WAG: A fifteen to twenty foot cyclone fence topped with razor/banjo wire all around!
We ended up putting up a security camera and outdoor lights with motion sensors. Worked for us. The camera was out where they could see it was there.
What keeps them from stealing the camera?
Wouldn’t any hedge tall enough to discourage my nasty little thieves also give pretty much the same look/scale problem as a hedge?
Also, I kind of like the fact that the yard is open enough that if somebody were lurking in my bushes, then he/she would be visible from the (not unbusy) road. I’m not sure if it’s possible to put up some fence/hedge/border and retain that advantage.
I’m a huge fan of Claymores, but they’ll probably get you in trouble. Trip lines however are a safer option. Or a moat. Good luck.
Well, I can only guess that either it was too high up (it was near the roof line) or they thought we would still have the recording.
No…you stick his head on a spike, and label it “THIEF”, as a warning to others. Of course the head will eventually decompose, but if that was the only thief around, then there’s no more problem, and if there IS another thief around, you’ve got a new head to show off.
I think Mr Spock has better things to do.
Love the house, especially that porch.
Sometimes a small sign saying “Video Surveillance”, or "Smile, you’re on “Candid
Camera”, can accomplish more than spending lots of money. Hey, it’s worth a try.
Is there room for a storage shed? You could get one just large enough for what you need to store there, and get a heavy duty lock and chain. Probably cheaper than the fencing, and possibly more effective (people can jump fencing).
Mix some concrete, dig a hole, and sink your flamingo spike in concrete?
About a gallon bucket’s worth of it would solve the “pick up and walk off” problem.
I invite my neighbors over for drinks, leaving a gun or two in view. No thefts so far.
Peace through superior firepower.
Get a couple of attractive planters - the kind with with a rolled rim.
Obtain a tube of printing ink paste.
Obtain a tin of axle grease.
Mix axle grease throrougly with printing ink (wear old clothes and gloves).
Invert the planters and use an old paintbrush to apply the mixture liberally to the underside of the rolled rims.
Fill them with soil and whatever plants are appropriate for this time of year in your locality (winter-flowering pansies and polyanthus in my case).
Place them in a prominent position in your yard.
Wait for someone to complain about indelible stains on their hands and clothing.
Don’t forget the punji spikes. Shit on the points first - get an adult to help you - so they’ll die slow, agonising deaths as the flesh rots from their bones and their screams will but a foretaste of the agonies of the damned. Then make a large gin and tonic.
My mother’s neighbors have one of these hideous things, and it goes off constantly. Any time a dog barks, a baby cries, an airplane flies overhead, a deisel truck rumbles by, the wind blows, or someone gets within 20 feet of the device it goes off with a deafening screach. Not only is it annoying, but it is ineffective. In the rare event that it goes off because of a dog (there are several in the neighborhood), it does not silent the dog, it only provoks the pour thing in barking at it. The damned thing drove my mom’s dog mad one night, leaving my mom in tears because she could not control him.
I wish these f*ing devices would be banned. They are an annoyance and nothing more.
Zsofia, that is an adorable looking house! I love it and all its quaintness!! The side porchie is awesome!
I am so sorry that your neighbors are cretins of the highest order. I’ve only had one thing stolen from me ( an old bike I painted and put a flower basket on. And I think the garbage men took it by accident yet they won’t take the avacado green chair that has been sitting morosely at my curb for 6 weeks now. Harumph!
If I may interject, you need invisible fencing and a couple of dogs. Chihuahua’s are very small and territorial. They scare the crap out of most, but there are other dogs out there than can do a better job.
Have you thought about Yard Gnomes ( trashy elegance!) or maybe one of those Easter Island statues ( exact size) to whump right down in front of the house ( one on each side of the front walkway) and then if they get stolen, the theives will get a hernia and you will definately be able to see those babies on their front lawns no matter where!
What a gorgeous little house!
I’m with the sink 'em with concrete people. Every single thing you have as an ornament, get something the size of a coffee can, sink it in the ground just about the bottom and below the end of the stake, fill it with concrete then set your little flamingoes in it. It will be small enough, and if you sink it belong ground level, you can just pull the whole thing out when you want to move it. Or, alternatively, dig a trench from flamingo to flamingo (and throw in an old wheelbarrow just for kicks), bury a chain attached to each object and each other. That oughtta keep 'em in your yard for a while.
I hate having to think about people prowling around my yard - I’ve got yard gnomes which I absolutely love and can’t find enough of and I’m lucky, none gone so far. But the first one goes missing…the war is on!
My first thought is to buy another couple of ladders, alter them so they are quite dangerous to use but look sturdy, and then just leave them around your house. With any luck, anybody who steals them will find out the hard way. But claymores work, too. And snipers. Lots of snipers.
I like the fence idea. You can do chain link and then put those pretty purple creeping flowers on it. At least it won’t look so “fency.”
Also, it’s a good idea to keep ladders out of sight. The REALLY bad guys take that as an invitation to enter your house.
I also like the idea of cementing the flamingos into the ground.
Very cute house. I’d love to have a porch.