Jason in Enid
Gold Member
- Oct 10, 2009
- 9,593
- 9,229
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
I was out scouring some curb strips in front of empty lots and empty houses today. As I was in the process of digging a target I caught glimpse of someone out of the corner of my eye and heard the all too familiar "excuse me, can I help you?" LOL. Why do they always ask that? 
I had my headphones on so I pretended to not hear her until she got closer. 
Then I pulled one earcup off and said "Nope, I'm fine." and went back to digging. It was very apparent this wasn't the answer she was expecting. So she continues by saying "I would appreciate it if you didn't dig deep holes here, there are kids who play around here." So I waved my arm to indicate the area behind me and said "I refill all the dirt in my digs, so there are no holes left." LOL, It was obvious she wanted to get rid of me but I had answer to her concerns. Her next quip was "well, you should check with the owners to make its OK to do that here". Now, make no mistake, I saw the trap she was trying to set from a mile away. *** curb strips are public and legal to hunt in my town*** I know she was expecting me to claim to have express permission for private property, which she was apparently connected with. I just smiled and said "This is public property." You should have seen the shock on her face. 
So I continued to explain for her. "Everything from THIS sidewalk all the way across the street to that other sidewalk is owned by the city. It's public property. It's where the city runs public utilities and they can come in any time they want and trench the entire thing and remove whatever landscaping they want to. They can also widen the roadway or replace or change the sidewalk without any owner approval because they maintain ownership." Now she looked concerned and asked "Well, why do I have to mow it then?" So I laughed and told her that was a good question.
She wandered off (back to a business on the backside of the block) muttering that she needed to call the city and find out. You would think that people who own a property would actually be familiar with the boundaries and right-of-ways of what they paid for. Anyway, I finished out my hunt (got some wheats and a barber dime) and never heard from her again.
That's why it pays to know the laws of your area!
I had my headphones on so I pretended to not hear her until she got closer. Then I pulled one earcup off and said "Nope, I'm fine." and went back to digging. It was very apparent this wasn't the answer she was expecting. So she continues by saying "I would appreciate it if you didn't dig deep holes here, there are kids who play around here." So I waved my arm to indicate the area behind me and said "I refill all the dirt in my digs, so there are no holes left." LOL, It was obvious she wanted to get rid of me but I had answer to her concerns. Her next quip was "well, you should check with the owners to make its OK to do that here". Now, make no mistake, I saw the trap she was trying to set from a mile away. *** curb strips are public and legal to hunt in my town*** I know she was expecting me to claim to have express permission for private property, which she was apparently connected with. I just smiled and said "This is public property." You should have seen the shock on her face. So I continued to explain for her. "Everything from THIS sidewalk all the way across the street to that other sidewalk is owned by the city. It's public property. It's where the city runs public utilities and they can come in any time they want and trench the entire thing and remove whatever landscaping they want to. They can also widen the roadway or replace or change the sidewalk without any owner approval because they maintain ownership." Now she looked concerned and asked "Well, why do I have to mow it then?" So I laughed and told her that was a good question. She wandered off (back to a business on the backside of the block) muttering that she needed to call the city and find out. You would think that people who own a property would actually be familiar with the boundaries and right-of-ways of what they paid for. Anyway, I finished out my hunt (got some wheats and a barber dime) and never heard from her again.
That's why it pays to know the laws of your area!
