SC, but yes, we have to pay tax, but we only pay residential tax on the acre immediately where the house sits, the rest is only taxed at the much lower agricultural rate. The wooded part of our property, as long as we don't build on it is very low taxes.... Get to have nice private hiking trails and first year we did geo-tracking easter egg hunt. Each egg gave the coordinates to the next egg. (Kids are all teens but enjoyed it). Hoping there is snow at some point because there is a clear stip of trees going down steep slope (15 degree angle, I measured it to see if safe to mow) for about 200'. I think it used to be a road for logging trucks a long-long time ago. Would be perfect for sledding down now. I do have to take my chainsaw down to it though first... There are several trees I haven't removed yet that fell across it during the last tropical storm we had.
I could, I hear people hunting in neighbouring properties... but I enjoy seeing the deer, and don't own a gun. We have lots of deer here. I have a wall of cut logs about 40' long and 4' high, from some of the fallen trees I have cleared. I heard something behind it one day so went to have a look. poked my head over the wall and there were two deer a mother and a baby sleeping there together, literally just the other side of the cut logs, about a foot away. The fawn immediately saw me and leapt up and went running out of sight. The mother woke up a little slower took a few seconds to process that my head was poked over the wall- let out an almost human-groan like sound and then she went running off (not in the same direction as the fawn). I always feel guilty about waking them (but I had no idea that's what was making the noise next to my log wall)- I hope they found each other after running off in different directions.
You.only shoot the men. Plus they taste nice. You.could get a compound bow and make it a challenge. How can you not own a gun if you are surrounded by mountain lions and such.
Not really any dangerous wildlife for me: Mountain Lions- not near me. (have bobcats, but they're not dangerous to people, only small pets). No Wolves (although they keep away from people anyway) - we do have Coyotes, hear them often at night, but not a threat to humans (cat locked in at night). LOTS of Alligators are in the area, but they're only dangerous in April/May when they're nesting... not on my property, but I'm careful where I kayak in those months, and wouldn't let my dogs off leash near water. When I'm walking next to a river/lake I see them all the time, they jump in the water when I get too close... Bears- we only have black bears (And even those are extremely rare where I am), grizzlies are only on the west coast, so no danger of bears (no one ever gets hurt by a black bear) Not really any need for gun for protection from wildlife. Only dangerous wildlife have to watch out for is venomous snakes (occasionally see and stay away from, gun wouldn't help) and venomous spiders (see black widows fairly frequently, they like living in garages, but its really hard to get bit by one, you almost have to be trying to get one to bite you before they bite)... again don't think gun would help with a spider.
Do you have those snapping turtles in SC? Think I'd be more scared of those than alligators. On the subject of black bears, I saw some clip on Twitter a while back of a black bear at a picnic bench somewhere in the Deep South just running up and snatching burgers and running away until some guy literally shoved it out of the compound, slammed the gate, then wagged his finger at it and told it to get lost. It looked so sad that his missus went over and gave it another burger. I think I'd be more scared of the ****ing illegal, steroid-enhanced pitbulls that some tattooed ****ers over here take out to parks and scare the **** out of everyone with.
We have snapping turtles, but they're not very common- see them occasionally way more red sliders and a few other similar species We have quite a few box turtles (land turtles... they're not tortoises despite on land). They dig dozens of holes in our garden every year. But, yeah, I agree snapping turtles would scare me more than alligators... But there's probably 100 alligators for every snapping turtle. Black bears are.pacifists. you'd literally have to be cornering one for it to attack you. Pitbulls aren't illegal over here. They're actually some of the sweetest family dogs you can have. They're naturally one of the more gentle natured dogs. The problem is because of their appearance they attract the wrong kind of human. The kind that mistreats them and doesn't train them properly.
