Apparently three North Texas teens enjoyed recent rains on a farmer’s property until they were caught trespassing. The land owner “took the law into his own hands” in response.
Collin County farmer Clint Rutledge operates on the ragged edge of the Metroplex’s sprawl and sometimes finds his lands torn up by large tires intentionally spun out for the purpose of kicking up mud. For some “mudders,” the dried soil caked onto their vehicles serves as a trophy of sorts.
On Saturday, Rutledge was again visited by teens driving on his farm without permission. Rather than calling the police, he decided to “teach them a lesson” about hard work and the type of labor required to restore working land after a mudding session.
“Some of these kids these days don’t know what hard work and what us farmers go through,” he said, according to WTHR. “So they got a little dose of that on Saturday.”
Video courtesy: NBCDFW
For about an hour, Rutledge oversaw the three unnamed teen boys as they filled ruts left in the soil with shovels, rakes, and even their bare hands at times.
Rutledge appeared satisfied in a television interview with their restorative work, despite the fact that it will “take years” for the soil to naturally return to its pre-disturbed state.
“Hopefully they learned their lesson,” he said. “Maybe they’ll get more out of that than a fine or anything,” he said.