Strange Dude in My Driveway
 

I'm a little concerned... yesterday we were expecting company so we moved our cars behind the barn to make room for guests to park near the house. We have a long driveway and you can see our house from the road. About noon a tricked out Honda car comes cruising in. We don't know this guy. He looked in his early 20's. Skinny. He was wearing a hooded sweat shirt and he parked in front of the garage. I went out to see who it was and the guy freaked when he saw me. Then he sped off.

Now what? The car was pretty easy to recognize, so I'm gonna keep my eye out for it. Try to figure out who the guy was. Not sure what else I can do. Our lab is not much help, especially if someone has a dog biscuit.

Could have been lost, but, also could have thought he saw a place with no-one home and was looking for an opportunity.
We live down a lane too and occasionally someone mistakes the lane for a township road which is 1/2 mile on past. You never can be sure and I would keep my eyes open to see if that car is around the area again.

Probably a hood casing the place. Most people don't understand dogs, even some that have them.

I keep my gate shut all the time. Most people respect that. I do need a fence to go with it. I'll have a regular fence lined with an electric wire. Yes it is inconvenient but it keeps most trouble makers and no gooders at bay.

You must have an awesome driveway to be mistaken for a road or your roads are really bad.

Our driveway is just a single lane, straight, with gravel. Since we parked our cars out back, I suspect he's looking for a quick grab. Creepy.

Sounds like you had a snatch and run intruder/thief. He saw no signs of activity (parked cars) and decided to give it a try. Probably would have taken a chain saw, power tool, etc. and made his quick getaway. You scared him off, and now he has made a mental note: "This place is too risky, I'll go somewhere else that's easier."

Increase the MOM factor risks(Means, Opportunity, Motivation) by keeping him, and others, off-balance in the Opportunity factor--change the visual look of your place each week to show ongoing activity. Different lights burning, mown grass, leveled driveway, cars switched around, etc, etc.

You can't do too much about his Motivation(he's probably looking for easy drug money...) but you can up the Means factor by getting a gate that closes behind a driver--thus blocking off an easy escape....

Whenever Means, Opportunity, and Motivation come together, a theft is likely to occur. By keeping those factors stirred up, you can help prevent it.

And if that fails, see first if you have a castle law--if so, shoot the SOB...

My opinion.... :)

geo

Thanks for the details. Very helpful!

I would have gotten his plate # and talked to my County Sherriff. If he is that brazen, they probably already know who he is. Plus an officer would slow down and have a good look see the next time he went by. The Sherriffs office changes their routes to watch recent activity areas. There is only one on road patrol at any given time....but the Sherriff himself likes to make random patrols. The people of this county likes to keep the Sherriff's office lean but we have great neighborhood watch programs....James

He could have just had the wrong place.

But it's better to assume "the worst". If he was 'casing the place' or thinking of stealing stuff, then he knows(or thinks) that even when it looks deserted, there's probably people home and therefor it's a high risk place to mess with. He'll likely avoid the area.

Giving a description to the police may or may not be helpful. Here, the cops would tell me with great amusement that it was just someone who was lost or had the wrong house and that he didn't do anything for them to be bothered by. Until he's actually done something threatening, broken into the house/shed or stolen an item, they rally won't bother at all. In fact, even when someone does steal something, they often blame the homeowner for "not locking it up better".

I've told a cop before that it didn't matter that it wasn't labeled with my name and locked up with a security system, the person knew it wasn't THEIRS so why was it okay they stole it??

Lucky for me, the only thing I've had 'stolen' was an old surfboard, but that was local kids and I know more or less who did it, just no proof. My anger over that was epic and nothing has ever been touched here again, despite the time that things were left in the open. I think they believe it's a trap.

There's no possibility of anyone ending up here and claiming to be lost. In the event someone does show up, the 870 and I do a meet and greet. Works every time! And I don't have to tell them to spread the word. :)

Yeah, I'm breaking out the old 1200 after the recent spate of thefts we've had. Farm machinery, big satellite dish, metal t posts, car ramps, small dirt bike with a Honda engine, etc. And those are just the things we've noticed, so far.

We live on a "dead-end" gravel road that isn't even a County road but a private drive. We've lived here over 35 years now, and this has never happened before the last couple of months. It's probably more due to tweakers than the unemployed (at least I hope so, since this county has an "official" unemployment rate of about 12%.)!!!

Because of all this I'm losing interest in being a nice guy. If I catch one of those two-legged varmints I fear for what I might do.

Sorry to hear you've been having trouble, homesdr74. Take it easy now & don't get too worked up. But do keep one eye open at all times. :)

what's a tweaker?

Meth head.....lots of them in this area.

If he was lost, he would have asked for help or at least said something. The fact he didn't want you to get a good look at him means he was up to no good. I'd lock the gate and give your friends your number so they can call when they get to the gate.

Probably a thief. The custom around here is if you stop at a country home to ask for directions, blow the horn. This lets people know you are outside and not sneaking around. It also helps prevent getting dog bit by some big dog running from behind the house. If no one comes out, leave and go ask someone else.

Game cam.

Game cam.

Game cam.

"Hello sheriff, here are some pictures for you."

Yeah good idea. We have a game cam. Might just set it up. Keeping a car parked in front of the garage sounds like a good idea too!

Yep, you're right. My drive has gravel on it. The cross road doesn't and no one drives on it after a rain.

That happened to me while my hubby was out of town a couple of weeks ago. The guy came through the gate and was walking up the driveway. I thought it was a friend that stops by occasionally that my dogs know...so I let them out. It wasn't him. My GSD mix attacked him and bit him...didn't break the skin but ripped his pants. As it turns out he was just stopping to let me know my donkeys were out in the road!!!
:ashamed::smack

I like my big red gate at the entrance of my driveway :D Although open gate = open invitation, a closed gate usually means the bull is grazing the orchard and the dog pack is running loose.

Besides, with all the dogs, I know someone is coming, before they come into view, much less get to my driveway entrance, but that's just one of the perks of living on top of the hill ;)

I also have a HOT wire on the inside of my big red gate to keep the dogs from getting too curious. Of course, if the uninitiated and unwelcome try to unlatch the gate and push through . . . the gate travels 6 inches before it assumes the 10kv current from the fence.

If I don't know you, and you open my gate, then I assume hostile intent. Me and my "friends" will meet you in the driveway and discover your business. Not all friends are flesh & blood. Give me too much warning or too many warnings, and I'll scope out the situation.

Based on his reaction he felt he was doing something wrong. Most likely he thought no one was home and was casing the joint to see what he could steal. You surprised him and he fled.

Dogs help to convince people to stay back. Some of ours are trained to raise the alarm. Others are trained to give the eye. I've been told by people who saw them that the silent ones freak them out more than the loud ones. The mix is good.

We have electric fences (we farm) and a front gate that is closed most of the time. People would sometimes open our gate which I detest them doing without an invitation. Nobody has any business opening a gate. The dogs backed them down at that point.

I have tried various signs and found this one to be the most effective:

http://sugarmtnfarm.com/blog/uploade...ctricFence.jpg

Feel free to copy it for your own use.

these work

the last person that came down my long winding dirt driveway, away from sight of the road looked like a drunk druggie to me. I was pretty short with him, met him up the driveway from the house, wouldn't let him come down further to turn around, and made it pretty clear he was not welcome. Turned out, he was one of those door to door guys selling burial insurance. I shoulda fed him to the chickens.

I wear a gun on my hip on my property... people notice.. They can also see my little shooting range from the road....

I would set up a camera facing my drive and park the cars out of sight to see if he comes back. He probably won't. I would also fence and gate my drive.

I Like, "Prayer is the best way to speak to the Lord but, trespassing here is the fastest way to meet him"

Could not dig up a sign picture though.

I just hate it when someone does that! If he was "lost" he would have asked for directions. Stay safe and try to not let it get to you. There are times when having 5 hound dogs makes me feel safer. But having the one cowdog cross really makes me feel safe. Whew! Man will she raise the roof and hit the fence. I wouldn't want to step inside the gate with her if she weren't mine.

I like the idea of the new sign ( DO NOT OPEN GATE , BULLS FEEDING ON PROPERTY , NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR INJURY OR DEATH !)

It happens. It's a part of "country".

It does seem to be exacerbated by the current economic conditions .... but it has been there all along.

I'm with Geo except for closing the gate behind them once in.

You confronted him and he left .... had that opportunity not existed, it might have been different. I tend to doubt that the young punk was unarmed ... but he was allowed an easier way out. Better for all involved.

He left ... and learned something that will stick in his mind ... but that is only one individual.

The important lesson learned here is the one that you learned ( and luckily, safely so) = Beware of your presentation.

You're right a'ightthen. Next time I load the 12 & take a little more cautious approach. I jumped out there like it was the pizza delivery boy. Not next time. Wasn't thinking.

we also live down a half mile lane, and have 'visitors'. had the county put up a 'dead end' sign at the end that helped a ton. but we still get them.

some seem almost confused that i really dn't want their company. or that not wanting them around is rude, esp when they have kids eyeballing my goats. how could i not want to bring them in and give em all a tour?! geesh

that new commercial with 'flo' insurance girl, the 3 bears... 'yeah, we live in an isolated woods because we like visitors.' snort.

in an odd way i like these threads. hubs doesn't seem to mind this stuff, but me, i hate it. i am a bit over sensitive tho., as on the last place we lived/worked, ppl came and went allll the time. into my goat areas, turned my horses loose, pooped by my milk stand, showed up at midnight, even walked into the house! so when i see threads where others show its not something liked, i feel a little bit more normal.

I have a long driveway. There is a microwave tower in the pasture, so on occasions i have people going back there. I had a period of time when a lot of folks were turning around here in the yard area. I think that GPS was telling them this was a road that is farther north than my drive. Someone put a street sign at the end of my drive once. I had to call around and find out who had the sign contract and make them move it north to the street.
I put a big sign down at the end. large red letters, BEWARE, private property, slow, no exit. That has stopped all but the microwave folks, and some of them have gotten confused.

Wow Chewie! With people acting like that you have plenty of reasons to not want strangers showing up. That just blows my mind. By your milk stand? Ewww. Hope things are better.

Where I'm located cedar trees are a noxious weed and do very well. I arranged some in a row at the front of my property for dust control and privacy.

We live down a 1/3 mil drive. Our most common unwanted visitors are folks who are confident that, despite the "dead end sign" at the end of the lane, they are just sure that our drive will be a shortcut through. It isn't so bad now, but summer sees these folks almost daily, as we are a bit of a touristy town. For the most part, it doesn't bother me. We have learned over the years that the more traffic in and out of our place (wanted or unwanted), the less chance of us looking like an easy, hidden target. In addition, our long driveway, coupled with the way sound carries here, coupled with the 2 LGD dogs that patrol the pasture, which runs the length of the drive, typically give me plenty of warning. Visitors are usually surprised when they drive up and I am standing on the porch waiting for them. We are considering adding in some sort of sensor that will chime at the house, just in case, though. We have also thought about a gate, but the problem there is our UPS guys will dump any deliveries by the gate--rain, snow, sleet, or shine. Had that before, didn't like it, and took the gate down. Have you found a solution to that?

My biggest challenge since moving here is the slow, chatty pace. I like it, but I'm not used to it. One neighbor walked right in to the house one morning, catching me off guard. Many drive in unexpected, and will bring extended family to "see the animals." Again, I really don't mind. Sometimes, it comes in handy. Just last week, I made mention of a bunch of old fence holes in my pasture that needed filled, and how I was having trouble getting to the project with hubby being gone. The next day, I came home, and discovered that while I was away for a few hours, a church guy had brought his teenage boys out, went into the pasture even with the dogs (they had met previously, but it still surprised me), and they had filled all 100+ holes. What a blessing!! It's just odd to have to stop what I'm doing, chat for an hour, and then try to finish whatever it was I was doing. Different lifestyle, for sure. I guess it's a trade off. Having people feel welcome here, having a nice traffic flow of friends and folks helping with different things, and staying on good terms with the neighbors seems to keep crime at bay and relationships around here healthy.

I think he was up too no good.a barking dog is a great thing even if hes friendly they don't know that.my neighbors house was robbed twice.its the nicest house in the neighborhood.it doesn't pay too have the outside look too good.they got in the house through her dog door.a retired cop said a barking dog deters burglers because they don't want too get caught they will move on.her dog was very elderly and nearly deaf.

Some friends of ours have something like this..

http://www.amazon.com/Curbside-Deliv.../dp/B00066S9BK

Now, that is a crazy expensive version of what I'm talking about. Didn't have time to really track down an affordable one. But I know they are out there.

At least the UPS guy can leave your package out of the weather and secure and you can have a gate for security.

We are having the same discussions about a gate vs access for friends/deliveries/etc..

We had a new neighbor who came up to the door once with his wife to offer Christmas cookies. They opened the outer door and found me standing in the kitchen cooking dinner, naked.

Nice people, nice neighbors, get along fine with them but they never did do that again. :)

Dogs are good, but the postman & ups driver ruined mine by feeding her dog biscuits. Now every time a stranger shows up, she just wags her tail & comes out for a snack. :(