Protection (1 Viewer)

Today i visited the Bowl, a wood 5 minutes up the road from me. By the way i saw 4 firsts, a Green woodpecker, Great spotted woodpecke a lesser spotted woodpecker and a Jackdaw. I was wondering through the wood and saw a group of lads. They must of been 12 or around that age. They asked me if i had a lighter and i asked what for. The one replied boldly " We want to light a fire". At this point i just carried on. Further on down the track i saw another gang of youths, this time older than the previous and with a fire already lit. I didn't have the confidence to challenge a gang of youths so i just went home. Last week i was over my local school field playing football. I glanced up and saw a fire just being lit, this time i managet to get to it and doubt it before it got to big, what a hero. But seriously, something needs to be done about this problem. I don't no whether it's nationwide or just in my local area, but something needs to be done. Perhaps local wardens that visit all the woods in the local area to stop these youths causing danger to themselves and wildlife.

Stonechat, im near you and i see alot of the same kind of stuff. Its usually groups of youths who for some reason get a kick out of burning things. Best thing to do is tell them that its arson and that youre going to phone the police. Usually they are young enough to be scared of this proposal and will swiftly put it out.

I know what the kids are like in this area, the most probable reply i'll get is "Get the police then" They seem to like getting chased by the police. It apparently gives them street cred!!!

seb_seb said:

Best thing to do is tell them that its arson and that youre going to phone the police. Usually they are young enough to be scared of this proposal and will swiftly put it out.

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Stonechat,

Be very careful my friend. Doing the noble thing is all well and good but you don't want to get a kicking over it!

You may be one of these people that are thick skinned & just don't mind. My friend Seb used to go Waxwing hunting in the roughest council estates imaginable - he just didn't care & he found lots of Waxwings! I was not quite as brave (or is it stupid?)

When I was younger, my local patch was hell. I used to watch it obsessively everyday & had lots of trouble over the years. A woman also got raped nearby. The best way to combat any hassle is to get up really early and have done your patch by 10am-ish.

If the problem is really bad then phone the police, but don't tackle them yourself. You want to feel safe and comfortable when you go out birding & a bad incident with some scally youths will just set you back.

Or you could find some others to go birding with

http://www.rspb.org.uk/youth/makeanddo/holidays/index.asp

and this one is amazing

http://www.tbuk.org.uk/

Good luck!

Tom.

Thanks Tom, i'll try those websites.

"Doing the noble thing is all well and good but you don't want to get a kicking over it!"

I didnt mean, in my original post, that you should be foolish and aggressive towards them. I know what a lot them can be like but surely it would be the right thing to do.

At one place I lived in LA, I was able to get carloads of kids to leave our otherwise quiet street by walking down the street, talking into what looked (to them) like a walkie-talkie, and they'd hear me say their license plate, describe their car and how many in it. You never saw these rowdies leave so fast since they assumed I was reporting them to the police! I was, in fact, just using my microcassette recorder but they didn't know that. (These were the days before cel phones.)

Probably a foolish thing to do, but if someone didn't discourage these stereo-booming, beer-bottle-smashing kids from parking and cruising, we'd've never gotten any sleep. And I never once got any hassle from anybody. Maybe I got away with it because I *was* a woman and they couldn't believe I had the 'nads to be out there in the middle of the night so didn't know what other surprises I might be concealing. I don't know. It just worked and eventually they never came back. At least while I lived there!

Maybe if these jackasses in the woods thought they were being reported immediately, you think they'd high-tail it out of there? Unfortunately, kids today are a lot more aggressive (and armed!) than they were back when I was chasing them out of our neighborhood. I just hate a bully.

I too have come across the problem of kids lighting fires.

I agree... just call the police (or fire service).

Sometimes (when I'm at my most magnanimous) I think the kids are too young to have any concept of what they're doing... at others I think they're just no-good brain-dead louts, who will probably end up banged up, drugged up or hospitalised 'cos they have no notion or care for anyone other than themselves.

You don't despair alone, Stonechat!

Stephen

What ever you do don't take any chances. Do not approach a gang of youths in any way. Stay well clear and if you have to report it to anyone do it when there is no chance of them realising it is you who is doing it.

If you have a mobile phone wait until you are well away from them then report their wherabouts to the authorities.

Unfortunately gangs of youths (not all of them admittedly) seem to have to no concept of right or wrong and are just looking for kicks. All they need is an excuse to turn on someone so don't give them that excuse.

It's a sad state of affairs when you can't walk anywhere without the fear factor being close by but unfortunately, society being as it is, this is now the norm not the exception.

Reader said:

It's a sad state of affairs when you can't walk anywhere without the fear factor being close by but unfortunately, society being as it is, this is now the norm not the exception.

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Is it really that bad?

tom mckinney said:

Is it really that bad?

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Perhaps not, but certainly I can become quite paranoid, keeping a wary eye on everyone I pass. Being a woman on your own doesn't help either, although I reckon I could give as good as I got... (o)<