problem neighbours

I have had to remove most of my RSPB feeders after getting complaints from neighbours. They say their house is covered in bird droppings and they are going to have it cleaned and send me the bill. They particularly object to starlings, which they describe as "vermin". The problem escalated when my feeders started to disappear in the middle of the night. It is obvious who has taken them but I can't prove anything without cameras and so I am going to get cameras fitted to every side of the house. I had a look on the internet and it appears to be a common situation. There are lots of people who feed birds saying they have neighbours who complain and people who complain about neighbours who feed birds. Has anyone else encountered this situation? I had been willing to work out a mutually acceptable solution but trespass and theft have taken it to a new level.

  • I would suggest (if you haven't already) reporting the equipment to the police as missing, as at least you'll get a crime reference number to start and/or to add to, any proceedings in the future.
    Whether or not your neighbours agree with bird feeding, removal of your equipment, from your property is theft (or burglary as I believe they are different offences), and possibly trespass too.
  • That is the sad scenario of today, people becoming so distanced from nature, that nature is an intrusion in to their neat little lives.

    I'm very lucky here in my very urban home, my neighbours are very tolerant of birds and wildlife to the point for many, its a new and exciting thing. A neighbour a few doors down always struck me as one who would not tolerate birds, until one day recently I had to drop a miss delivered letter to her, and was pleasantly astounded how many feeders she had!

    If your neighbour is taking your feeders, that then is trespassing and theft. Trespassing is a civil offence, not criminal offence, which means the police will not become involved. However, theft is a criminal offence, but the bugbear would be the financial value of the feeders which might make it difficult to pursue.

    Now the sticking point, your neighbour could involve the council environmental health, which would normally result in a visit to assess the situation, talk to you, and only if any advice offered was not followed, may consider a prosecution.

    But a prosecution would only be a last resort, and not one taken lightly by councils. 

    I had a car unlawfully entered in to a while back, the total value of the goods taken was around £250, which was less than the excess, I got a crime number for the insurance, but no police attendance, and nor did they pursue a conviction when I provided CCTV evidence, not just of the perpetrator entering the car and taking the items, but also the accomplices who earlier in the day managed to unlock my car (it was one of those loveable keyless entry jobs) after I'd locked it!

    I would have been satisfied if the offenders were caught and convicted and happy to write the loss off to experience, satisfied a conviction had been successful and reduce the possibility of others suffering.

    Back to the feeder situation, I know and accept it is always nice to see the birds coming in to feed, and also seeing new/rare species as well. You could try periodically remove the feeders, which isn't such a bad idea, because it will encourage the birds to be able to seek food from other sources. We do that here, let the feeders go empty, it also helps to reduce the possibility of rats visiting.

    I have two trailcams set up, not just to monitor and watch the visiting feeding birds, but also to keep a check for rodent activity, which fortunately, I've only had the one instance, and immediate removal of the feeders sent the rat packing after a couple of days. Just to be sure, the feeders stayed empty for at least three weeks, and thankfully no further sightings to date.

    Once the feeders were back up, the birds didn't waste time finding them.

    I'm sorry if the above isn't what you were expecting, but it will give you an insight in to what could be.

  • This is useful feedback, which I appreciate. I haven't had a problem with rodent activity. I had ground feeders inside guardians to prevent pigeons from taking all the food. I always brought the ground feeders in at night to prevent rodent activity and left the guardians outside. It is the guardians that have disappeared. I still have a pole with four hanging feeders that only small birds can use. My neighbours don't seem to object to that.

    As far as trespass and theft are concerned, I appreciate the information that trespass is a civil and not a criminal offence. I also wonder how willing the police would be to get involved without any photographic evidence and with the financial value of the property involved. I had a similar incident of my car being broken into some years ago. The policeman who came out understood his role to be to supply me with a statement for my insurance. When I told him that I only had third-party insurance, he looked at me as if I was wasting his time.

    I am going to leave things as they are for now. I might put out a ground feeder in the winter, by which time I hope to have some cameras installed, though I realise that full-face balaclavas and the like can prevent people from being identified.
  • Thanks for this. I don't know if it is possible to have cameras that are not in view but I will look into the possibility.
  • I'm with IAR, on not publicising that you have CCTV.

    However, for your info, there is government guidance on CCTV for homes and domestic buildings, which is worth reading to enable you to set the cctv as you see fit.

    Because our frontage is well lit (too well lit) with the new LED street lights, I've been able to disable the infrared beams so the cameras aren't obvious at night. Not everyone will have that luxury, so before you attempt any modifications, see what the results are first.

    Also, you may find someone may want to take pot shots at the camera(s) to disable it/them, so don't be surprised if they do become damaged.

    The link below is the info I mentioned above, have a read and then you can make an informed decision what and where.

    https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property/domestic-cctv-using-cctv-systems-on-your-property

  • More useful information. Thanks.
  • Adie said:
    More useful information. Thanks.

    You're welcome.