Margali's Griffin Wood Ranch

SageHill

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Also wondering now if the a*hole neighbor with his drone spooked the sheep. Someone in the subdivision has a new toy and zero manners.

To be clear current Texas & Federal laws support:
- He needs to register drone and get recreational license if it is over 250grams.
- He can legally TRANSIT other people's private property without permission.
- It is a FELONY to record and KEEP video or still of private property without consent as a person engaged in RECREATION.
- It's a federal offense to shoot down or interfere with a UAV in any manner.

HOWEVER:
- Hovering over my house and kids playground viewing them play is RUDE. And should be against some sort minor's rights to privacy. Especially when you consider I'm still working on youngest boy not going out only in underwear...
- I have 13acres, if they wanted to view nature go look at the pond or woods. Instead they are hovering over the 2 acres with house and sheep barn.😡

ETA: They can be charged under the new Texas Invasive Video Recording Law if they time it wrong. The menfolk regularly pee on trees vs running back to house. Recording them do that on our private property where there is a visual screen to ground bound neighbors which leads to expectation of privacy counts.

This is another area where technology is advancing faster than the laws can keep up. They are still written from paradigm that only adults and mostly professionals have drones. Not any kid with a few hundred bucks.
Guessing you know which neighbor. ~ Could you drop by and say "Hey man - stop flying your drone over my house, ya' know you spooked the sheep and now one is lame." Though if you've had run ins previous then go to the top of the correction ladder. OOOORRRRRRR --- find someone with a drone and have them do the same back to them!
 

Margali

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Can??? They can't legally march through your field without permission but they can fly over, hover, whatever? Shouldn't there be some sort of boundary to that?
Like I said, the laws haven't caught up for any random person being able to purchase a drone. If you read the Texas reg. it is all about professionals accidentally filming something while doing work.
https://statutes.capitol.texas.gov/Docs/GV/htm/GV.423.htm
FAA basically says keep it in line of site and stay out of no fly zones. Oh and homeowners can not declare themselves a no fly zone.
 

Margali

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Guessing you know which neighbor. ~ Could you drop by and say "Hey man - stop flying your drone over my house, ya' know you spooked the sheep and now one is lame." Though if you've had run ins previous then go to the top of the correction ladder. OOOORRRRRRR --- find someone with a drone and have them do the same back to them!
All I know is it goes towards the subdivision which has 6 rental units in it. Not which one of them or random kids invited over. I checked the legal, now I'm trying to figure out how to word a letter mail all 6 residents and send to owner of property. Like I said, I can't legally exclude them from property but be damned if I'll let them buzz house or sheep unremarked.
 
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SageHill

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Admitting we have a drone - but have only ever flown it over our own ranch. Though now it's been years since it's taken flight. Yeah - we had to register it, yada yada - probably the same or similar regs you have in TX are in place here in CA.
Sooooo -- what about a water deterent?? Hose with high pressure stream?! It would play "nicely" on the electronics.
 

Bruce

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Federal offense to mess with any aircraft for any reason, including drones. The FAA really needs to be updated here.

how to word a letter to put in all 6 mailboxes
Also a federal offense to put anything in a mailbox that didn't go through USPS.

Like I said, I can't legally exclude them from property
No but they HAVE to be licensed to fly them, even over their own property. Of course, shy of someone using a drone for their YouTube channel where you can prove who is flying it I have no idea how you can get that enforced. You don't even know who it is and if you did how could you find out if they are licensed?? I'd bet 99% of all drones are not flown by licensed people.
 

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Is a drone flown by an underage child/teen for fun considered an "aircraft"? I would think if the drone was buzzing livestock it could be shot down. There laws about "worrying" livestock on the books of all states including federal ones? Or do those only apply to on the ground "worrying". Many states have new bills about not harassing wildlife with drones now. And the drone has to be over 400 feet in the air.

If it continued spooking the sheep, that could result in more injuries, not to mention the sheep possibly getting into the road and causing an accident. Also, if it comes down in your property those kids (?) will probably try to climb into the pasture and retrieve it which means the dogs would go after the trespasser. At least if they were Anatolians, which could be bad. If it kept coming back to spook the sheep (some people might think that funny and want to film the stampede). Make a complaint about the drone flying spooking your livestock, and check with the Sheriff about his stance on protecting your sheep.

There are laws in most states about drones flying over private property. Operators can be charged with criminal mischief or reckless endangerment if it causes damage. What I found out is that you have to write a letter to each address where you think it is coming from, and mail it. In the letter advise them that flying over your property is trespassing. You might also mention that they would be subject to a charge of malicious mischief and monetary damages due to any problems arising from worrying your sheep. In order to make sure they receive the letter and can't deny it, I would send the letters Return Receipt Requested. The post office will either get a signature from the addressee, or sign that they delivered it to the address so that no one can deny receiving it. Once you have sent the letters I would also take a copy of the letters and the addresses to which you mailed them, and visit the sheriff's office to discuss the problem. Probably even write a statement about the drones being used to worry your sheep and that you have made an attempt to stop the problem via written notice. Also post your property with no trespassing signs including handwritten ones about no drones to fly over. Maybe paint the fence posts purple too. Attach photos of the signs and posts with the statement and copy of the letter. Finally take all that to the Sheriff's office and make a complaint about livestock worrying by the drones. Give the Sheriff the documentation you have compiled so the sheriff will know that you have followed the law in warning everyone not to fly drones over your private property.

New laws against drones who harass or injure livestock

5/7/2018


Picture

Here is something about new laws that are coming out abut drones harrassing livestock.
Excerpt:
"Expect new drone laws here in California and particularly drones flying without permission over public lands and/or harassing animals. We already have this one:
California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW): CALIFORNIA CODE OF REGULATIONS TITLE 14, §251.1. Harassment of Animals. Except as otherwise authorized in these regulations or in the Fish & Game Code, no person shall harass, herd or drive any game or nongame bird or mammal or furbearing mammal. For the purposes of this section, harass is defined as an intentional act which disrupts an animal's normal behavior patterns, which includes, but is not limited to, breeding, feeding
or sheltering. Report harassment to CalTIP: 1-888-334-2258
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Utah passes law against drones who harass or injure livestock
Gov. Gary R. Herbert, R-Utah, has signed into law H.B.217, a bill that keeps unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operators from “harassing” livestock.
Rolled out earlier this year by chief sponsor Rep. Scott Chew, R-District 55, and floor sponsor Sen. Don Ipson, R-District 29, the legislation says “a person is guilty of harassment of livestock if the person intentionally, knowingly or recklessly chases or otherwise disturbs the peace of livestock” via UAS. The bill also covers harming livestock via motorized vehicles/ATVs and dogs.
For a first offense – and if the animal is not “seriously injured or killed” or “displaced onto property where the livestock is not entitled to be” – a person who is found guilty will be charged with a class B misdemeanor.
On the other hand, a person will be charged with a class A misdemeanor if it is a second offense, if the livestock is “seriously injured or killed,” or if there is livestock or property damage in excess of $1,000.
CLICK HERE for the original article in Unmanned Aviation."

Go to the Mother Lode web address above to see whole article.

Here is another addition to Texas law concerning drones:

As of September 1, 2017, House Bill 1643 will make three key changes to the Use of Unmanned Aircraft statute.

First, there will be modifications to the “critical infrastructure” definition.

Of interest for agriculture, the definition will now include “a concentrated animal feeding operation.” This is defined as “a concentrated, confined livestock or poultry facility that is operated for meat, milk, or egg production or for growing, stabling, or housing livestock or poultry in pens or houses, in which livestock or poultry are fed at the place of confinement and crop or forage growth or feed is not produced in the confinement area.”

Although if your sheep are in the pasture this won't apply, maybe you could get some photos of the drone lower than 400' and chasing the sheep. Cameras in the pasture or night pen?
 
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