TOPIC: Keep an eye on those patches....

I planted a patch last weekend, felt good to do that....after all these years, the routine was easy to fall into.

What didn't feel good was the discovery of a trowel in an adjoining patch. This tool did not belong to us, and was. Obviously left behind by some a^:*¥&e. Who shouldn't have been there. That was up to no good being there.

Apparently some would-be poacher had been there. Perhaps disturbed by one of us arriving whilst he was in our woods, in our patches. Anyway, he left behind a trowel, and it's mine now. Keeping the dumb thing is small consolation to the fact that someone had been in our patches!

This has us rethinking our security concerns. Up til now we felt that our efforts were ours... Not disturbed... And now, not so much.

We are purchasing a new security camera system, and posting all the perimeter with new signs. Going to get that up ASAP, and now are also keeping a closer eye on things. Guess that I'll need to do a walk-thru all the patches every time we work in one or the other.

I think some kind of loud alarm system of some sort would be beneficial as well as a camera. Can you imagine what an air horn would do if it was set up with a motion detector. That would startle the piss out of some A-Hole in your patches.

I saw a set up this summer with a propane tank with a timer and an air cannon. Holy cow, the fella did not tell me he had it set up and when it went off it startled the piss out of me, my son and girlfriend.

He has it set up to scare off turkey and deer. But I think it would certainly make a thief think twice about sticking around after it goes off.

Also he has dogs in the woods and they bark all the time.

Would it be possible to get a dog out there? I know my dog acts like he is being punished when he has to come in the house. He would love it if he could stay outside 24/7. He is a true dog's dog.

So I know some dog breeds love to be outside. Would it be cruel to get a breed that likes to be outside, give them a nice big dog house with plenty of warm bedding inside the dog house and a 30 foot chain, plenty of food and water and plenty of warm bedding inside.

This fella I know has 3 or 4 dogs in his woods. He said they love it out there. He takes good care of them and checks on them daily to make sure they are OK.

However, it someone couldn't check on them daily, perhaps every other day or so especially if you had a camera to view them remotely so you could check on them daily.


Thoughts?
Latt

Whit,
did you see anywhere that looked like someone was digging around?

Latt,
Did he have em tied or were they let run loose?

Hillhopper

Hillhopper,
He had them tied. Not sure how long the chain or rope was. The one I saw was standing on top of his dog house wagging his tail at us. The other ones were barking down in the woods and I did not see them.
Latt

Thanks for the comments, guys....

I found the trowel in a section of the big patch where there had been many, many small plants. This patch was planted only 3 years ago, so all the roots there would have been small. And yes, there was a small hole right next to where the trowel was, so that is what has me thinking that we disturbed the low-life while he was in there.

Latt- thanks for the suggestions, however I can't bring myself to chain up a dog.... It's just against my ideas about having a dog. Not to mention that we have bear, and have had mountain lion sightings in the area. A dog is like having a family member for me... And while I sometimes wish I could chain up my aunt to a tree in the woods, I don't do it.... LOL

Whitjr: Sorry to hear some low-lifes found your patches. I posted a while back about the tripwire devices that fire 12 gauge blanks. They work good if you can change the blanks often as the deer set them off often. I like what Latt mentioned with the airhorn attached to the propane tank for pressure too. I read in a post from way back that even the tin cans work by using the physchology making the intruder THINK someone must be nearby.

Put a sign on the ground not a tree beside the patch that says\" Your picture has been taken twice please smile for the third\".

Welcome to the forum, Ridgestalker! I like your attitude!

Ridgestalker wrote:

Put a sign on the ground not a tree beside the patch that says\" Your picture has been taken twice please smile for the third\".

Good one!