man barged into house

[dinahmoe]

Quote:
you just got caught off guard.it happens.just try to secure your place so it is not easliy approached next time.
it happened to me a while back.just being the nice person i am but looking back on it now ,it was very stupid and dangerous.even tho nothing happened and there was not even the intent for it to happen,it still made me mad that i put myself in that situation in the first place.won't happen again tho,i am very cautious to everything and everybody.i am trying hard to earn the title of "the crazy old chicken lady."

 

[kuntrygirl]

So sorry to hear what happened. That sounds scary. My watch "dogs" are my 13 geese. As soon as someone pulls up, they start honking and they don't stop until I come out of the house. And if the geese are in the front yard and someone feels brave enough to get out of their vehicle, Apollo 13 (my 13 geese) WILL attack. Biting and wing slapping will commence. Visitors don't push their luck. The geese have ran MANY MANY MANY visitors back to their vehicles. When that happens, the visitor will honk their horn until I come out.

When I wake up in the morning and go outside to open the coops, I take my keys and lock the house. I do the same thing when I go out to feed and water, pick eggs and close the coops. If I am in the chicken yard, I NEVER leave the house unlocked. I'm too paranoid and I know the possibility of what could happen.

Be careful.

 

[ChooksinChoppers]

Quote:
Wow! (not picking on you kuntrygirl) but isnt that just sad when we have to lock up our homes when we are just in the back yard.
I used to sell rainbows and we always had an apointment first, and one that was confirmed the day before as well.

 

[kuntrygirl]

Quote:
Wow! (not picking on you kuntrygirl) but isnt that just sad when we have to lock up our homes when we are just in the back yard.
I used to sell rainbows and we always had an apointment first, and one that was confirmed the day before as well.

Oh no, you're not picking at all. I totally understand what you're saying. And yes, it is very sad that we have to lock up our homes when we are just in the back yard. Unfortunately, criminals never sleep and you never know who is watching you, your patterns when leaving and coming back from work etc. There was a 85 year old lady who lives about 4 miles from me that was raped because she left her door unlocked. This happened at 6:30 pm when there was light outside. She was on old timer who was raised in an era when it was safe to not lock doors and to allow strangers to come in your house and offer them a cold glass of lemonade. Sorry to say but those times are long gone. I'm single and live alone, so I take extra precautions and try to be as safe as possible. I live on 2 acres and the chicken coops are a ways away from the house. So, if im out feeding the sheep or in the rabbit house, I cannot see my house doors, so I don't know who may be walking down the road and may slip into my yard and check to see if my doors are unlock. I would hate to get back inside, take a shower and some rapist decide to rape and kill me because I left my door unlock. It takes an extra few seconds to grab the keys and lock the doors or unlock the doors but i think my life is worth it.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Anyone in your home without permission is trespassing. Call 911, tell them to get out and leave the phone line open. Call openly and make sure they know that they are there against your will.

No wishy washy I'm not interested, but a firm "get off my porch, get off my property". It is not your business that they got dropped off.

 

[GhostRider65]

Well our governor just added some protection we were not counting on, it is now legal to shoot someone breaking into your house, without the fear of being tried for murder.
It has also happened here Mind you, we are in the sticks NE Wi. 20 miles from anywhere.
1 day my husband who works nights was home sleeping while I ran to town, well he got up to use the bathroom and some guy was wandering around my house, least to stay he was quickly told to get the F out, by my hubby standing there in his undies......... we have several guns and 3 large dogs who were sleeping in the bedroom with hubby, not sure why they didn't bark usually they bark when they here anything, maybe they did and that's what actually woke my hubby but not sure. BTW the guy said he knocked to used the phone......... well what in the hell do people think if no one answers the door they can just let themselves in???? We have lived here 12 years and have never locked our doors...... I'm alone every night when hubby is at work, but a loaded 20 gauge is at the foot of the bed.....and 3 large dogs sleep in room.. a american bulldog, a mastif/ pit cross, and a boxer. Plus we have a German Shepard/husky cross outside to guard chickens and stuff as we were broken into a few years back and they stole alot of tools and 3 of my saddles out of the garage.

 

[Moochie]

What a creepy fella. Some random chum asks me to go to my bed to "show" me things and I'll start yelling and screaming until he leaves. You might think I'm crazy for yelling and screaming at a guy, but loud noises echo out here (in my neighborhood) and it's quite effective.
I remember in gym class playing a game against the middle schoolers, you had to get a football to their side for a goal and without them pulling your flag. The ball came to me and I started running with it and screaming. I made the point by screeching into the little kids' ears everytime one of them got near. I also got an adrenaline rush from it.

 

[Mama_Bear]

Since this has happened, you will be better prepared if something like this happens again. You can learn from this! And so can others reading!

I learned it in my own life too - I was in my yard one morning, weeding a flower bed. It was around 8:30 on a week day and most people in the neighborhood would be at work. I was head down, concentrating on the weeds when I heard a male voice asking if I needed help. I looked up to see a man about 10 feet away at the corner of my house. I was blocked in -- house on one side, privacy hedge on the other, fence at my back. I stood up and said 'No, thanks - I didn't need any help'. He said 'Are you sure?" - I replied again I didn't need help.

Instead of leaving, he put a foot forward to advance toward me. I was close enough to the back yard gate that I reached over as if I were going to open it and rattled it - bringing my German Shepard around. She was beautiful gray with a black saddle and had a horrific bark when she was alerted! When she hit the fence, he hit the road. The gate was padlocked (rusted shut), so I really wouldn't have been able to let her out; but thankfully he didn't know it.

That taught me a lesson about the naivety of thinking I would be safe at home 'in my own yard'. It was scarey but could have been worse without having my dog that day. After that I never worked in the front yard again without her out there leashed to me.

I have learned sadly we can not give strangers the benefit of the doubt. We need to consider scenarios and how we'll react - in that event - so that the response will become second nature. I'm not saying that we have to be paranoid, but prepared. This is the world we live in!

As for door to door salesmen - I rarely open the door to anyone I don't know. I have a glass window I talk through to them and if I do open the door - I have my big dog in the hallway with me.

If I'm approached at a gas station by a panhandler -- I respond firmly, making eye contact - "NO I can not help you". Firm and LOUD - I want other people in the vicinity to hear me. Weirdos don't want attention called to them and they have backed off.

When I'm loading groceries in the car - I open the car door, then place the cart behind me so that it is between me and the road.

When I'm approaching a red light or stop sign - if there is a car in front of me - I stop so that I can leave space to get around that car if I need to - so I won't be boxed in and have less chance being carjacked.

I back into my driveway so that the hatch is closest to the door- so especially if I'm unloading things after dark, I'm closer to the house instead of closer to the street.

I don't carry a purse, I keep my money and ID on my body, so I can't be purse snatched.

As I write all this, I imagine you're wondering "Good grief, where does she live!" - I live in a quiet little town where bad things really only happen occasionally.

But I also live in this world where bad stuff happens all the time. Over the course of the last 20 years - my personal experience has been -- the thing with that guy in my yard, my house was burglarized once, I was robbed in my own driveway a different time and my neighbors called in a drunk who they saw milling around my yard (he was on the wrong street -- wrong house) - and it resulted in my house and yard being covered with cops.

It happens. All I'm saying is people need to be prepared as much as they can to know how to react if approached. Trust the red flags you feel. It's like building muscle memory. It is not in our nature to be 'rude' - as it may seem we are when considering reactions to these scenarios. We have to PLAN to be as safe as we can be. Pray for peace but prepare for war!

 

[HHandbasket]

That's why we love our little place in the sticks. Nobody even knows this place is here. We are down an easement, up an unmarked road, down a split driveway that you don't know is there if you don't know it's there, through a closed gate, up a hill and behind a house. Even visitors at the main house don't know this little mother-in-law cottage is up here because we're well hidden and so far up the hill that we can't really be seen. The only reason the folks at the bottom of the hill even know we're here is they can hear our roosters crowing.

 

[zzGypsy]

Quote:
snipped a bit there...
can I just say it's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks this way.
I think we may share the same brain...