Its starting to get a bit scary around here!

[patandchickens]

However, I definitely would not put up any warning signs. The way that the courts are these days, signs like this are an open invitation to law suits. The courts tend to look at it as, you knew your dog was vicious because you put up the sign, so you are automatically liable no matter what the person that got bit was doing.

This is good advice.

However you can ALSO have a large stout chain tie-out clearly visible near the front door, with a large food bowl next to it.

Really, it's pretty much a sign without the legal implications

Pat

 

[MorelCabin]

We've been having alot of break ins in the rural areas here as well. Seems that many homes are being targetted in broad daylight when people are at work.

 

[i_am2bz]

I'll add my two cents about having very LOUD dogs...my two wouldn't hurt a fly (probably) but raise a ruckus the minute someone steps foot on the property. UPS people won't even come to the door, altho they'd probably just be licked to death. The point is, strangers don't KNOW they aren't vicious dogs.

 

[~gd]

Get yourself a firearm and learn how to use it.

The Wife and I live out a bit from the city. We have three very loud(but very cuddly) dogs. They let us know whenever someone is around. I carry a Glock model 27 .40 caliber(loaded w jacketed hollow points) on my right hip 12 hours a day. The rest of the time, the wife and myself are within arms reach of either a 12 gauge shotgun loaded w double 00, or the Taurus Judge loaded with .410 personal defense rounds.


Before someone mentions that they think I am paranoid or psychotic,
you must realize that we live within 5 miles of not one, but TWO state prisons, AND a juvenile halfway house for drug offenders. I am also sandwiched in between two major North/South highways, and the heroin trade is terrible in the small town to our North.

We have a very good possibility of the SHTF at anytime.

Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it.

what can you tell me about the 410 personal defence round? I have a 410 that I use for shooting clays and smaller birds and it doesn't wear me out like the old 12 guage does but I haven't heard of a personal defence round. Any info would be appreciated!

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

you can also get a gate for your drive.

you dont even really need fencing but the gate itself will make thieves think twice - you want them to say 'golly maybe we'll just go to the next house.' my hubby was a fencing sales guy for years and it really works.

and i'll throw in for big dogs also. but make sure you can handle big dogs - or just go for loud ones as iam2bz said. my two hard workin' dogs are pretty serious and they keep everyone in their truck. i tell folks that those dogs dont want to be your friend and they aint lickin' you - they're TASTING you.

as we are pretty far from a 911 response - what SKR8PN said.

 

[Wifezilla]

The price of security cam systems is dropping. Often bad guys will watch a neighborhood for a while before picking a target. You may see them before they see you. At least there is the possibility of a positive ID and arrest should they steal from you.

Game cam set ups with infrared and motion detectors should do it. Quite a few people on BYC have used them to catch predators...some of them turned out to be 2 legged!

Big dog, gates and fences, and self defense weapons....all a good idea. Also outdoor lights. I can't believe how many people in this area who don't even have so much as a porch light. A little light goes a long way towards making people move on. We have motion sensor flood lights in front of the house and in back. We also have small solar lights between the house and garage and one on the duck pen. They aren't super bright or anything, but you can tell if someone is standing there.

As we say in our zombie discussions, you don't have to be the fastest. You just have to be a little faster than the guy next to you. So your property doesn't have to be Fort Knox, it just has to be more secure than your neighbors.

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Some tips I've been given over the years. Some of these have already been mentioned, but here ya go:

1. Ditto on the gate. Make it just a tad bit more difficult to get onto/off of your property with stuff. Fencing helps too, even just a few strands of barbed wire. Things like that won't prevent a prepared or determined thief, but it will make your place less likely to be scavenged on the spur of the moment.

2. Ditto on the firearms. Yes, we have kids and they know they are allowed to handle/use some of them under our close supervision. And ONLY then. We keep ours on hip when we're out & about in town or on the property and close by the rest of the time. I gotta give props to tritium sites. It's easy to grab your firearm when you can see 3 glowing dots no matter how dark it is. And thank GOD for Castle Doctrine laws

3. Pay the extra money for a PO Box to prevent any check/identity theft.

4. Single folks, keep a few things that obviously belong to the opposite sex. Whenever someone comes in your home, be it plumbing, phone tech, whatever, put away "Fred's/Margaret's things". Keep 2 toothbrushes on the sink, an old overcoat laid on a chair, houseshoes, street shoes, etc. This makes it less likely someone will take you for an easy target because you live alone.

5. Loud (And I mean LOUD) window & door alarms are fairly cheap & easy to install. Good for startling intruders & alerting close neighbors. (If you have any close neighbors )

 

[Sunny]

I totally agree with all of you..

We rent so we cant put up motion detector lights. We live in an apartment right now so that wouldnt go over here very well. But the whole small complex is gone every day, all day.. Only one other unit has some one home during the day.. So I do try to keep track of faces and to see if some one seems out of place.

My micro mutts do make lots of noise. One is very mean.. My DHs friends at work wont even try to touch her. And the ones that do attempt get bit.. They actually try to see who can get closer to her without getting bit.. Stupid game yes.. They think she is small and what harm can she do?? But there are others that know, and wont go near her. She wont give up to protect her property. But she is also my oldest dog. And age is catching up with her fast. She is getting slower..

I have owned large dogs before.. So that is in the plan to get another one when we move. I used to have an Australian Cattle Dog.. Also a great dane/ bull mastiff mix, every one was scared of her. But she was a giant lap dog.. LOL

 

[murphysranch]

Sunny: I don't think Pelican Bay, a max security prison, ever has had a breakout. My DH's friend works there as a guard. And DH grew up in Crescent City.

Yappy small dogs are very very good alarms and protectors. More damage has been done by small dogs to people than large dogs. Just ask the mail people!

Yes, Austrailian Cattle Dogs (aka Heelers) are well known to be one person/one family dogs. I have three of them. Brumby, on her last legs, is a lover. The other two are very wary and can be fierce to strangers. The BC loves anyone and actually escorts them up the drive and into the house!

 

[Sunny]

Sunny: I don't think Pelican Bay, a max security prison, ever has had a breakout. My DH's friend works there as a guard. And DH grew up in Crescent City.

Well I dont know if they actually had a break out. But I remember they had a warning out once to not pick any one up on the Hwy 101.. Maybe they misplaced an inmate.. Or he was not where he was supposed to be. I just remember the warning.. They had it broadcasted over the radio, that was two towns away. The warning went out not long after they opened up the place

I even got to visit the place on a field trip with the school before it even opened.. Interesting place it was.. 3 of my friends accidentally locked themselves in one of the cells.. And none of the guards that was doing the tour had the keys yet.. It was funny they had to call for a key..

My DH has talked to a guard there. The guard was actually trying to get my DH to apply there. But after the guard described some of the bad inmate murders.. DH decided no.. Lets just say one of the murders he described would put some horror movies to shame..