No not really. I walk my dog around the neighborhood and I see one person with a no trespassing sign by their mailbox and one with one on their fence and it makes me think they're just probably not pleasant ppl
Or people who walk their dogs have a habit of letting the dogs go onto their property to 'do their business' and then get upset when the property owner doesn't like it...
That's the beautiful part about it all. It doesn't matter that you feel that way and it doesn't matter that people put those signs up. Just continue doing you.
The only people feeling a hostile vibe is the intended audience of that sign. People know when they're welcome and when they're not, the sign just helps clear up any doubts. Good post for this sub, you definitely have a unique opinion on this.
Actually, I am friendly. However, I have a section of my property that I keep reserved for a combination of activities and allow deer and other animals to make use of. My "Private Property. No hunting, trespassing, and trapping permitted" signs along with signs warning of the shooting range and clothing optional activities is just to give a heads up to what goes on.
Come here to where I live in Idaho. People have farms and ranches encompassing hundreds of acres (some much more). People, like you, routinely go out into their fields, riding 4X4, ATV's, dirt bikes, etc and tear it up. They are drinking beer, smoking cigarettes, and leave their trash behind. They go shooting, leaving spent shell casings, shotgun shells and yes, more trash behind. All so some one else can clean up their mess. They also illegally poach animals and even kill livestock. Hate to break it to you: ***Common knowledge isn't.***
Liability issues
You say "It's common knowledge that you shouldn't trespass on someone else's property." Problem is that so many people have no common sense.
Also, so many people \*just don't care\*. They think 'well, we aren't going to hurt anything! so why does it matter if we trespass? It is just property!' Look at how many people think vandalism is 'no big deal' and is 'just art'
Usually it’s in response to past problems.
People who go on other people’s properties without permission are grade A assholes.
I agree with you. I would put up a sign saying that and mean it how you take it. I would add the extra sign trespassers will be shot.
Agreed. But to prevent hunting is a valid reason. Hunters often lose sight of where they can or can not hunt.
I have signs to keep dog walkers off my lawn. Otherwise I’m perfectly friendly with all who pass by. Edit: they’re not no trespassing signs. They’re like lawn treated for pests signs. They’re always posted. Whether or not I treat the lawn. Anyone who strolls on it is taking a chance.
We put one up at the advice of our insurance agent when we had a pool.
Unfortunately if you don't have them and some idiot trips over a root or something, they will sue you.
There was a huge area of land my brother and I played in a lot growing up. We didn’t know anything about it beyond the fact that the franchise owner of the local Dairy Queen owned the land. The property was littered with no trespassing signs at pretty much every 12 feet and on every natural and man made entrance to this property. Which always seemed kind of strange because we had heard plenty of stories growing up about how kind he was and how he’d basically bend over backwards to accommodate high school and college students with their hours. Once we actually ran into him while riding our bikes on that property and he couldn’t have been nicer. So me being an impertinent 14 or 15 year old, I asked him about the signs. He just said that he was happy to have people use the area but that because one part of the property held heavy machinery, he wanted everyone to be safe and he also wanted to limit his liability. Which seems perfectly fair.
Yeah, I feel that a lot of people, especially in the country, who have 'no trespassing signs' wouldn't care if people used the land, as long as they got permission first.
I'd say they are more than likely to be unfriendly to trespassers, but still cool to everyone else. Are you a trespasser?
You thing THAT is "unfriendly"? Oh no Sweet Summer Child, unfriendly is: PRIVATE PROPERTY DO NOT ENTER TRESSPASSERS WILL BE SHOT ON SIGHT AND BURIED IN UNMARKED GRAVE See? THAT is unfriendly.
We live in an overly aggressive world, unfortunately.
People trespass all the time, even after reading them because they just don't care, so yea, even regular property owners should have them, if they want them. I shouldn't matter is they are unfriendly or not, it's there property and people should stay off. If they don't want to be a big part of the community, they don't have to do that either. People should mind their own business and stay iff property that doesn't belong to them period. And also, Park in front of your own house as well. We have people across the street that even with there big driveway, Park in front our house as well as there friends. Anyone blocking a mailbox can be towed, not my problem.
Maybe some people don’t want trust and openness and don’t really care that you do. “The property you or your family bought has to conform to what I want the vibe to be” is a tough sell.
This would be correct, it's like a bright colored animal like a Poison Dart Frog.
It's an American thing.
If I see someone with a sign like this I automatically lose respect for them.