AIBU to think that if you hate animals you shouldn't move to the countryside?

The mention of pest controllers reminds me - we did once have a phone call from somebody in the nearby town. They'd caught a rat in a live trap in their garden but didn't want to kill it, and could they bring it to the farm to release it...?

I leave the reply to your imagination.

One yard we were at, the neighbours grew a hedge right next to one of our grazing fields, and then were surprised and cross when our livestock leaned over the fence and ate the hedging - they demanded that we fence our animals away from (our) fence.
I too have experienced this. I didn't laugh!

OP I have another suggestion for you: buy a vintage tractor, the kind that can do a maximum of 5mph. They will love being stuck behind that in their Minis :)

Loving this thread.
Being country born and bred these people never seem to amaze me. Can they really get through life being so thick?

We were at the local farm park earlier in the year and just missed a lamb being born by seconds in the field. We got to watch it take its first steps it was lovely. Thankfully (or maybe disapointingly, we could have had fun with them?) no pearl clutchers were around, no fainting at 'nature doing its own thing' and never heard anyone complain.

Mythical I dont know one farmer or horse owner who treats their animals badly, the welfare of the animals always comes first, educate yourself, but do us all a favour and stay away from rural areas.

isn't it nearly slurry spreading time ?.... and for the best results mustn't it be started around breakfast time?

some nice big, loud, territorial and protective geese might useful

also as you might be putting up signs here's another one

male gawd! I shouldn't type before my 2nd cup of coffee!

MrsWembley Sun 17-Jun-18 23:16:31

I pulled a snail out of a plant pot that that I planned to wash and reuse, and found it attached to another snail by a very dubious (and comparatively huge) looking member...Who should I complain to?

It's worse than you thought MrsW: Snails are hermaphrodites and the mail half of one mates with the female parts of the other and vice-versa. To make matters worse they have calcium disolving darts that they shoot into each-others' shells and then they winch themselves towards each other using their, ahem, "huge member".

They shouldn't be allowed!

@brigante9 I used to know a mini Shetland whose little legs were so stumpy, and whose tummy was so round, that when he lay down on his side his legs basically couldn't reach the ground. They just stuck straight out. Have to admit, the first time I saw this I did screech to a halt to make sure he was really just snoozing and hadn't keeled over and gone into rigour mortis!

OP, I think your neighbours have a point about sheep pooing everywhere. You should get them a row of portaloos and teach them to go like civilised ovines. I think right in fromt of your neighbours' fence sounds like a good place to put them. [helpful face]

Much heap, in the field just upwind of them, after 1-2 wks it won't smell anymore unless you move it so they can complain and you can just leave it and it'll go away by itself. If they insist (how) on it moving point out it'll start to smell again.

My neighbour has bought hens and a cockerell. The cockerell doesn't crow as such. It's more of a peculiar bleat like Ann from Little Britain so we laugh every time we hear it.

The neighbour thought that unless he bought a cockerell the hens wouldn't lay eggs. I tried to explain but he wouldn't have it!

You: I think they should do that at urban schools, then maybe townies wouldn't grow up with such silly ideas.

I have a friend who refused to eat free range eggs in case they had baby chickens in them. I had to explain that to get baby chickens, a cockerel was required. She used to be a nurse, too - a gynae nurse at that.

I went to a rural school for a year. I was the chicken monitor.

Mythical, take a hike, through a field of cowpats.

I have a confession. I bought someone the inflatable sheep, and yes it does have red lipstick.

The person I bought it for was a student, it would randomly turn up in student beds, it was also carried around under someone's arm for a while, the carrier pretended he hadn't noticed the blow up sheep.

Come to think of it the size of it, well it was a blowup lamb really which is quite disturbing.

Not sure if it was linked to upthread.

www.amazon.com/Naughty-Inflatable-Sheep-Backdoor-Pleasure/dp/B00N39DJO4?th=1&tag=mumsnetforum-21

I keep reading this and thinking about the rural schools thread. Mr neighbour could do with going back to (a rural) school.

I thought countryside folk hated animals, judging by the barbaric way they treat them?

That’s a lovely story Oldsu! I was walking with mates once when we came upon a sheep 🐑 on its back ,legs in the air and eyes rolling. We thought it was fitting or something, very upset. Found the farmer who looked at us in a pitying way, tipped the sheep right way up and wandered off muttering “bloody townies” 😂

I do understand how difficult it must be to deal with townies who don't understand animal behaviour, however a few years ago DH and I were on holiday in a cottage next to a field where horses were kept, on our first day we went past the field and one of the horses was lying down making a groaning sound, I was really worried about it, so I stopped by the farm and reported it, the farmer was quite terse with me and I felt silly and embarrassed, I apologised for wasting his time but the horse was groaning so I thought it was hurt, it spoilt my day actually thinking I had been a prize prat and the farmer would be laughing at my silliness.

5 minutes after we returned to the cottage, the farmer and his wife came round, the wife burst into tears and just hugged me, seems like the horse was actually very ill, seems my mention of groaning made the farmer take a look at it immediately

We had a brilliant holiday after that, we were invited to tea the next da with the family , we got free drinks in the pub (the publican was the farmers brother) and best of all when it was realised we don't drive and were reliant on the bus for days out the farmers son took us to town one day going the scenic route that the bus didn't take, so we saw sights we would never have seen

We haven't gone back but we still exchange Christmas cards with the family (and the horse made a complete recovery I am glad to say)

Aw it’s just like a Beatrix Potter story isn’t it? 😄

God I love this thread. It's the only one I've ever considered sharing because it rings so true.

I've not heard anyone as barmy as OP's neighbor though tbf.

It was ever thus though. Back in the 80's my dad was driving a combine harvester one morning and had a DFL actually run up to the machine flapping his arms complaining it was a Sunday!

My old pony used to upset people by stopping outside a posh restaurant in the village, refusing to move and just letting it all hang out. He must have had nice day dreams as it could swing in all directions. The worat was the restaurant had huge picture windows with all diners facing him. He would refuse to move. Your neighbour should think himself lucky 🤔😣

This is exactly why I avoid the countryside, it’s absolute madness! All that tipping and shitting..... intolerable . Then there’s the vast amounts of unnecessary green stuff 🤢makes me positively bilious!

Shik the pest people are fairly fucked up though. We have two lads in their twenties here who do it as a hobby, without payment. Ie. Their idea of a fun afternoon is despatching various animals, in medieval ways, who've had the misfortune to have their homes noticed by humans.
Just because you live (or in my case, grew up and live) in the countryside, doesn't mean you're insensitive to cruelty to animals. Does mean you can handle the smell/poop/muddy realities though, OP.

They sound moronic.
Start a village magazine and educate them in a subtle way.

shiklah

Wow you have one busy field, your list doesn't even include all the things that happen when your neighbours aren't creepily staring into your field.

I'd drive over to complain that they're staring at your field!

A single donkey can be startling enough. We were once eating a picnic on a bench halfway up a small Lake District hill when Mr Donkey decided to parade just across the fence proving he was hung like a horse. Not peeing, just showing off at length. Maybe it was a cunning plan to try put us off our grub so we'd share with him, but it didn't work on us ...probably would do the trick nicely on the OP's neighbours' delicate sensibilities.

I pulled a snail out of a plant pot that that I planned to wash and reuse, and found it attached to another snail by a very dubious (and comparatively huge) looking member...

Who should I complain to?