Well, I received a call from my neighbor.
He acknowledged that his cows were getting out and that he had been having trouble with a couple of places, due to some down trees that were coming from my side of the property after storms. This is very understandable as my property is all timber on that property line and his is pasture. I am constantly having to remove trees on our internal road system, so I have no doubts that what he is saying is true. He also said that the cows break the fence trying to eat the acorns that fall from my oaks, and that this time of the year is always the worst because of the acorns.
I told him I had bought a roll of barbed wire and some staples, and would leave it by the fence for him after I got done patching up any areas I saw. I advised him I would make a habit from here on out of walking the property line, chainsaw in hand. Our side originally put up the fence back in the 1930s. It has been a couple of generations since anyone from our side of the property has paid any attention to/helped with maintenance of the fence. We used to have cows about 25 yrs ago. He is older and has been dealing with it all this time as best as he could, so he seemed appreciative of my interest and enthusiasm. He mentioned maybe getting a new fence one of these days and I told him point blank I would split it with him.
We talked about the fence, feral dogs, coyotes, the decline in deer numbers, other historical relationships between the two properties and families. We share many of the same concerns. It was a very good conversation and I am glad to "know" my neighbor now. I am optomistic about the future.
