T
HANKS TO THE UNUSUALLY HIGH RAINFALL THAT MUCH OF Texas received earlier this year, it is a good bet that your stock tank is full of water.
Is it also full of fi sh that might tempt someone while
you are diligently working in town during the week? Or did the rainfall bring on bountiful forbs and
seeds for wildlife that might tempt a casual hunter to look across your fence? Reasonable people respect private property rights
and would never trespass. But just in case trespassers are tempted to stray onto your land, there are some things you can do as a landowner to indicate your property is yours and entry is only by your invitation. The Texas Penal Code, Section 30.05, was amended
in 1997 to specify these fi ve methods a landowner can use as No Trespassing notices:
• Oral or written communication by the owner or someone with apparent authority to act for the owner.
• Fencing or other enclosure obviously designed to exclude intruders or to contain livestock.
• A sign or signs posted on the property or at the entrance to the building, reasonably likely to come to the attention of intruders, indicating that entry is forbidden.
• The placement of identifying purple paint marks on trees or posts on the property, provided that the marks are vertical lines of not less than eight inches in length and not less than one inch in width. These marks should be placed so the bottom of the mark is not less than three feet from the ground or more than fi ve feet from the ground. The purple paint marks should be placed 100 feet apart on forest land or 1,000 feet apart on land other than forest land.
• The visible presence on the property of a crop grown for human consumption that is under cultivation, in the process of being harvested, or marketable if harvested at the time of entry.
Change your locks According to Larry Gray with the Texas and South-
western Cattle Raisers Association (TSCRA), “When you are out on your land this summer, just enjoying the green grass or getting ready for hunting season this fall, go ahead and change out all the locks on your gates.” Gray, who is TSCRA’s executive director of law en-
forcement and theft prevention, says thieves may trick a landowner by placing a look-alike lock of their own on the gate, giving them easy access to equipment, country homes, vehicles and livestock. By replacing all the locks all the way around at least once a year, you make your ranch more diffi cult to enter. If you lease your land for hunting or fi shing, or
invite guests to hunt or fi sh at their leisure, give each lessor or guest their own key to the lock on the gate you want them to use for entry and exit. Once their visit is over, or hunting season is over, change that lock. Your guests or lessors might not return any time soon, but what might happen to their keys? “We all know chains and locks on gates can be
cut,” Gray says, “and when that happens, you know someone has been on your property and you can as- sess what has been stolen. If the thief has his or her own lock on your gate, you will not know when they
tscra.org
October 2015 The Cattleman 125
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