Two legged predators!

[CMV]

Quote:
Funny you should mention this. Our whole (rural) neighborhood got hit last night. I had to fork out $70 for a new mailbox today. Since it's the second one in two years I got the vandal-proof model. Savages.

 

[LuggNutt]

Quote:
Funny you should mention this. Our whole (rural) neighborhood got hit last night. I had to fork out $70 for a new mailbox today. Since it's the second one in two years I got the vandal-proof model. Savages.

Best thing I have ever seen for this: Friend welded up a mailbox out of 1/4" steel plate and put it on an I-Beam that he sank in the ground. He then covered the whole thing in wood to make it look like a regular mailbox. Next time the kids came through it not only broke their bat, but the guy swinging it got knocked out of the car! Never had a problem after that

 

[chris_m90731]

make sure you use circular locks that can't be cut.

 

[lighthawk]

Last time that happened to me I put a seperate post in front of the box with 1/4' steel plate and a 2x12 bolted to it then I painted a target on it. Last time they came through they hit almost every box except mine.

 

[purr]

so glad none of your turkeys were hurt or taken

I don't have padlocks but my cousin lives next door and he has a reputation for shooting at intruders, he's actually come out with the rifle to find out why people are in my driveway. I love it !

In this economy with more people going hungry we all might have to be more diligent

 

[chris_m90731]

turkey

 

[Ariel301]

Wow, that is scary. My husband and I both have been worried that as the economy drops, people will be looking for food in other places than grocery stores because they have no money, and we saw farms as a big target for theft. I guess we are not the only ones who think this way!

We keep our goats and chickens both in 6 foot tall chain link pens (the style used for dog kennels) with another foot of barbed wire around the top to discourage climbing, (by the goats and by predators, but it works well on people trying to climb in too) and I've been wanting to get some good strong locks for the gates so we can lock them up when we aren't home or at night. Fortunately we have a large lot and our neighbors are not close, so it is hard to tell that we have animals or a garden. Still, it worries me! At least I know that if our animals get loose, they don't leave on their own. If the goats get out of their pens, they actually run straight for our back door and knock on it to get us to come out! And the chickens won't leave their pen at all unless I make them do so. But if someone opened the gates, and offered the animals a treat, they would follow them anywhere...

 

[Tala]

Quote:
I don't. Afterall, my pen is open-air so if you brought bolt cutters with you anyway it'd be just as easy to take out the fence.
Eh, in my point of view it's pretty easy to convince the cops that a HUMAN stole your birds if the lock or fence is cut big enough for a human to get through. The police can always poo poo it and say "it's just some birds, raccoon probably got 'em" -- unless raccoons are cutting locks thesedays.

 

[dntd]

We are locking our birds coop. i'm so afraid the guy next door will sell them for his next fix

 

[lighthawk]

Hate to say it but locks only keep the honest people out. May also keep out neighborhood kids looking for mischief however if there is an unsavory or otherwise determined person that really wants in your coop a lock won't stop them. The only deterrent for that is you. Motion detector lights in the proximity of the coop can help at night as a prowler can never be really sure if he turned on the light or you did. It will also alert you to the fact that something is around your coop assuming you are awake. Glad I have neighbors I can trust. We all keep an eye out for each other and everyone of us is armed. (that is not a recomendation just noting that that is the way it is around here as we all hunt).