Boundary survey

What was the monument?  Section corner or an aliquot corner?  Stone or brass cap?  When was it last found?  Where the nearest monuments found where expected?

Posted by: @holy-cow

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What was the monument?  Section corner or an aliquot corner?  Stone or brass cap?  When was it last found?  Where the nearest monuments found where expected?

It was described in the notes as a set 16"x12"x3" sandstone and a mound of stone W. for section corner.  No set stone was recovered, there are very scattered stones (possibly the old stone mound) in the area, none are marked, finally held my nose and prorated it along a north south fence line, marked set stone to the south and north for two quarters, mid-point between the quarters and moved it slightly east under the existing old fence line. Gathered up all the stones and piled them around the monument.

Found almost all the original stones. There are no corner records for any monument. We just finished about 70 corner records for the project. 

@mightymoe   Wow!  That's a ton of corner records. I'm certain you would have recognized the original stone if it had been anywhere near the expected location, so it must have been removed by someone at some time.  Probably in someone's front lawn in a big city.

That nagging feeling never goes away.  That's one of the things that comes from years of experience.  Surveyors try to make sense out of fuzzy information and/or absence of monuments that SHOULD be there.  It was not uprooted and taken home by a bear.

Well, you could apply the old maxim, "Prove me wrong". Or, do what is equitable, reasonable and defensible in court and your professional opinion should stand. 

Posted by: @holy-cow

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@mightymoe   Wow!  That's a ton of corner records. I'm certain you would have recognized the original stone if it had been anywhere near the expected location, so it must have been removed by someone at some time.  Probably in someone's front lawn in a big city.

That nagging feeling never goes away.  That's one of the things that comes from years of experience.  Surveyors try to make sense out of fuzzy information and/or absence of monuments that SHOULD be there.  It was not uprooted and taken home by a bear.

 

Funny you should bring that up. I was working for the same owners about 5 miles south last summer. A black bear started running right at my location from a good distance, I was hiking up a ridge, and it disappeared into the tree line. I hurried up to the 4 wheeler and waited for it to show. It never did break out of the trees, but it was still a bit unnerving. Later I took SWMBO up there cause she wanted some exercise hiking around as I laid out line. I didn't mention the bear till the end of the day. I don't worry too much about black bears, unless there is a cub.

I've been surveying for a lot of years but I don't think the sum of all those surveys adds up to 10,000 acres.  

@mightymoe      I never worry about black bears.  This simply isn't their natural habitat.  They live in parts of Missouri and Arkansas and possibly in certain parts of eastern Oklahoma but definitely not in any part of Kansas.

By the pure coincidence of you mentioning black bears, I will report that less than an hour ago I learned that there have only been 11 black bear sightings reported in eastern Kansas since 2015.  All but two of those reports were from the very southeast corner of the State.  However, at 4:42 a.m. TODAY one was struck by a motorist about 35 miles northwest of my house.  I can imagine the 911 operator laughing his butt off when that call came in at an hour when many motorists are drunk. IT REALLY HAPPENED.  When help arrived, they found the driver quite sober and uninjured.  They searched and found the bear.  They called Wildlife and Parks, who sent help.  They euthanized the bear.

First thing I did was email a fellow who has worked with me surveying and is still in the field every day for another firm, now.  The location, as reported, of where the bear was hit is along a stretch of an east-west road that is just over one mile in length.  Any further to the east would have a different description.  We have had four surveys, between the two of us, at that location.  Definitely not a forested area.

There may or may not be a second bear in the area.  Early in the morning two days ago, a doorbell camera at a house 20 miles to the south of today's location recorded a black bear just ambling along.  This was in the middle of the largest city in my county.  That was on the evening TV news.  Crazy.

@squirl    West Virginia Road east of Old US 169 highway.

Technically speaking, there was a black bear sighting about 15 miles from me about 20 years ago.  A fellow who was in the exotic animal business had one somehow manage to escape its pen.  A neighbor called him.  You know when you raise weird critters, you are the only person who will get a call.  A fellow who was working for me had one of his kangaroos disappear.  A neighbor flagged him down on the road about a week later to report that he had found a dead something-or-other in his hay meadow.  They drove out to look at it.  Coyotes had feasted on it, but, there was enough left to confirm it was the gallivanting kangaroo.

On a similar note, a couple of guys from a power company were asking me if I had any information on the official right-of-way width on a specific road in my county.  The road had a significant bend where a bridge crossed a good-sized creek.  They reported they had explored a bit under the bridge and, at first, thought they had found a dead alligator.  We don't have any alligators.  Zero chance.  They had taken photos to show co-workers.  One guy said it was a caiman that someone must have had as a pet and released it.  Winter came and the caiman became extinct.  I explained that east of the bridge at the top of the hill was a veterinarian who had a wide variety of exotic animals.  Suggested they stop in there to report what they had found.

I spent a lot of time during my 20s working in the back country of British Columbia, where there are plenty of bears. Had several close encounters with black bears on Vancouver Island, and a couple with grizzlies on the mainland.  Here's the 411. Black Bears are herbivores, and aren't a real serious threat unless you get between a momma and her cubs, or threaten them in some other way. Give them their space and they won't bother you. Grizzlies are omnivores, and may attack you for food if they are hungry enough. The further north you go the more this is true. But mostly they prefer salmon. Polar Bears are carnivores and will actively hunt you as prey.  Do not travel in polar bear country unarmed. 

A friend visited his ancestral roots in Norway near the Arctic Circle. There was a sign at the town limits saying it was illegal to exit on foot without a rifle of specified caliber because of polar bears.

Blackberry-scebted cologne:  The perfect anonymous Christmas gift to be sent to the A-hole client.

Black Bear scat is full of seeds, berry's and twigs

Grizzly scat is full of whistles, bells and bear spray cans. 

Over the years I've had a number of close encounters with both Grizzly and Black bears and up to a point I really didn't consider Blackies to be much of a threat so long as their space was respected. I don't think that's always true any more. Since coming to Alaska I've heard of at least two instances where black bears have stalked and killed people. This one stands out.

https://www.adn.com/alaska-news/2017/06/22/anchorage-woman-27-idd-as-victim-of-fatal-interior-black-bear-mauling/

@holy-cow I live in a small rural town in the pinelands of southern NJ, not a common area for black bears to be known to set down roots.  When surveying a wooded lot a few decades ago, one walked by us about 100' away and didn't seem at all interested in addressing us.

Every year or two black bears are spotted wondering through areas on my town, they linger for a few days and move on.  They are common in the northern higher elevations in North NJ but not in south NJ.  In my region of practice, timber rattle snakes are a problem and I've come across many of them at distances less than feet.

This guy came by our home near the Blue Ridge  Mountains, VA.

We have bobcats in this area.  They are seldom seen but they definitely are well stocked.  We had none when I was a youngster.  The Fish and Wildlife people moved them in.  They did the same with white tail deer and wild turkeys.  Again, we had none of those here until they moved them in.  We also have a lot of beaver and those where never reported in my youth.

On rare occasion, a mountain lion may be reported.  Up until about two years ago,Wildlife and Parks officially denied their existence in the entire State of Kansas.  Some of us knew better, but we were treated similar to reporters of UFO's and aliens.  I definitely saw one less than four miles from my house.  It was a tawny yellow color with a tail about 24 to 30 inches long and walking through a crop field of milo less than 50 feet distant.  It's back was around 24 to 30 inches above the ground based on the height of the milo in that part of the field.

We do have timber rattlesnakes.  I encountered one in the Spring of 1998 while surveying.  In the middle of a county road intersection.  Fortunately, I have never encountered one on any of my farms.