Somebody has been letting my animals loose at night!

[ChksontheRun]

Or a sleep walker Really, a friend of mine has a husband that sleepwalks and let her dogs out of their pen one night

 

[Beekissed]

Here's an idea....don't put up any signs or such. Act like you aren't taking any precautions. Then hot wire your gates with some juiced wire.....and sit back to listen for the screams.

Not enough to damage, mind you, just enough to surprise and scare off. They will think more than twice about coming back.

You might also get a simple motion alarm and set it on "alarm"....since you can't hear your roo, it won't keep you awake but it may just scare someone and make them think you can hear the alarm.

 

[freemotion]

Ooo, memories! My brother hooked up the fencer to the door handle of the barn one day when I was working inside....boy, was I mad!!!

That is a great idea, Bee, in this situation!

 

[dkluzier]

I always blame our unexplained on our ghost, "CLARENCE"
He was the builder and previous owner of our home. We just put in a brand new barn and the milkroom door keeps getting locked from the inside. All we have to do is go thru the workshop and goat feeding area to unlock it but it is unsettling to say the least.

I don't know, maybe the goats are turning the lock counter clockwise with their teeth, EVERY single night. I am taking the lock out of the knob tommorrow just for kicks.

 

[Ariel301]

Here's an idea....don't put up any signs or such. Act like you aren't taking any precautions. Then hot wire your gates with some juiced wire.....and sit back to listen for the screams.

Not enough to damage, mind you, just enough to surprise and scare off. They will think more than twice about coming back.

You might also get a simple motion alarm and set it on "alarm"....since you can't hear your roo, it won't keep you awake but it may just scare someone and make them think you can hear the alarm.

It crossed my mind. My mother in law vetoed the hot wire though, and since it is her house, I havet to play by her rules. If it were my place, I'd have the stuff all over. But she has young grandkids and is super nervous and over protective, she even hacked up every cactus within sight of the house, and she bought a bunch of kids' benadryl when we brought our new beehive home. She won't let me use live traps or rat bait or a gun on the property either, or mention around the kids that we eat or sell any animals.

I'm hoping someone did get a good horning from the buck. He was feeling feisty today, he got me when I went to feed him dinner.

We decided also to start using my kidding season baby monitor year round, I can put it by the bed at night or carry it around the house, so I can hear if there is something going on, we can call the authorities and/or catch them/give them a good scare. Normally we'd hear the ducks get excited and noisy if someone was out there, but since the wind was blowing and making a lot of noise, we obviously missed that from across the yard.

 

[churchx3]

Someone sees this as a joke until they get hurt pulling their pranks then you will be the one in the hot seat....I would definitely install motion sensor lights, I know there are motion sensor sprinklers available, and I would definitely put up no trespassing signs, beware of dog(s) signs, and install locks. Since they are not damaging anything I would also agree that someone thinks they are being funny doing these things to you.

 

[tiffanyh]

Im following this thread with interest, I really hope you find out what's up.

 

[patandchickens]

If you think your animals will not have a heart attack from sudden loud noise at night, buy one or three of those cheapie window alarms you can get at Home Depot etc. It is a little plastic unit where if the two halves are separated -- by someone opening a window, or in this case a *gate*, that they are affixed to -- it emits a piercing screamy noise.

Also get yourself something that will make a VERY LOUD BANG, ballistic-sounding. Experiment with things you can hit against each other around the house, you can find something.

Then rig the alarms to the doors/gates, keep the banging equipment handy in your bedroom, and when you hear the alarm go off, stick your head out the window/door and shout GET OUT OF HEAR and render several loud banging noises as if you are shooting at them.

That should make them reconsider their choices :>

Best of luck,

Pat

 

[PattySh]

Do you have lights on? We've had someone stealing gas out of our car tanks for the last month or so. I finally got locking gas caps and they broke one of those this week!! It's dark near the driveway and I assume it's a local kid. Luckily our barn (on the other side of the property) has not been messed with. I leave lights on in there. What types of gate latches do you have. Any way it's a goat opening them? My goats can open some latches. I use a horse stall bolt latch with a bolt snap as double protection on the inside goat pen. Started using the bolt snap after they figured out the horse stall latch. I have had to use bungee cords on my chicken pen in addition to the latch (A chainlink 6ft dog pen with kennel latch attached to their coop) as the goats can get in there without the bungee by jumping up on the gate and pushing it open.

 

[aggieterpkatie]

This makes me so mad and it's not even my animals!! I really wish I lived closer so I could hide out in your yard and help you catch the bad guys.

Please keep us updated! I live pretty close to the main road and I always worry about people messing with the animals!! In fact, I was thinking of starting a thread asking if a LGD would get bored with just a handful of animals on small acreage. I would feel much better if I had a big dog out there protecting from people. I don't worry too much about dogs and we very rarely have coyotes in this area.

My hubby and I were just thinking about getting a cheap camera so we can monitor the driveway.