Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2016 17:56:03 GMT -5
If anyone thinks being president of a local HOA is all dull meetings, they need my life for a month or two. Phone rang about 4 this afternoon. It was the private security patrol responding to a resident's report of a snake. Turned out to be a 3-foot python which the resident had injured with a board . Security team picked up cat carrier from my vice-president's house, collected snake and delivered to my house. Half an hour later I am on first-name basis with local snake rescue dude who will pick up the snake tomorrow if it survives its injuries through the night. It's soooo beautiful-I want to whack the person that hit it. Two months ago, same scenario but it was an injured mallard duck and his mate. I renamed head of security "Captain Quackers". Today I told him he was being demoted and his new name is "Sergeant Slithers". He asked if I had a contact # for alligator rescue if needed and I said yes, but if he calls me about a 'gator, his name will be "Officer Unemployed". I've heard someone wants to run against me for president this November.
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 2, 2016 18:46:57 GMT -5
Hm. A few random thoughts here...
Who calls the HOA or security to deal with snakes or ducks? That's almost as weird as people who call 911 and expect the police to deal with that stuff. Sheesh, peeps. Cowboy up. If it's wildlife and it's in your yard - you deal with it.
I'm generally a fan of snakes. I don't kill nonpoisonous snakes in my yard because I like that they eat rodents. At one point when my son wanted a dog, I tried to talk him into getting a snake instead because it would be less work (he thought that was nuts.) That said, if you're in Florida, you have to know what a nuisance pythons are now. Within the last couple of decades, escaped pythons and boas have wreaked havoc in the Everglades, eating essentially all the native mammal and small animal population, from rabbits to raccoons to bobcats to possums to birds (many of them endangered). It's a big problem. Sorry that one is hurting, but I'm glad it's not out and around any more.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 2, 2016 21:49:09 GMT -5
Hm. A few random thoughts here... Who calls the HOA or security to deal with snakes or ducks? That's almost as weird as people who call 911 and expect the police to deal with that stuff. Sheesh, peeps. Cowboy up. If it's wildlife and it's in your yard - you deal with it. I'm generally a fan of snakes. I don't kill nonpoisonous snakes in my yard because I like that they eat rodents. At one point when my son wanted a dog, I tried to talk him into getting a snake instead because it would be less work (he thought that was nuts.) That said, if you're in Florida, you have to know what a nuisance pythons are now. Within the last couple of decades, escaped pythons and boas have wreaked havoc in the Everglades, eating essentially all the native mammal and small animal population, from rabbits to raccoons to bobcats to possums to birds (many of them endangered). It's a big problem. Sorry that one is hurting, but I'm glad it's not out and around any more. Good for you, Milee, but I would be exactly the person to call HOA security that I pay fees for to take care of a snake. Ducks, no, but I don't know which snakes are poisonous and which aren't. I don't plan to learn the hard way. Maybe it is where you live. There is wildlife and there is wildlife. Around here, it is mice (live next to a field), squirrels (same thing but with better PR), chipmunks, foxes, and sometimes armadillos. None of those "scare" me, but I might injure any of them in my attempt to deal with them. I would never mess with a snake, though. Ditto, spiders. Most are harmless. But they don't carry ID. I kill any and every spider I see. I am not "scared" of them, but I am never giving one the benefit of the doubt. I am actually religious, but if I weren't, there is a reason that the evil in the Garden of Eden is a snake. Mankind should be EXTREMELY wary of snakes. That's the message I get from that.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on Aug 2, 2016 22:02:51 GMT -5
My brother is a CPA who is partner in a firm that specializes in HOA management. Part of his job is to attend HOA meetings to give financial reports. So he had to sit through a lot of HOA meetings. He says main topic of discussion is usually dog poop. After listening to all his stories I don't think I would ever want to be a part of an HOA.
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msventoux
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Post by msventoux on Aug 2, 2016 22:26:10 GMT -5
My brother is a CPA who is partner in a firm that specializes in HOA management. Part of his job is to attend HOA meetings to give financial reports. So he had to sit through a lot of HOA meetings. He says main topic of discussion is usually dog poop. After listening to all his stories I don't think I would ever want to be a part of an HOA. I've worked on audits of various sizes of HOAs and some of the stuff that manages to make its way into the meeting minutes is absolutely hysterical. People have far, far too much time on their hands.
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toomuchreality
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Post by toomuchreality on Aug 2, 2016 23:37:47 GMT -5
I don't want a snake to eat my ferret. Maybe it would think he is a mongoose! I don't know who I would call, but I'd call someone else to deal with it, that's for sure! DD1 was on the HOA committee, of her condos. Some of the things people complain about... Amazing!
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Aug 3, 2016 6:55:07 GMT -5
I used to be president of my condo association, and some of those owners were seriously crazy!
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ginpin
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Post by ginpin on Aug 3, 2016 7:17:09 GMT -5
I have yet to go to an HOA meeting, but I've discovered that some of the people in my neighborhood are seriously uptight, all from the FB page. I'm really thinking of moving in a couple of years.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Aug 3, 2016 7:22:29 GMT -5
So I've been looking at neighborhoods. Since it's a SFH I'm after, no HOA. But I remember DH saying the best thing about a HOA was that everyone got their lawn mowed on the same day so the yards all looked nice at the same time. I see his point. When you own your own home, you or your service nows whenever. So no ones lawn looks the same on the same day. It's kind of funny.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Aug 3, 2016 7:23:45 GMT -5
I've thought of trying to find out which service most of the neighbors might use to remedy this minor issue !
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 3, 2016 7:35:42 GMT -5
The comment about people handling their own wildlife in their yards wasn't so much about whether the wildlife is poisonous or not, it's about what the HOA/security team should and shouldn't be handling. If it's in the security contract that the security team deals with wildlife (and I'm surprised that it is, in the contracts I used to see at clients wildlife was specifically excluded but I'm sure there are regional differences), then sure - call them. But my experience with security is that their job is to provide security from human issues including but not limited to robbery, vandalism, fighting, etc. Not that they're there to deal with anything yucky that you don't want to touch.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Aug 3, 2016 7:38:54 GMT -5
I know there are different types of HOA's but most I know who lived in one were the condo type. So the outside was owned by the association. In that case I would call them if I had a wild animal that needed dealing with.
If I was the owner of the outside I would probably call the police if the animal was big or threatening. I am not sure if the python looked like it would bite me that I wouldn't have beat it with a 2X4 also. What else am I supposed to do, just stand there and get bit?
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Aug 3, 2016 7:45:26 GMT -5
The comment about people handling their own wildlife in their yards wasn't so much about whether the wildlife is poisonous or not, it's about what the HOA/security team should and shouldn't be handling. If it's in the security contract that the security team deals with wildlife (and I'm surprised that it is, in the contracts I used to see at clients wildlife was specifically excluded but I'm sure there are regional differences), then sure - call them. But my experience with security is that their job is to provide security from human issues including but not limited to robbery, vandalism, fighting, etc. Not that they're there to deal with anything yucky that you don't want to touch. If they shouldn't be handling it, they would say "sorry, we don't handle that" and hang up. Calling an exterminator or pest removal company may be against the HOA and I'd much rather err on the side of caution than get a service in, pay, and then be slapped with additional HOA fines.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Aug 3, 2016 7:45:51 GMT -5
In my Mom's condo assoc the weirdest thing that caused an actual fight were flowers and the color of the curtains that showed from the outside. People put flowers in boxes and hung them or put them next to their front doors. Apparently that required permission and had a laundry list of hoops to jump through to get the ok. The way people were freaking out about it you would have thought they were boxes of shit instead of flowers. The curtains were supposed to be lined so only white showed from the outside. Well some curtains were lined better than others, because some had a kind of bleed through that gave it a light colored appearance. People took it on themselves to walk around and note what windows had a light pink look to the curtains or light blue ect. It would have been funny if people weren't getting threatening letters and "fines".
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Aug 3, 2016 7:48:03 GMT -5
I know there are different types of HOA's but most I know who lived in one were the condo type. So the outside was owned by the association. In that case I would call them if I had a wild animal that needed dealing with. If I was the owner of the outside I would probably call the police if the animal was big or threatening. I am not sure if the python looked like it would bite me that I wouldn't have beat it with a 2X4 also. What else am I supposed to do, just stand there and get bit? No, you're supposed to just know which are venomous and which are fine. And you also supposed to know in what fashion to get rid of the venomous ones. What? You're not a zoologist?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Aug 3, 2016 7:54:57 GMT -5
Red and black, friend of Jack. Red and yellow, kill a fellow.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Aug 3, 2016 7:59:16 GMT -5
what about brown? Or green?
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Aug 3, 2016 8:04:21 GMT -5
what about brown? Or green? Brown and green are usually okay.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Aug 3, 2016 8:05:02 GMT -5
what about brown? Or green? And who's Jack? Are we talking snakes or spiders here? Snakes. It's something the kids are taught in school here to be aware of.
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973beachbum
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Post by 973beachbum on Aug 3, 2016 8:05:10 GMT -5
Say they are more than one color?
Seriously I actually know we have no native snakes that are poisonous except the rattlesnake which is pretty obvious to tell. But just because a snake isn't poisonous doesn't mean it can't bite and leave someone very hurt!
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Aug 3, 2016 8:06:48 GMT -5
you can call me a pansy, wimp, princess, another word starting with P and ending in Y... IDGAF, I'm not voluntarily handling a snake unless it's life or death, no one else is around, and running away is not an option. POINT BLANK PERIOD!!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 3, 2016 8:07:43 GMT -5
Ah, HOA stuff. I'll try to keep this short, but it probably won't be.
DH and I have a single family house in a community around a small lake. I joined the HOA Board because they were good people and I like this neighborhood and the natural beauty. I'm also retired and have some Board experience.
What an eye-opener. The Annual meeting was a zoo; people who liked the sound of their own voices just ranted for as long as they wanted. The people running the meeting did not get it under control and some major issues were not voted on.
We elected a new Board (including me) with 2 write-in candidates who did not get elected. One of them, whom I'll call Joe, got an attorney who claimed that the election was invalid for a variety of nitpicky reasons. Example: it wasn't a secret ballot (required by the By-laws) because each ballot had to be signed and the people who counted the ballots (but not anyone else) know who voted for whom. We spend too much money going back and forth with Joe's lawyer and finally decided to just put Joe on the Board. Joe said he'd call off the lawyer and support the revised Restrictions we're trying to get voted in. (Current ones are an outdated patchwork.)
Joe is on the Board now and has gone back on his promise to support the restrictions and says we have no legal standing as a Board anyway because there's no document from the now-defunct developer saying we have it. (A friend who's an attorney and an HOA president gave me a free opinion that the By-laws DO give us authority.) Joe apparently sues people for a hobby and has the bottomless wallet to do it. He came in one day moaning that it was going to cost $12K to get his Mercedes transmission repaired.
And the neighbors. One got a permit to addle the eggs of the prolific Canada geese. Another, a wildlife lover, called her a murderer. My next-door neighbor, a lovely man who mows his lawn twice a week, thinks there should be NO algae on the lake. (You can do that but it takes chemicals and this time of year it would kill all the fish.) One guy just does what he wants with his house even if it's against the restrictions so we have all kind of actions against him.
Fortunately, the Board members other than Joe are wonderful people and we work well together. I will have plans for keeping the next meeting under control. If I lose too much sleep over all of this I'll quit, but so far it's been OK.
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zibazinski
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Post by zibazinski on Aug 3, 2016 8:10:01 GMT -5
Ah, HOA stuff. I'll try to keep this short, but it probably won't be. DH and I have a single family house in a community around a small lake. I joined the HOA Board because they were good people and I like this neighborhood and the natural beauty. I'm also retired and have some Board experience. What an eye-opener. The Annual meeting was a zoo; people who liked the sound of their own voices just ranted for as long as they wanted. The people running the meeting did not get it under control and some major issues were not voted on. We elected a new Board (including me) with 2 write-in candidates who did not get elected. One of them, whom I'll call Joe, got an attorney who claimed that the election was invalid for a variety of nitpicky reasons. Example: it wasn't a secret ballot (required by the By-laws) because each ballot had to be signed and the people who counted the ballots (but not anyone else) know who voted for whom. We spend too much money going back and forth with Joe's lawyer and finally decided to just put Joe on the Board. Joe said he'd call off the lawyer and support the revised Restrictions we're trying to get voted in. (Current ones are an outdated patchwork.) Joe is on the Board now and has gone back on his promise to support the restrictions and says we have no legal standing as a Board anyway because there's no document from the now-defunct developer saying we have it. (A friend who's an attorney and an HOA president gave me a free opinion that the By-laws DO give us authority.) Joe apparently sues people for a hobby and has the bottomless wallet to do it. He came in one day moaning that it was going to cost $12K to get his Mercedes transmission repaired. And the neighbors. One got a permit to addle the eggs of the prolific Canada geese. Another, a wildlife lover, called her a murderer. My next-door neighbor, a lovely man who mows his lawn twice a week, thinks there should be NO algae on the lake. (You can do that but it takes chemicals and this time of year it would kill all the fish.) One guy just does what he wants with his house even if it's against the restrictions so we have all kind of actions against him. Fortunately, the Board members other than Joe are wonderful people and we work well together. I will have plans for keeping the next meeting under control. If I lose too much sleep over all of this I'll quit, but so far it's been OK. Yup, just one or two will do it.
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justme
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Post by justme on Aug 3, 2016 9:06:48 GMT -5
Lol lucky most in my HOA don't care. They have that annual meeting to ratify the budget or something like that where they need half the owners to do something. They never get close to half. They just shrug, go with the alternative and carry on.
But this is a professionally managed HOA. There's a manager that's on site during office hours and any issue or questions I just call her up and ask.
There are some crazier rules. We have the white has to show in your windows. Nothing stored on your balcony. But it's nothing too bad. Though I've lived here for six years so maybe the Borg assimilated me lol.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Aug 3, 2016 9:29:22 GMT -5
Hm. A few random thoughts here... Who calls the HOA or security to deal with snakes or ducks? That's almost as weird as people who call 911 and expect the police to deal with that stuff. Sheesh, peeps. Cowboy up. If it's wildlife and it's in your yard - you deal with it. I'm generally a fan of snakes. I don't kill nonpoisonous snakes in my yard because I like that they eat rodents. At one point when my son wanted a dog, I tried to talk him into getting a snake instead because it would be less work (he thought that was nuts.) That said, if you're in Florida, you have to know what a nuisance pythons are now. Within the last couple of decades, escaped pythons and boas have wreaked havoc in the Everglades, eating essentially all the native mammal and small animal population, from rabbits to raccoons to bobcats to possums to birds (many of them endangered). It's a big problem. Sorry that one is hurting, but I'm glad it's not out and around any more. Good for you, Milee, but I would be exactly the person to call HOA security that I pay fees for to take care of a snake. Ducks, no, but I don't know which snakes are poisonous and which aren't. I don't plan to learn the hard way. Maybe it is where you live. There is wildlife and there is wildlife. Around here, it is mice (live next to a field), squirrels (same thing but with better PR), chipmunks, foxes, and sometimes armadillos. None of those "scare" me, but I might injure any of them in my attempt to deal with them. I would never mess with a snake, though. Ditto, spiders. Most are harmless. But they don't carry ID. I kill any and every spider I see. I am not "scared" of them, but I am never giving one the benefit of the doubt. I am actually religious, but if I weren't, there is a reason that the evil in the Garden of Eden is a snake. Mankind should be EXTREMELY wary of snakes. That's the message I get from that. All creatures have a duty to perform.
Living in AZ gave me a very different perspective on snakes...including the rattlesnake who bit our cat, Nikki who survived another 9 years despite being in the shop for a week earning the nickname the $5k Feline.
Most snakes want nothing to do with you. You are too big to eat and the typical encounter is a surprise one. That is unless you qualify under the AZ rule of who gets bit by rattlesnakes; male, <30, drunk and showing off for his friends or girlfriend. For the record my cat wasn't drunk.
I've handled non venomous snakes before. After the "snake bite" incident I found a four foot gopher snake on our patio. We wanted to get it off the patio because we weren't sure our goofy cat had learned his lesson and might "play" with it. A bite could still be painful even if it's not venomous. We trapped it against the wall, I grabbed it behind the head and supported the rest of its body carried it through the house and placed it in our front yard down a packrat nest. Packrat popped out the back of the nest and took off. But I'm sure I found a new place of employment for the gopher snake.
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Bonny
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Post by Bonny on Aug 3, 2016 9:35:38 GMT -5
what about brown? Or green? Brown and green are usually okay. You'd be in serious trouble in AZ or CA with that rule!
Diamond backs are generally brown. Their venom is a hemotoxin. Mojaves are brown with a greenish tinge. Their venom is a neurotoxin. I was told by one of our cat's emergency vets that the Pacific Coast rattler is even more toxic as its venom is both a hemo and neurotoxin. Fortunately for all the hiking I've done in CA I've only run into three rattlesnakes on the trail. In AZ, especially during the spring, it was eventful hike when you didn't run into a rattlesnake on a hike!
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NastyWoman
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Post by NastyWoman on Aug 3, 2016 9:47:19 GMT -5
HOA or not, if there is a snake in my place I'm calling 911. And I am NOT going back in until the place is declared snake free!
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milee
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Post by milee on Aug 3, 2016 11:10:30 GMT -5
And this is why our taxes and fees are crazy.
Seriously, peeps. The OP referred to her "house", so this is not a condo which might have rules about who owns what and which types of services can be used. These are houses. Most houses have yards, even if the yards are small. It's silly to not know about the few poisonous things that live in your area so you know what's a matter of life and death and what's a matter of "ick". Heck, pretty sure Florida has a longer list of poisonous snakes and spiders than most places and even in Florida, it's not that many to know.
And you don't need to know in general what's poisonous because you would be expected to touch it, it's just a personal responsibility thing. You don't live in a bubble - even at Disney World - and it's possible you could stumble on something. Basic common sense and personal responsibility dictate that you understand the basics of what's around you. They're not going to put a fence around the Grand Canyon, you're expected to know that a mile deep hole in the ground is dangerous. Just like wildlife can and does pop up anywhere, so it's on you to have a little bit of a clue what's possible. If you don't want to have even a little clue about hazards, please never, ever travel... and especially to Australia where every living thing is trying to kill you.
If you own a home, there are going to be all sorts of icky things you'll have to deal with. Just because something is yucky doesn't mean it's the responsibility of the police or the HOA to deal with unless that's the specific agreement. If you don't want to deal with the nasty problem that's totally fine, but call an exterminator or wildlife service, not the people who should be out dealing with crime.
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MJ2.0
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Post by MJ2.0 on Aug 3, 2016 11:15:52 GMT -5
for real though - why is Australian wildlife so mean?
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Green Eyed Lady
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Post by Green Eyed Lady on Aug 3, 2016 11:40:14 GMT -5
for real though - why is Australian wildlife so mean? Cause the continent was some kind of prisoner exile place for a long time. The mean criminals rubbed off on them.
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