Bad Neighbor!

[2 Much Whine]

I am confused. We have a little fountain in the back yard. It’s wall-mounted and it is a lion spitting a stream of water into a little bowl. It’s at the very back of my fenced yard and the farthest distance away possible from any houses. I find the sound of running water quite pleasant. I’m checking to see if there are folks out there that find trickling water annoying. I noticed that it wasn’t making any noise and I went to turn it on the other day and found that the pump had been pulled out of the water and was hanging outside the bowl. I checked with my family and they didn’t pull it out.

I can only guess that it was either a raccoon that displaced the pump (which seems highly unlikely to me) or a neighbor that came into my fenced yard and pulled the pump out to turn it off (which also does not seem very probable).

I am stumped. Am I a bad and annoying neighbor that isn’t even aware he’s being naughty? It recycles the water so it’s not that I’m wasting it. I miss my fountain (that now has a burned out pump) but don’t want to spend another $35 just to have the pump yanked out again. Can any forum readers out there help me solve this first-world mystery?

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[anonyme]

The editor just posted a vandalism report from Belvedere that sounds similar. Hose cut, water left running. Maybe someone has a water feature fetish?

I love peace & quiet, but a trickling fountain enhances that by providing gentle white noise to block out city sounds. If someone vandalized your property because they were too spineless to actually talk to you, that’s sad.

Raccoons might be the most likely possibility, as they’d be attracted to the water – especially in this weather. Some of them are monster-sized, so they could easily displace the filter.

Sorry to hear about your little fountain (Italian style, no doubt?) and hope you solve your mystery.

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[maddy]

I suspect raccoons. They are very clever and they may have needed water. I’ve had them drag my garden hoses all across the lawn and knock over a running sprinker. Try leaving out a bowl of water somewhere not to close by the fountain.

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[UrbanFabulous]

I find the sound of artificial running water annoying. I bet it was an animal, squirrel or bird, that probably knocked it out though. The crows were using my kids’ water table as a bird bath when it was really hot out.

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[TanDL]

Don’t underestimate raccoons. They have ripped up the rocks around our pond, pulled the hose out our pump and played with the various floating toys we have out there. It’s very hot right now so they are looking to cool down on these warm nights and they are very curious creatures with dexterous little hands.

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[Smitty]

Guessing raccoons BUT if I could hear my neighbors fountain from my home I would be a little annoyed – especially if it was on 24/7.

One mans fountain is another mans wind chime.

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[Bonnie]

My guess is racoons too but I have to say that I like the sound of water during the day but at night when I’m trying to sleep it annoys me. We used to have a pond in our back yard and we took it out to put in what is now a bunch of dead grass ;). When I was pregnant with my first I used to make my husband go out every night to turn that pond off, it annoyed me so much. First world problems, I know.

Smitty, don’t get me started on my neighbors wind chimes.

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[wakeflood]

I too suspect raccoons. Little buggers love to mess with stuff – especially if you’ve ever given them any attitude. I have a small water feature that has a realistic stone turtle in it. Almost every day for a couple of weeks, they took turns pulling it up and out of the fountain and leaving it upside down nearby.

I envision the first one doing it and figuring out that it wasn’t real and then just doing it to spite me. Like they were going to do it until I got them a real turtle to harass?

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[Sue]

It wouldn’t surprise me if it was a neighbor. I was a renter in a duplex a few years ago, and my attached neighbor said that someone climbed over her locked gate to unscrew the lightbulb on her porch light because she left it on all night for security and it was apparently bothering someone. (A neighbor eventually admitted doing it – several times.) I can understand that it (like running water, wind chimes, etc.) can be bothersome to some people, but can’t people just say something, or even leave a note if they’re uncomfortable confronting someone?

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[Gina]

Raccoons bit my wading pool, forgot and left it out overnight.

For porch lights, at one time there was a screw in motion detector, used it when I was a renter. Light came on if there was something moving. Handy, and less light pollution.

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[HappyOnAlki]

Now you can get “Dark Sky” lighting (or adaptors) that direct the light from your porch light straight down instead of flooding the neighborhood with light — light where you need it, not where you don’t.

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[Talaki34]

Why not just talk to your neighbors and ask if the water bothers them.

Not your neighbors? Replace the pump. If the bowl is deep enough, try using a light cage over the pump that you can screw into the base. They come in different sizes/shapes and can be fastened many different ways. You may have to cut it to fit. Just remember to seal everything using something non-toxic.

Maybe something like this?

http://www.sti-usa.com/Products/Beacon-Sounder-Cage-STI-9617.htm

Wildlife can continue to drink, the raccoons will have endless hours of fun trying to figure out how to remove the pump again and you will have your running water back.

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[clamdigger]

Raccoons are indeed super active right now — I just saw a mama and four little ones walk across my front yard and down 40th Ave SW!

I don’t think I would mind the sound of a water feature, but maybe put it on a timer so it turns off at night?

A big UGH to wind chimes — I find them incredibly annoying, at any hour.

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[Jerald]

Raccoons pulled the first two pumps from our pond and they burnt out from running dry. The third pump is firmly anchored (so far). The little rascals constantly mess about out there and manage to pull out the floating balls and toss them around. And, they totally stole our (heavy) turtle figurine.

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[gmabetty]

had a neighbor years ago with a nice pond in their back yard. A heron decided to fish there for their coi fish. They put out a couple small gnome figures that worked for a while. Guess after a while they figured out the figures didn’t move. The lady was very upset over it. They finally had to install screen before buying more fish. It was very pretty. At least the heron wasn’t distructive lke raccoons can be. Iknow running water (fountains, etc.) can br irritating to some people,but being a country girl I don’t mind it,if not a flood.

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[dhg]

I’m sure it’s the raccoons although it could be the neighbors. Do the neighbors try to hide large striped tails?

Tati’s movie Mon Oncle had a shtick about a pretentious wife of a banker. They had a house in Paris with a little yard and front gate. In the middle of the yard was a water feature: a large swordfish that spouted water. But she couldn’t stand the sound, or was thrifty, because she kept it off until someone rang the bell. Then she’d turn on the fountain, see who it was and if it were just some delivery person or a relative, she would turn off the fountain. By the 5th time or so you’ve seen this routine, it becomes very funny.

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