I ran into a similar situation in South county. I had actually been
invited to the property, but was approached by the owner's son, who
didn't seem to believe his sister had invited me. (She was late).
After a nasty exchange, it turned out the problem was that real estate
developers often turn up in such a fashion and survey/solicit without
being invited.
That doesn't excuse the rude behavior (I suggested to the son that he
have me arrested, as he threatened, because I always wanted to own a
farm), but it may provide some insight.
On Sun, Sep 2, 2012 at 10:22 PM, MICHAEL SPEICHER <jugornought...> wrote:
> Leaving quickly was the best immediate strategy, but reporting this behavior
> to the police even by dialing 911 when you were safely out of danger would
> have been warranted. It's not too late to take action to notify the
> authorities, although the option to dial 911 would no longer apply.
>
> Jim (Michael) Speicher
>
>
> From: Jim Moore <epiphenomenon9...>
> To: "<mdbirding...>" <mdbirding...>
> Sent: Sunday, September 2, 2012 9:55 PM
> Subject: [MDBirding] Warning to anyone visiting Oakwood Turf Farm (Wicomico
> County)
>
> Summary: If you use Taylor Road, a dead end but apparently public road that
> intersects with Waller Rd., to view Oakwood Turf Farm, you risk an
> irrational and violent confrontation with one of the residents. (N.B.:
> there are other roads to view the farm, e.g. Brown Rd. , Waller Rd., and
> Hampshire Rd.--though Taylor Rd. is the location of an eBird hotspot and has
> been popular with birders.)
>
> My experience on Sunday Sept. 2: I was visiting Oakwood Turf Farm for the
> first time. It was raining hard and there was lightning when I got there,
> so I pulled off and parked on Taylor Rd. I was going to wait 10 minutes to
> see if the rain passed. I was NOT parked in front of anyone's house--I had
> turf farm to one side and a field of crops to the other--the nearest
> building was at least 200 ft away. After I had waited only a few minutes, a
> large twenty-ish burly fellow approached me probably coming from a house
> down the street and bizarrely walking in the rain with no protection. He
> asked politely if he could help me with anything. I said, also politely,
> that I was waiting for the rain to pass and that I was there to look at
> birds--though he probably turned around before he heard anything about
> looking for birds. He then walked back and he returned riding as a
> passenger in a pickup truck with a large older fellow as driver (possibly
> his father) who looked like an extra from a bad biker movie (big, grizzly
> fellow, with tatoos, etc.). The older driver opened his window, and I
> opened mine, and I started to explain that I was waiting for the rain to
> pass, when he almost immediately went berserk--calling me a motherf___,
> jumping out of his truck (in the rain) and slamming his hand against my car
> window--clearly giving the impression that he intended to beat me to a pulp
> if given the chance. I said as I was rolling up my window "Jesus, I'll get
> out of here then" and left. I want to stress I did NOTHING to provoke this
> guy, and I was never even asked to leave or given an explanation as to why I
> was unwelcome--he just went straight into violence.
>
> My guess is this is another example of the irrational hostility to strangers
> shown by some living in remote areas of the Eastern Shore.
>
> Jim M.
> Mont. Co., MD
>
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