we did not move to the country for this

I bought mine for $1 at the local recyleing center I saw one at a thrift store for $1.50 but I am glad I waited I had no idea they cost so much new and I bought a good metal one at auction that was attached to a metal pole and tire rim base for $1.That is my replacement for when my plastic one is no good, right now the door is only half on so I will be replacing with the metal one soon.

__________________
marching to the beat of a different drummer

Did you know that if a car were to hit that big metal pipe..and somebody in the car were injured because of it..they could sue you?

No legal repercussions if they put the stuff in their own car..but definitely repercussions if you put the stuff in their car. And again..nice idea about the thick heavy steel mailbox posts..but there is a liability issue if it causes an injury. My information is that mailboxes..around here anyway..are required to be mounted on posts that break off or tip over depending upon a certain amount of force applied.

Tabitha,
You must think logically and creatively. Here are Some that work nicely.

To prevent gas siphoning eirher install an anti-siphon insert or mesh screen into the tank filler neck.

Get three or 4 good hound dogs and guineas ( those birds are great burgler alarms.

Put up no trespassing signs if you want, but I had better results with a sign that said " Rattlesnake and Copperhead Repopulation Sanctuary. All free ranging snakes within this area are protected as part of area conservation authority program". While I painted the sign to be somewhat official looking, the area was simply my property and as owner I was the conservation authority of it. Not only have those signs kept intruders out, some of my neighbors wouldn't come over without high legging boots either

__________________
"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

The sugar trick doesn't work in gasoline anymore because they've changed the solvents.

Also, are you SURE it's not leaking? As others have mentioned, you can't syphon gas from modern cars -- we had a flood in my area and the road was washed out and the only vehicle that could pull other vehicles out of the mud was an old Jeep one of my neighbors had that had fat tires (for dunes) on it. The Jeep ran out of gas before all the stuck vehicles were extracted. Finding gas was a bit of a challenge; there were a lot of cars that had gas in their tanks, but none we could siphon gas out of -- including some from the late 1980's that we tried.

If they are monkeying with the fuel line there should be obvious evidence of this. I like the fishhook suggestion someone else made.

On the rock-through-a-window, did you find the rock? If not, I'd consider the possibility that it was a stray bullet. (Or aimed bullet.)

The other suggestion I would have -- and I think you've realized this -- is that you need big dogs, plural. I'd fence the yard in (if you haven't already), completely surrounding both the house and a parking area for your cars. Then turn the dogs loose in your yard.

Oh, if they're hitting your house EVERY time you leave, they're staking the place out or they're close neighbors who are seeing you leave.

Leva

You can siphon gas from newer vehicles slowly by using 1/4 inch aquarium pump line. Its slow, but will siphon a gallon in 20 minutes or so.

__________________
"I didn't have time to slay the dragon. It's on my To Do list!"

linseed oil in the decoy gas cans...
linseed oil in gasoline will slowly turn into a very nasty epoxy resin in the engine and glue it up tight... minght take as long as a week to happen.

may I suggest some more... nasty ideas?

a 4'x4' sheet of plywood set just under your gas cap.
with 3" spike nails sticking out, (itll look like a CPU chip with 100's of "pins" )all lovingly sharpened to a needle point.

youll hear the scream. youll have time to wollop them or just laugh and take video.

tripwires set to alarms?

how about a evening of entertainment with night vision goggles and an ax handle.
they will think bigfoot beat them up.

a loose runnning dog can invite "bite lawsuits"... besides why should the dog have all the fun?

our mailbox gets run over now and then too... Ive been meaning to do the cement and steel post that looks like wood thing... it hasnt happened in a while so I havent gotten to it.

see the upside to having the DEA watching your neighbor for selling drugs out of their house and another on down the road as a registered sex offender [which I at first, thoiught was the end of my peace and quiet road] seems to have had a side benifit.... cops.
every night a state trooper cruiser passes by, and the TWp cops use the woods nearby as a napping spot now.
its cut the traffic down on the road, and the kids have found other places to go "play".

I think you will have to snap on your "silence of the lambs" night vision goggles, and go play "special forces ops" a few nights a week in your backyard and along your property lines.

in order to catch a redneck, you have to think like a redneck.
lol

While staying at my cabin I had very little money and seldom left the place as I had stocked up sufficiently. It's located on a dead-end gravel road of hunting camps which are often a target for theives. Despite being there most of the time, I still had unwanted visitors. My solutions were: locking gas cap, 4 inch wide stips of rubber with nails shoved through them and then laid on the ground pointed side up near the end of the drive (just remember to pick this up when You want to drive out!). wORKED EVERY TIME...LOTS OF CUSSING DRIVERS A MILE OR SO DOWN THE ROAD CHANGING FLATS. Also got game cameras and posted notices that I had surveillance. Another trick (because I don't own firearms) was recorded gun fire. I'd walk my property with the battery powered tape at full blast. Had a few hunters stop by to ask me what I was shooting at "out of season". Told them I target practice every day and knew enough about a couple guns to talk like I owned one or two. After three and a half months I was the only place on the road NOT broken into or the target of gas theives.

Absolutely! The trick is to never get caught.

Welcome to the country. You are an outsider, and you always will be. It is the "god given" right of the locals to steal you blind. I am on the other side of the Ohio river and that situation exists here too. We live in a miscreant society, and that is just how it is.

Sounds to me like your nearest neighbor is heavily involved, It is very likely that your church group members are as well. Sad but it really looks that way. You will get all you will put up with until you put a stop to it. Remember it is very likely that the locals have cell phones, and/or C.B. radios. C.B's are a bit out of style, but there a lot of spots where the "cell" won't work.

The suggestion of getting a dog is pretty useless unless you just want a dog. The good o'l boys will feed your dog. A pound of hamburger will make him happy, two times of this and he will be friendly, and the third time that they feed him he will become an accomplice.

The various booby traps mentioned are interesting, as well as the hidden camera idea. What will most likely work is to put the word out that this is over. It will not be tolerated any more. Then start a practice of target shooting, at least once a week. Use the biggest caliber that you can get your hands on, and do this as close as possible to your nearest neighbors house. If you can find out what time they get out of bed in the morning you might want to have practice about 15 minutes earlier than that. Since the good church going folks can't be trusted, sunday morning would be a good day. My preference for this activity is a .44 MAGNUM.

I would suggest that you work on getting rid of any fears or hesitation that you may have about firearms. If you are not now well trained, please get the training, and practice relentlessly.

Understand that if someone will break into your house or enter your property at night that it is most likely that they are armed, and IF CONFRONTED THEY WILL kILL YOU. Hopefully you will not put up with that.

Welcome to the country wher you get whatever you will put up with "all day long" (and into the night too).

My husband's thought was that perhaps the neighbors around there are trying to make things just unpleasant enough that you will eventually leave. There's the possibility that there is a meth lab or something similar operating in that area, and your home is close enough that they fear discovery.

It might be a good idea, if you do get a big dog, to teach him to refuse food offered by anyone but a family member. Of course, if you do this, you cannot board him if you go anywhere, nor can anyone else feed him for you.

Crime is everywhere, and although a policeman told me once that there are fewer criminals out in the countryside, I pointed out to him that there are also fewer potential victims to choose from.

I think I'd walk up to my nearest neighbors house and mention that I'm having trouble with someone stealing the gas from my vehicle, and ask whether they have had that trouble as well. Then I'd mention that if I catch trespassers that are up to no good, I will deal with them swiftly and efficiently. Leave the means vague, but the impression strong.

Good luck!

__________________
"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
Thomas Jefferson

There are ADT signs & decals for sale on Ebay all the time

Quint: With all the security cameras around outside, the sheriff might think you're running a meth lab. That's one of the first signs of a lab in these here neck of the woods.

I've hears that there's a been run on locking gas caps lately...

I now keep my gate locked 24/7. (I'm at the end of a road too). Have a couple barking dogs, a loaded automatic & 12 gauge. My neighbor practice shoots a lot, so that helps. Mailbox? Nope - PO Box is safer.

Be on orange alert all the time.

Red Devil, I'm not so sure about sugar in gas not working! I have a similar story:

A gentleman I know from work used to leave his gas tank for the mower in his yard under a pine tree. Mysteriously, the gas kept disappearing and he even 'lost' the gas gan once. There were some yahoos in the trailer park down the road that he suspected were the likely suspects.

He filled up another half can of gas and poured a ton of sugar into it. If he shook it to mix it or whatever (maybe he dissolved it in water first?) I don't know. But he said the next time he looked, the can was empty. A few days later, these suspects had their truck in their driveway with the engine pulled out. I suppose they were wondering what the heck happened? LOL My co-worker felt justice was served and then some. So obviously sugar doesn't go well with vehicles, dissolved or not.

Crime doesn't pay.

DD

__________________
"The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap."

Heck, those doggone hoodlams just stole my sons science experiment! I'd never put sugared gas in my worst enemies vehicle. But, heck if they want to steal it & put it in themselves then that's alright by me! lol

I have read a lot of very STUPID ideas in this thread. Go ahead and spike the gas and see what happens to YOU when they figure it out. Your problems will only get worse. Anyone who talks about setting booby traps and trying to hurt someone is an IDIOT. How do you know you will get the right person. Go ahead and injure someone, even the crook, and see what happens to YOU. Use some common sense, "please". The only thing that makes sense is to find out who is doing it by catching them in the act. This really shouldn't be that hard to do, just do a little surveilance, use your imagination. Do it LEGALLY.

I've been called a lot worse! As far as the right person I figure the one's who steals it is the "right" person!
Have a nice day yourself!

Ok, and what happens when the crooks figure out what happened and decide to retaliate. This approch is wrong and only leads to more problems. The next thing will be damaged property, not just stolen gas.

Awww c'mon, Richard6r, we're all just trying to be self-sufficient....and I think protecting yourself and your property is part of that. And part of living well is not having to live in fear. Doesn't helping yourself and solving your own problems make you feel more confident? Isn't that what this forum is for?

Oh, that's the easy part! That's when I have them dancing in the driveway dodging bullets for fun! Then when they pass out from fear I put them in my old iron kettle & make soup out of em! Us WV gals are fiesty things!! Better watch out!