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AIBU?

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Original poster

WIBU to tell my neighbour their animal scarer is upsetting my children?

62 replies

YreneTowers · 20/09/2017 10:31

One of my neighbours has one of those 'ultrasonic' animal scarers in their front garden, I assume to stop cats and foxes.

They are elderly, so most likely have hearing loss at higher frequencies (almost everyone does past the age of 30 or so) and are probably unaware that some people, myself and my children included, can hear the noise the animal scarer makes.

It's a very unpleasant, high pitched tone, which can be heard for quite some distance. My eldest son in particular finds it very uncomfortable.

It's lucky for them that I can hear the noise, as if I couldn't, I would have no clue why they were reluctant to go near that house and complaining about loud noises!

Varying our route to avoid walking past this house is not an option - avoiding it would mean walking quite some way in the wrong direction. We go past this house twice a day on the school run.

WIBU to pop a note through the door to tell them their animal scarer is scaring my children?

OP posts:
HateSummer · 20/09/2017 11:58

Yanbu, I've reported these alarms to the council before because I couldn't sleep at night. It went off after letters were sent to every house down the street as we couldn't pinpoint where it was from.

BeatriceBeaudelaire · 20/09/2017 12:01

I hate those Things

C8H10N4O2 · 20/09/2017 12:15

Why can't you tell your children to put their fingers in their ears, or do you expect the rest of the world to conform to your children's desires

Don't be ridiculous - these things are on all the time and are bloody painful if you can hear them. If you can't hear them count yourself lucky, don't assume everyone else if making a fuss about nothing.

I can still hear these bloody things. Shops use them to keep kids out because most adults can't hear them. Ear plugs don't work and bluntly expecting people to spend their lives with their hearing blocked so that people can keep cats off the lawn is insane.

catmumof1 · 20/09/2017 12:18

YANBU! Talk to them about it, send notes and if they still refuse contact the council. They're anti-social and unfair and painful for all the people who can hear them especially younger children who can't communicate their distress Sad

A house on my paper round (waaay back) had one and I ended up having to quit my round after they complained that I wasn't delivering their paper and no adults believed me about the sound! (teen catmum was a bit of a snowflake)

Elllicam · 20/09/2017 12:19

We have one of these right next to the kids nursery, it's horrible. Every morning you can see all the little kids covering their ears and squealing walking past. It's always got dogs dirt outside the house too, I'm assuming because the dogs get such a fright too.

Original poster
YreneTowers · 20/09/2017 12:22

Thanks, everyone.

I'm not actually sure if this one has a motion detector or if it is set to be going off constantly. If there is a motion detector then it's probably far too sensitive, as it's going off when we're on the other side of the road. Or it may be being set off by a branch moving in the wind - they've attempted to hide it in the middle of a bush!

Apart from the nuisance aspect, surely the batteries are going to run down really quickly?

We've heard it from our front garden, although not when we're inside the house with the doors and windows shut.

To the person who asked, no we don't own cats. Lots of people around here do, and they do crap indiscriminately in people's gardens so I understand why these people want to use an animal scarer. It's a problem for us too, but we pick it up and bin it when we find it, and put a non toxic repellant down.

I will knock on the door to let them know (nicely!) that their scarer may be calibrated wrongly.

OP posts:
Ta1kinPeece · 20/09/2017 12:25

YANBU
But talk to them.
Offer to check the settings in case the frequency and direction can be adjusted

Our NDN had one that she could not hear but it fired my tinnitus off - so I explained, we looked at the settings and we reached an arrangement that suited both of us
it involved bottles of "cat off" spray and crystals at the relevant parts of the garden fences in the end
and I'm a cat owner

Jengnr · 20/09/2017 12:27

It's the fuckers who let their cats out that are the problem here.

cherrycola2004 · 20/09/2017 12:27

i can hear them, the noise doesn't last long, don;t see how it can be upsetting?

Ta1kinPeece · 20/09/2017 12:30

cherrycola
the one near us went off for 15 minutes every time it was activated - beeps ten seconds apart for 15 minutes at a time
it drove me potty

jengnr
Cats are outdoor creatures.
They should not be locked in when you have a garden.
unless you live where they become coyote food

Original poster
YreneTowers · 20/09/2017 12:34

Cherry cola - DS1 says it hurts. Having heard noises which are painful myself, I believe him.

Different people have slightly different shapes and sized ear canals, and if you hear a tone which happens to correspond to the resonant frequency of your ear, it hurts!

OP posts:
OfaFrenchmind2 · 20/09/2017 12:34

For sure, you should go and ask them if they could recalibrate it. Reasonable people would accomodate you on this.
If they can't, or won't, you could try to covertly disable it. They will not hear the difference anyway, but you will!!

Summergarden · 20/09/2017 12:39

Must admit that I've never heard one of these in real life so had to look it up on YouTube and listen to it.

I agree that it's not a pleasant sound. However I can also understand how incredibly annoying it is to have other peoples cats crap constantly in your own garden so get why people see these as a good solution to that problem.

Surely they should only be going off when a cat actually enters the garden, though? If they are going off all the time, then that's not fair, and I think it's ok to have a polite word with them.

I wouldn't suggest they shouldn't be using one at all, I'd open the conversation with something like 'I noticed you've got one of those cat repellers, they're a great idea aren't they? However I thought I should let you know that yours seems to have developed a bit of a fault as it seems to be going off constantly even when there is no cat around. My kids have a sharp sense of hearing and it hurts their ears each day when we pass, so would you mind checking the settings to see if it can be set to PIR for when cats are present?'

JacquesHammer · 20/09/2017 12:39

They should not be locked in when you have a garden

Or indeed the poor neighbours garden, right?

I've got one on order I'm so sick of other people's pets.

JacquesHammer · 20/09/2017 12:40

OP - when you say "neighbour" - how close are they?

I agree its better to have a word face to face but they wouldn't be unreasonable to keep it on if they're having issues with cats

Original poster
YreneTowers · 20/09/2017 12:42

Jacques - over the road and about 5 houses along.

OP posts:
Ta1kinPeece · 20/09/2017 12:45

I've got one on order I'm so sick of other people's pets.
Good luck wit that then
because what we actually found is that elderly stubborn cats cannot hear them either Grin

SasBel · 20/09/2017 12:48

Yup, talk to them. My neighbors have one that is activated when we walk past their garden, actually hurts my ears too.

Clandestino · 20/09/2017 12:52

I am absolutely sensitive to those things and hate them with passion. I'd probably be nice first but then get very rude if someone refused to recalibrate that thing or turn it off because they literally drive me on the brink of madness. Our very kind neighbour had one. My cats didn't give a damn about it but I couldn't go near their house because I was freaking out after few minutes. They eventually turned it off. What a relief.

GahBuggerit · 20/09/2017 12:57

Speak to them OP and they may be better than my neighbours.

Shame, theirs was somehow inexplicably broken in high wind

JacquesHammer · 20/09/2017 13:21

I've got one on order I'm so sick of other people's pets.
Good luck wit that then
because what we actually found is that elderly stubborn cats cannot hear them either

Don't worry. The cats involved are both very young.

It's lady chance saloon before we get a dog to solve the issue. I can't imagine there aren't many "elderly stubborn cats" who'll put stubborn a dog Grin

Mittens1969 · 20/09/2017 13:22

Sounds very annoying. It's a pity as I wouldn't object to people using them to keep my cats out. I could imagine it really upsetting DD1, though, she has hearing aids to help with upper frequency sounds, and they really magnify some sounds, which she hates.

As your neighbours don't know about the noise, it would be best to talk to them, as it might well be faulty

TheNaze73 · 20/09/2017 13:26

As an aside, do they work?

JacquesHammer · 20/09/2017 13:26

I don't actually know what "lady chance saloon" is but it sounds fun!

brasty · 20/09/2017 13:27

If you lived next to them, I would agree. Just walking by their house twice a day, is petty.