security~ keeping strangers away

I still dont have locks on my doors
Im a firm believer in four footed alarms systems .
Ours wont accept food from anyone but family members . They dont act overly threatening as long as someone is home but still meet strangers with raised hackles. If noones home I dont advise getting out of your car unless you plan to stay until we get home . If you make it to the porch you'll stay there.
Still the best course of action is to make friends with the neighbors if at all possible at the front of our drive are two neighbors I have known most of my life we often stop and chat but dont intrude on each other . being a good neighbor works both ways . If I see a strange car in their drive I'll stop and check they will do the same . As they are both getting up in years If they are working on something we stop to see if we can lend a hand.
Theres also nothing better for security than having the local hoods think your a gun crazy nut case . Catch one on your place and make them dig a nice deep hole letting them know that if something comes up missing they will get planted in the hole . Word will get around quick and your place will have a leaver on it . They will leave it alone

It is really to bad you have to feel afraid of your neighbors, When I lived in the country I never locked my doors and left the keys in the truck, I now live in a little village of maybe 50 houses I dont get along with some of my neighbors but i still dont lock my doors if im home or not.

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heres a suggestion... since ray is obviously not too bright, bragging about having warrants and hiding in the dumpster. Perhaps now is a good time to go introduce yourself to local law enforcement, maybe ask about "Ray" and tell them about your meeting.
ray may very well have to go away for awhile :-)

I have lived in the country, currently live in the city and I'm moving back to the country , hopefully it'll be before thanksgiving. heres what i've learned

living in the country is great, most of the time, you do your own thing and people dont bother you, when things happen, usually it's bored teenaged kids causing mischief However, you can get the occasional wackos like ray who need to be delt with right from the start, you should have made it real clear to him as soon as he started bragging about how big of a badazz he thinks he is ,that you dont want to see him anywhere near your place, you are armed and wont hesitate to put a few rounds into a tresspasser.

I have a neighbor kid like this ray guy, he's maybe 17, dropped out of school, thug wanna be, talks all kinds of smack. before my gf moved in with me she lived in the townhouse right next to mine. So one day I was in my backyard workin on my harley. I had gone inside and realized I had forgot something so a few mins later i go back out to get it, just so happens I see something through the gap in my fence (6ft privacy fence but i'm the only one in my section of buildings that has a fence) so i stop for a second and take another look...I realize it's some black kid wearin a white tank top...so I stand there to see what he's up too..

I see him walk onto my GF's porch so i yell "hey, you....what are you doing?" he freezes and backs up againt the wall around the corner and I yell again "hey you dumb s*** I can still see you!" so at the same time I go out my gate and around the corner, as i get around the corner he's casually strollin away...so i say "yo, get over here..." so he come back and i say "what are you doin on my GF's porch?, you dont belong there" he says "oh, my bad!" . So again i said "what are you doin back there?" he holds out his hand and has some old cigarette butts in his palm, he says "gettin these".

So I said" ok first off stealin cigarette butts is pretty disgusting but anyway if I see you anywhere near there again, I'm gonna lay a beating on you first and then I'll call the cops and have you arrested for theft and tresspass, now take your --- outta here"

he made a quick exit and I havent seen him with 100 yards of that place since. I take my dog outside and he's hanging out by his place and he says "WOAH...is that a PIT? " and before I can say yes he bolts far away. My dog looks mean but is a big baby but as far as he knows she'll take his leg off and thats the way i like it.

like everyone else said 99% of the people are great, friendly people...get to know the neighbors, make friends it's kind of an unspoken code with country people like "you watch my back i'll watch yours. "

It's also good to have a kind of unofficial neighborhood watch...people have been known to come in from the city, scope out places in the country that look like easy robbery targets...if you notice a car or something that just seems out of place cruisin the area you may want to report it to the local PD. 99% of the time it's nothing, someone looking for property for sale, looking for someones house, etc...but better safe than sorry. Crime is everywhere, theres no escape, theres just alot less in the country but dont let your guard down.

As far as the neighbor girl wandering up to your place...I wouldnt trust her either...thats not something a normal teenage girl in the country would do.people know better than to just wander up some strangers driveway in the dark...something just sounds out of place with her...then ray shows up the very next day? coincidence? dont think so.

Dogs and a gun are good advice. I like locks, myself, and anything else I can do to make my place less appealing to a thief or other sort of miscreant. I've had a handfull of friends who didn't lock their houses or cars until someone broke in and stole a bunch of stuff. They lock them now. In every case, it turned out to be a kid or a junkie looking to make off with something quick and easy. If someone is determined to get in, a lock won't stop them, but I think the majority of thieves are interested in a quick and easy haul. If they wanted to work, they'd go out and get a job.

Ray sounds like a real treat. I'd have run him off pretty quick. Going to the local authorities is good advice. If he really does have warrants out, your problem may well be solved. If he's just trying to look cool, then you'll know that he's bluffing and can rest a bit easier.

When strangers come around my place they stay outside the fence. I have 3 big dogs and they scare anyone who don't know them well. Most people stay in their vehicle and honk the horn.

The dogs are good at judging who is trustworthy and who isn't. If they don't trust the person, they stand between me and them. If they do trust the person, they wander off a ways, staying within attack distance, and lay down to watch.

I have neighbors who stop by and set in their truck while I stand and talk to them. Others get out of the truck and lean against it. When you knock on someones door, it's polite to step back off the porch so the homeowner has room to open the door and walk out. Everyone around here does that.

If someone knocks on my door after dark I know it'll be a friend, nobody else would be able to get past the dogs. I always look out the window before opening the door anyway.

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When I first moved here, sometimes folks would like to drive by slowly seeing what they could. I would just make sure they knew I was watching them. If they stopped in the road, I would fire a shot into the air to get their attention.

You need a Gate on your drive, signs on your gate (no tresspassing, and beware of dog) and motion lights on your porches.
You also need to be choosy about the info you tell people. Some folks like to gossip, and some, if they dont know, will make things up..lol

I think Ray has the best system for keeping unwanted neighbors away, LOL!

Let it be known at the local coffee spot that you have an itchy trigger finger and are prone to violent outbursts.
Get you a couple of full size dogs, train them to bark not bite, easy if you try.

No amount of posting signs, gates or politeness is going to keep you from getting visited by "Ray".
Crack monkeys are crack monkeys, that's their nature.
The only defense is to keep them too scared to come around.

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Having a deep emotional conversation with my quilted buddy..........

Check the locks on your windows especially if the girl was out of your eyesight for a moment. She may have been casing the place for Ray.

This Ray sounds like he's got low self-esteem and is exhibiting passive aggressive behavior. By bragging about his many fights and warrants, he is saying "You best be careful of me! I'm a hair trigger away from whooping your ass and I don't care. That's why the pohleese man been lookin' for me. I'm at rock bottom and I don't have nothin to lose. I can walk on your property if I want to. I don't care. My family lives all around here. At one time, my aunt probably owned your house, so I have free reign! I got no morals or shame."

It's likely that he loses many of the fights he gets into. but I'd still be careful.


- Therapist Bill

You dont know that this girl wasnt looking around to see what all you had, she could have been in love with this boy and could not let her mom or dad know about that.

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'It Is A Wise Father Who Knows His Own Child'
Shakespeare
A WOMAN MUST NOT RELY ON A MAN TO PROTECT HER, SHE MUST LEARN TO PROTECT HERSELF.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY

Hi there! As a grandma who lives out in the boonies by herself(well, with three cattle dogs)I can understand what you are feeling. I almost killed a little girl last year who came over unannounced, she got away from her parents. More on that later...

Since losing my dh in 2004 I've been a bit, well, careful I guess you'd say and I approach people coming to my gates carefully with all three dogs in attendance and barking their heads off. My advice to you, if you can't fence your whole property and therefore have an area where dogs can run around making noise then at least fence off your drive way! Put up beware of dog signs and "Please Sound Horn" signs and if you don't have dogs, get at least two. Then be sure you have a firearm(?) around and that you are heard practicing with it. Don't get dogs of course if you feel you can't love and care for dogs well. If you don't feel you want dogs, put up the signs anyway!

I don't consider anyone who comes to my gates(no one is going to come right to my door unannounced!)at night and with no phone call ahead of time to be a friend. And even if they are "friendly" and harmless, anyone that stupid I don't want as a friend! Now, true the girl was young but IMHO needed a good scolding by you on how to visit neighbors you don't know and then a phone call to her parents!...Not at night!

As I said I almost shot a little girl right here in my house last year! Scared me so bad I still get the shakes. Her parents are not all that watchful of her but I have double chainlink gates with a good chain around them. Never thought of her getting that chain undone. But, she did and I was in the back quilting. The dogs never said a word..she's just a little girl 'bout four years old at that time, and the dogs know her... I thought I heard a "bump" , the noise that the front door makes when it swings back and bumps the dining table..then there was a change in air pressure.. you know..you feel it when a door or window gets opened? My hall way is really dark, even in the daytime and I picked up a 9 ml Berreta and started down that hall.

I saw a dark shape coming at me and the only reason I did not fire was because it was so short! Needless to say it scared me so bad that it turned to anger and athough I did not let the little girl know I did take her right back home and had some "words" with her parents! Now that back gate has a padlock on it!

I called our little radio station too one year when the mail was coming up missing from my mail box 3/10's of a mile from my house. I threatened the bejesus out of whoever was doing that, let it be known that I had video camera and was out for blood. Also sent verbal messages to school with the kids around here. My mail was not ever bothered again. No one knew it was just hot air! LOL

It never hurts to get the word out to people around you that you are armed and won't hesitate to use the firearms. Don't forget letting them hear you practice too! I keep bales of hay out in my meadow visible from the road and I put targets on them from time to time and fill them full of holes.

I can't advise you as to proper home security.. mine is my dogs... that's for someone else to handle but in your place I'd have good door and window locks plus an audible alarm system. Crackheads are no joke!

Good luck with things. LQ

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" Live in the Sunshine,
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"There is no such thing as bad weather, only inadequate clothing." D. Duck

Are you beginning to get the Idea a fence isn't such a bad Idea? Ya might want to reconsider . The old adage is good fences make good neighbors.
Did ya read http://homesteadingtoday.com/showthread.php?t=153831 ? it outlines a lot of the trails that a good fence would have avoided.
A nice 8' woven wire fence doest say antisocial it says "elk" 'Deer " (be sure to get something at least for a while)etc but at the same time with a good gate with a buzzer and a nice sign instructing someone how to contact you be for admittance it means that any unannounced person is up to no good.
You will get along with people better when there is no chance of misunderstanding!

Actually I'd rather not have people know that I have guns in the house, as they would then be careful in breaking into my home when I'm not there with the specific intent to steal firearms.

My brother is a cop in a rural area and he told me about a kid who was doing just that. It tooks some detective work to determine that all the people who had guns stolen from their homes in this particular area had this kid as a common acquaintence and that he knew they had guns in the house.

All he had to do was wait til they left the house. He didn't take any money or valuables. He just wanted the guns.

I was thinking along the same lines. I would put it past her seeing what you have and telling dear ol "Ray". Be very careful around her!!!

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SandyB

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Get a gun like everyone says, practice a lot. It will reinforce the issue with Ray and anyone else around. It will also help you to hit what you are aiming at if necessary. Get another dog - it can stay in at night -our acds do. We have geese who will alert us to a cat walking down the driveway. Then the dogs kick in. We keep track of the neighbors here and they keep track of us. Some are friendly, some I would shoot if seen on the property. I have a gun inside my door and a few more scattered around. I have gone onto the porch when some of the druggies from up the hill stopped down - none of our cars were here and I was alone with the dogs and the gun. I brought the acds out and had the gun at the ready - he said he was asking me for directions to his house ... well I didn't think I looked that dumb - when he saw the dogs he froze and the buddies that were checking out the buildings closer to where they parked bolted. I pointed out that he could leave with his behind intact, I could perforate it for him or he could try a round with one of the dogs. His choice. He stays on the opposite side of the road and waves now when they walk by. I hear tell they think I am crazy- that helps.

I certainly would also realize that until you get used to the area that you are now living in and the noises it will scare you. Let your dog do his job and relax - just pay attention.

Laurie

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Its a good day, I woke up on the right side of the grass.

Most of our unwanted guests are folks that tresspass into our timber .
after reading this thread the wife suggested we make some shallow graves with the toe of an old shoe sticking out and some old bones the dogs have chewed up.
have to wonder how long it would take for the sheriff to show up and ask about them

<i>Place motion sensor lights around your house.</i>

This is one piece of advice I disagree with. Don't have motion or heat sensor lights around the house or at least put a switch on the light so you can turn it off most of the time. You don't want your free roaming outdoor guardian dogs turning on the light. Dogs see fine in the dark. Human intruders are handicapped by the dark. Give the dogs every advantage to do their job.

Other than that, good advice. I'll especially reiterate the have fencing, gates and dogs points.

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Crack heads are generally skittish and spook easy, they are pickpockets and have sticky fingers.

Find out what ray looks like, and what his family looks like. memorize their faces.
If you see him one day on your porch, attack him, and do it full out to kill him.

see, once the other crackheads find out your a whimpy mark, youll never be safe.

grease one while he is high and robbing you and the others will most liekly never bug you.

I have in laws who are crack heads..... I kinda know how they tick.
the only time any of them ever hurt anyone it was each other and the one guy stabbed the kid fighting with him. Thye used to strea stuff from my brothers house all time.... money, his percsriptions, food... they took his Tv once.

he beat the one kid half to death one night when he caught him in the house and since then they all curb their sticky fingers.

the kid was his son in law......
his friends after that refused to even come with him to my bros house.

of course.... all crack heads are a little different.... so your mileage may vary.

security cameras are cheap and VCRs ar cheap. splurge and get a 60 hour DVR and a nice color outdoor camera at wal mart.

might set you back 200 bucks, but hey so what.

aim the cam at the entry point (down your driveway or wherever people tend to come up on your house)
you might need a set, they sell those too for a little more $$$.

A security tape is as good as an ye witness to the law, at least you have something to peruse.

But a really really desperate crackhead.... kill it. they come back no mater what.

I hate being violent, but lets be practical, you are talking about the security of your home and possibly getting on the 'soft touch" list of the local junkies.

You should buy that girl a nice xmas present for the heads up.

Ive had to put up stockade fences and making very limited entry points, and put 24/7 cams on those.

when I leave the house, I have hidden 8 hour tape decks running, in Technicolor and sound.

even still a crackhead on my porch in my tools will be a dead crackhead. I'm not going to fret over his rights or his soul or his childhood or reforming him.

I'm going to panic, shoot holes in him and the walls, and call 911 an have a proper nervous breakdown.

I'm not proud.... greasing a crackhead will probably screw me up for a long time.

oh well.

and I have a drug dealer 4 doors down.... so ive been giving the issue alot of thought.

I hope for my sake they keep their distance, I have enough aches and pains I dont need PTSD too over a dead crackhead.

Yes I had this happen to us once when we lived in Arkansa the poor pititfil girl warning us about this crackhead when she was really one to,while she was inside he was in the barn on a shopping spree so do be careful you dont have to be friend with everybody,paula

__________________
'It Is A Wise Father Who Knows His Own Child'
Shakespeare
A WOMAN MUST NOT RELY ON A MAN TO PROTECT HER, SHE MUST LEARN TO PROTECT HERSELF.
SUSAN B. ANTHONY