With the approach of spring and summer, more people are out and about, therefore land and property owners are more likely to experience problems with trespassers. Exactly what is a trespasser? A trespasser is someone who enters the property of another without permission. An amazing amount of people think it’s perfectly okay to trespass at will.

It’s a sad fact that if a trespasser is harmed on someones property, they can turn around and try to sue the property owner. It doesn’t seem to matter that the person may have had to climb clearly posted fences or gates to enter the property. Considering this, is it so terribly difficult to comprehend why a lot of property owners take trespassing seriously?

As rural areas become developed with spotty subdivisions, the problem of trespassing becomes more widespread. Take, for example, a subdivision with an average lot size of 1/5 acre. That’s FIVE homes to an acre. With the houses being 1800 square foot and up, they don’t have much of a yard, yet some of these people think because the subdivision is located in a rural area that they live in the country.

So, here you have a subdivison of people who for the most part don’t have the room to kick a can. It was their choice to build a fancy $200,000+ home on a postage stamp. Yet, as sure as the sun rises, some think they are free to roam the property of others who do have acerage. One common defense they use is “but I’m not hurting anything.” Irrevelent. Let them break a leg or something and see if they won’t try to sue.

I’ve seen trespassers blatantly climb over fences with no trespassing signs on them to fish in ponds or hunt. I’ve had them come well into my yard because they want to take a picture of something. I’ve seen people walking veer off the road into fields of vegetables and help themselves to produce. I’ve seen some openly dump shrub and grass clippings onto the property of others, and defend themselves by saying it will rot. Yes, it will rot, however, they need to let it rot in their own yard. Even worse are those who dump paint cans, shingles, scrap wood, plastic pots and such.

Two instances I have experienced stand out in my mind. A person owning property next to mine, not a friend, cut trails through MY woods. He put corn out for deer and set up a hunting blind in HIS backyard, to shoot, both with gun and bow, deer on MY property. The other was a person living nearby who thought he could openly cut himself firewood on my property and argued with me when I told him he couldn’t.

Seriously, if it isn’t your property, you have no business or rights to enter it without permission from the property owner. Have the urge to take pictures? Go right ahead – from within the highway department right of way. Don’t enter the property.

Seems to me that some people need to buy less house and more land to give themselves, their pets and children room to play and not trample over the property rights of others. Think about it.