Neighbor sprayed Roundup on my property

Does anyone have any ideas as to the effects on wildlife and domestic animals with regard to this product?

I've never used any type of spray on my property and so I've no idea the harm they cause. I can only report that what used to be a very long fence line of wildflowers and lantana is dead and gone; not to mention all the little critters that hid among the leaves and flowers.

The cost of replacing all that damage is going to be high but what hurts me the most is the loss of habitat and food source for my birds.

Your help, suggestions, ideas, answers... is most welcome.
Thanks all,
New member - 5PinesNatural in Florida

I have a neighbor that had that happen to her as well. We live in town and the guy behind her decided to come and not only spray some of hers, he also took it upon himself to cut down a lot of her trees! He screamed at her and said that her trees is what caused him to loose his electricity, over a year ago! They wasn't anywhere near the power lines, and what he sprayed was on her fence, which was in a different neighbors yard that wasn't even facing his property! We have lined our property with crape myrtles and evergreens, some of which are on "his side" of the alley, but he best not touch my trees! She did file a complaint against him, but she would have to take him to small claims court to do anything further about it. Do you know what your neighbors motive was in doing this? Misty

Hi Mistygardener, thank you for replying.

The neighbor wrote a note stating that he did it because of an invasive grass and he thought it would be ok to do so. He told the Police Officer taking the report that he did it by accidental overspray. He also sprayed his entire 5 acres without any overspray on the other 3 sides of his property. I suspect this all comes from the initial issue he has with us and the other neighbor in that we did not want to agree to black top our limestone road. His first reaction to that initially was to drive on the beautifully manicured grassy right of way.. because, well... he can. Asking him to play nice doesn't work. He's a grown up bully. It's just been one thing after another with this fella. And not just us but with many other folks around here. And, all in a less than 2 yrs.

My true worry is the wildlife that visit here. I have nesting bluebirds that live here year after year. I also have many Pine Warblers, Flycatchers and Phoebies that feed on insects about this time of year. And, even now, our property should be hopping with yellow rumped warblers and palm warblers....but so far ..not so good. Whether it's because the habitat is less attractive or less than safe for them, I dunno. I just know there's a huge difference from years past. I am a member of the Cornell Feeder Watch Citizen Program and so I am pretty "motherly" when it comes to my birds.

I further suspect that he knows how much they mean to us and did this to be nothing more than vicious.

5PinesNatural

Is there any way you can put up a fence there that would keep him from messing with your plants but still allow movement of the animals? That is the only thing I can think of right now.

5PinesNatural,
You are quite welcome for the response! You are in a terrible situation I'm afraid. It is a shame that your neighbor has to be such a vendicitive "butt", and that he cares nothing at all about wildlife. He obviously has no clue to as to what he has done, or just the lack of care, for himself, wildlife, or anything else for that matter.
If you have a note from him, is there no way that you can use this in some sort of suit against him, or would that be more trouble and costly than it is worth? I just fear that in the long run, if you decide to refurbish what you have lost, that he will just come back and do the same thing to you all over again.
When he told the Police Officer that it was an accidental over spray, was there any response? We don't have too many critters around here, other than squirrels, and the annoying bugs. The birds are one thing that I like to base my gardening on, along with the butterflies. We all love to see the beautiful creatures, and would hate to have to deal with a nasty neighbor!
We have spent a lot of money landscaping our yard, and it is just barely a start, so I can't say what I would do in your situation. I think I would definitely make sure he knows how upset you are, and that you expect something in return for the damage he has caused, even though you know he is NOT going to do anything about it. It is just the idea of letting him know that you expect it.
Good luck and I hope that you are able to come to some sort of understanding!
Misty

Pepper23, hi.. yes, that's actually where the spray landed. Our property is fenced on all 4 sides & is 6" inside our property line. It was covered in wildflowers previous to the neighbors spraying. The wildflowers have been there since before we bought the property.

Did I mention that the spray came well into our property? In some areas it's 5' inside the property line with a well defined edge. For that reason, I am worried because I have laying hens who are free range. What if they eat a days worth of bugs that have ingested that stuff? Should we not eat the eggs? Should I not throw the egg shells into the compost pile?

5PinesNatural

Let's just say that RoundUp may be a short life chemical but how much will we learn about it in the years to come??? What will we learn about it in the decades to come??? For sure, the surfactant used in that product is no where near the league of AquaMaster or Rodeo which does not build up in the fatty tissues of animals.

Did you share the note written by your neighbor in which he/she claimed " he did it because of an invasive grass and he thought it would be ok to do so" with the reporting officer? How do you know he told the Police Officer taking the report that he did it by accidental over spray? Please tell me you shared with this officer the discrepancy between what your neighbor shared with you regarding the incident and what he/she shared with the responding police officer.

Don't you have a family attorney you could contact for guidance? Perhaps a written correspondence where you wing it on your own with suggestions from other gardeners to your neighbor will help in the future but I truly believe you should contact a local attorney.

Contact your veterinarian and ask him/her the questions you posted above. Find out what his/her answers are and take good notes and document the date and time you called.

If you aren't going to contact a lawyer regarding all of your concerns which would by far be the best course of action to take in my opinion, please consider sending a written follow-up correspondence to this neighbor outlining all of your concerns. Possibly include comments about chemical drift if you are familiar enough with the concept to do so. Include a copy of the neighbor's note to you. Say nothing more about the note. Include photographs of the spray line on your property and photographs of the "very long fence line of wildflowers and lantana is dead and gone; not to mention all the little critters that hid among the leaves and flowers" as well as a very brief re-cap of statements made by your vet. Provide your neighbor with your veterinarian's name and contact information. Perhaps include a little blurb stating that since he/she is now aware that the plants he/she destroyed on your property are not invasive grasses, you'd like to know how if he/she would like to purchase replacement plants of the same species for you or would he prefer that you purchase them and submit copies of the receipts to him? Assume you are going to be paid for your loss and keep your question limited to how compensation for your loss will occur not whether it will occur or not. Now, consider respectfully requesting that your neighbor stop spraying any and all chemicals on your property. Keep it short and factual and be respectful. You might want to close by letting them know that you are anticipating and looking forward to their cooperation lest this situation escalate to another level. CC the police officer who wrote the original report and cc your family lawyer. Also denote in the CC section of your correspondence that you are sending the correspondence via common carrier as well as by certified mail. Send it to them via common carrier as well as by certified mail. Keep copies of the correspondence along with your receipt.

Photographs are truly worth the effort to include in such a correspondence.

Next time they do it, and there will most probably be a next time... take all of your notes, photos, and the correspondence to the police department. They'll think of something to cite them for I'm sure. As far as pussy footing around these people because you live next door to them, my suggestion would be that you don't. Address it head on.

Best wishes.

Equil, wonderful answer! You must have a legal background...

5Pines, I've heard of the Cornell Feeder Watch Citizen Program on Martha and they were talking about how some species haven't been seen in some areas of the NE lately. I hope you will find that your neighbors insensitivity will not indeed harm our feathered friends.

Throw a handful of Kudzu seed over the fence, once per month, in a different area each time. Repeat until he runs out of Roundup. :)

Oooh, I like that idea...

Hmmmm..... My stepdaughter lives in GA and they have LOTS of Kudzu. I am sure I could talk her into sending me some "starts" and as you well know we gardeners are extremely fond of sharing.......... LOL

Sounds good to me. :~)

What do you think 5pines?

Hmmm, neighbor would probably buy more RU to try to beat the Kudzu beast back and he/she would be dumping even more chemicals into the environment because it would probably take him/her several years to figure out that glyphosate (RoundUp) simply doesn't work on Kudzu. Oh, RoundUp would kill just about everything else growing in the immediate vicinity but not the Kudzu. And then there is the risk of the Kudzu blanketing the entire property of our fellow gardener 5PinesNatural. They say a picture is worth a thousand words so check this out-
http://www-aes.tamu.edu/mary/kudzu/kudzu.htm
I'm thinking playing little Johnny Kudzuseed might backfire and could exacerbate the problem but must admit I about split a gut when I read that comment. Mark, I do think you're on the right track though... just the wrong plant.

How about playing little Johnny WildParsnipseed?
You can kill WildParsnip with Glyphosate so at least the neighbor would not be spraying in vain but touch the stuff in the process and you'll look like you have flesh eating bacteria... I kid you not, this stuff puts Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac to shame and you will look like you need to be exiled to a leper colony for several months.
http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/1999/jun99/parsnip.htm
Did I mention that Pastinaca sativa (Wild Parsnip) is a phototoxic plant? Guess what, Wild Parsnip is a phototoxic plant! This means that the neighbor wouldn't be able to come outside in the sun for a very long time lest he/she risk aggravating his/her situation. Aggravate a Wild Parsnip burn and I can assure you that you will be in pain.

Here's an excerpt from this site on the formula for trouble with this plant-
http://www.wnrmag.com/stories/2000/jun00/parsnip.htm

LOL!! Ya know, a plan B might very well suffice here. You guys are too funny!

Equilibrium, your advice on this matter is appreciatively noted. You'll be pleased to know that along with approx 8 pages of previous detailed notes, the reporting Officer also received a copy of that neighbors note which, by the way, he sent via first class mail without a return address. And, currently, we are in the process of our first course of action. I'm sure you can appreciate that discussing all details here wouldn't be prudent.

As you say, what will be learned of this chemical years down the road? I asked our County Extension Officer about the product and he confidently told me that it would be safe enough to feed a cow Roundup. My eyes popped right out of my head. I could not believe he said that!

5PinesNatural

Gets really technical here with RU because all ingredients don't exactly show up on labels but I would disagree with your County Extension Agent regarding that product being safe enough to feed to a cow. Ask your extension agent what makes up the other 96% of the ingredients on the label that are denoted as water and other formulating ingredients that Monsanto withholds listing claiming they are trade secret information. Best for you to discuss those comments made by that CEA with your vet but please read this first-
http://www.pesticide.org/glyphosate.pdf
RoundUp is not approved for use in any wetlands because it is big trouble for frogs, salamanders, fish etc. Me personally, I use it but sparingly... very sparingly and never ever within 50' of a wetland or body of water regardless of how small the body of water might be. I've believe based on the surfactants used in AquaMaster and Rodeo to be considerably safer to use on my property where children play. Glyphosate is the same active ingredient in both of those just like RU but that's where the similarities end. OK, I feel better now. RU may be one of the shorter life chemicals but it is a chemical that was engineered to kill.

Really glad we all brightened your day by adding a little bit of humor to a horrible situation. I wish you the best.

Coming in late to this discussion...and so sorry to hear of your situation 5Pines. I, too, have had neighbors with no qualms about using anything short of napalm against insects or weeds, but at least they tried their best to contain it to their property. I'm a vet, and while I have no doubt many cattle consume Roundup that has contaminated their forage, no, you certainly can't feed it to them safely!!! (Like, duh...WE knew that, didn't we? Its the rest of the world that seems to have no brain at times...).

As to the wild parsnip---I learn so much from you Equilibrium!!! Never heard of wild parsnip--not even in a year long toxicology class (there is a small chance I was sleeping during that lecture, however...). I'm curious about burning wild parsnip---does the irritating oil/sap etc become vaporized and cause problems similar to poison ivy? I'm also wondering about other plants with sap that is a dermal irritant. Especially a dermal irritant only with UV exposure, as through the years I've had "poison ivy" alot. Makes me wonder, though I've never lived in any of the states listed as having wild parsnip. Anyone found a good site with lists of those plants which are irritating? I only come up with a few....

Veterinarians are by far some of my most favorite people.

I've resumed the position through my fair share of lectures myself.

Interestingly enough, I recently participated in a little roundtable on the potential liability of and or associated with the harmful nature and potential toxicity of specific perennials and Pastinaca sativa was never mentioned. Granted, it's generally not fatal and therefore not up there with Cicuta but no mention at all of the plant and you'd think it should have been a poster child. Here's another sleeper, Ruta graveolens and that's definitely out your way.

Also too, just because a state isn't listed as having a plant doesn't mean it doesn't exist there. You know how it goes... or doesn't go with research funding.

And yes, to the best of my knowledge the oils of Wild Parsnip will vaporize when burned. You do not want to risk this getting in your lungs. If it did, I doubt seriously if you would resurface from the hospital anytime in the near future. There is so much of this growing around in the Upper Midwest that I drive my car and stop when I see colonies of it for the sole purpose of familiarizing the kids with what it looks like as well as to remind them to run into the direction of the wind if they ever see a brush fire of this crap. This plant needs to be bagged and tossed out with the garbage.

There's some decent literature out there on "bad" plants but I've not found any one good site. Best to go to google and use the scientific name of the plant + poisonous or + toxic or anything else you might like to try tossing into the search engine.

LMAO @ all of you! I hadn't kept up with this thread, til now, and I LOVE IT! I had given thought to some ideas, but NONE even come close to comparing to these wonderful thoughts!

Aren't they speshul thoughts!. Sunshine and rainbows for all neighbors who spray chemicals recklessly with wild abandon ;) You gotta admit, if that neighbor got into Wild Parsnip, he/she most assuredly wouldn't be coming out of the house other than by the light of the silvery moon!

LOL! Yes, I think I would be doing something of the like if this happened to me! We have spent A LOT of money on our property, and I WOULD find a way to pay a neighbor back if they were so malicious as to do something like this! I really do like the parsnip idea. :)

Truthfully, a few people here joke around a lot because sometimes all you can do is poke sport at a horrible situation so you don't cry for the other person but I wouldn't and I don't think you would either. That neigbor may be a self-serving lowlife disrespectful scumbag but I truly wouldn't wish that type of a burn on anyone. The big problem with the Wild Parsnip is that if is sort of like leaving a loaded gun on a table in a room full of toddlers. If those oils get transferred to another human they brush up against (such as their spouse or God forbid a child), an innocent may very well end up with nice blisters too. And those things go to seed and would end up in somebody else's yard. They're invasive. Same deal with using something like rat poison. A horrible death for an animal just trying to eek out an existence but children, feral cats, stray dogs, and actual wildlife could get into the poison not to mention what would happen to a bird of prey if it ate the poisoned rat. I hate mothballs too.

Oh yes, I agree fully. I live in town, and also have children of my own, but what a nasty thought it was! I actually have blisters on 2 of my fingers right now from something. I have handled many plants over the last few days, so I have no clue which it could have come from. Luckily there aren't too bothersome, but they do seem to be getting a little larger each day, instead of smaller?
Poison is a terrible thing for sure! There are too many other options available if you need to get "rid" of something. And the moth balls, OMG, they smell awful! We had a bad problem recently and I had a box in my hand, and immediately put it back because I remembered walking in my neighbors house and it is all I could smell! So, I went to the wood shop, swiped a couple of cedar blocks, and viola, moths started to disappear!

my goodness you evil people, iwas thinking ragweed, but looks like there are some better ones already here. ragweed gets about 6-7 ft high and i think uses ru as a fertilizer. just take your allergy pills if you have alleries. they could probably provide a temporary cover for the wildlife until the neighbor moves. or just plant his yard with mint seeds. i wish i had some nasty neighbors! lol

Well, you may be onto something here Len. I don't think there is a Ragweed out there that isn't a NA native. Although they may tickle our noses making us look like walking ads for Benadryl, the plants do have their place in our ecosystems and there are actually birds and mammals that use Ragweed as a food source. I say she pots up a few of those in a really nice little 8-pack with a handy dandy little handle and ties a bright yellow ribbon around it with a little note that says, "A gift for you". People simply can't resist gifts and being as how the neighbor won't know who it's from, chances are pretty good the ding dong would plant it somewhere prominent in the yard lest the secret gift giver come for a visit and wonder where their gift is planted. Sort of kills a few birds with one stone. The "gift" give will be able to take delight in knowing their gift was well received and might even be afforded the opportunity of watching the recipient planting it. A true Kodak moment that would result in hours of good old knee slapping stories that could be told for years about the ding dong neighbor who planted "gift" Ragweed and when the plant escapes... it really won't do much damage other than to leave a few people with itchy runny watery eyes and the sneezes which they probably would have gotten anyway.

Gosh I love DG. All this idea sharing that goes on just leaves me with the warm fuzzies for everyone who posts.

LOL! :)

LOL

Well, you all have set a few evil minds working here...and we have decided that the gift that really keeps on giving is a few hundred crickets unleashed near the evil neighbor's bedroom. Plus, eventually, after they have driven said neighbor crazy, they will provide much needed protein to birds and other small critters....Alternatively, assuming your property line is within earshot, have you considered your need for roosters? Especially fun if you can get them to roost just above his bedroom window.....

We should start a collection for 5Pine so as to get as many crickets as possible! LOL

ROFL---you guys are so fun!!!! Wish I was neighbors with some DGers!

ROFLMAO! I say it's a go! LOL

My experience has been that the scrawny, little roosters are always the loudest and most devoted to their duty, FYI! The big, pretty ones are too busy with the ladies!

So, 5Pines, what do you think about all us crazy folk out here?! LOL
Hi all! In case anyone is interested, if you like succulents, I bought a ton for $1 & $2 a piece! They had a container mixed of bromeliads for like $5, and a Mandarin plant for that as well! Anyway, just thought I would let all of you know in case you want to check out your local store! :) Oh ya, this was at Lowe's. :)

Well that sucks. I stopped in at Lowes after I went to a doctor's apt and they had nothing like what you described! Stiffed yet again for living so far north! I did pick up some more safflower seed for my bird feeders though which is why I had stopped in anyway.

I like the crickets idea. What fun! Did any of you know that crickets used to be kept as pets in wealthy chinese households? Very elaborate little cages were constructed and they were considered good luck.

Yep, does suck for those of you who can't find the great bargains. :(

Did someone say rooster??

Can they be shipped? LOL He sure is pretty!

I no longer have him. I had chickens until a few years ago when the last one died. The one that died was a banny rooster from next door who refused to leave our place. He got caught by a dog or hawk. Just as well since there were no hens left.