We live in a quiet neighborhood (so quiet it took time to adjust) and our street is in a neighborhood that doesn't get a lot of through traffic because it's just residential. We have a chain link fence around the front yard, and the back is fully fenced (albeit with really cheap cedar? pine? boards that don't look like they're very well attached.

We weren't planning on doing a lot to this house to fancy it up, like a lot of landscaping (unless you count my raised beds for a garden next year, but are replacing the mostly-glass front door with a mostly-wood one, and various and sundry other security measures.

What suggestions (other than guns) would you make to people who can't leave the city but want to be secure as possible? What's a good way to make the place look ratty enough that nobody will bother us?

-- Karen Cook (browsercat@hotmail.com), October 01, 1998

Answers

Plant blackberry bushes around the perimeter of your house close to the exterior wall. They grow fast, are invasive and they hurt if you get tangled in them! Also, they provide fresh fruit in the summer. On the outside of the blackberry bushes use decorative gravel or rock. Blackberry bushes will deter people from peeking in your windows and the gravel will act as a sound detector. Use on fences to prevent people from climbing over your fence! Stay away from bars on windows, intruders think you really having something to hide, and they are a fire trap. Keep a supply of plywood on hand to cover outside windows in case civil unrest erupts in your neighborhood. And I know you don't want to hear about guns, but a 12 gauge shotgun is the best home defense weapon. It will be my last resort, but I would not hesitate to use it. A good watch dog is a must! They know someone is around before you do!

-- Bardou (bardou@baloney.com), October 01, 1998.

My dad is an avid skeet shooter, so his advice is probably a little skewed towards shotguns, but he long itm eago recommedned that no rifle or heavy pistol be kept at home solely for defense.

He had three reasons: if you really need to use it, you will be scared, angry, excited, fearful, and mad -- probably all at the same time. A shotgun (wide choke setting) will give you a little "margin" of error if the first pellets "miss". With a rifle/pistol, you have only one chance.

The "sound" of a shotgun cocking and reloading is a powerful deterrent in itself - unmistakeable in intent and power. Nothing wrong with scaring an intruder off, and it will reassure you too.

If a scuffle developes, the shotgun is easier to hold on to, to use as an alternative weapon (club, prod, lever, ram, stomach poker, privates poker, etc.)

A rifle bullet will penetrate interior and exterior walls easily, possibly hurting somebody on the other side who not the target. Small shotgun pellets will blow up a hole in sheetrock but not penetrate with dealy force (bigger ones will go through, but with less catastrophic results than a rifle bullet..)

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 01, 1998.

I know I have seen them advertised, but I am still looking for solar powered, motion detecting outdoor lights. If anyone knows of an online source, please post it here. I want to put a few around the house. I think having lights come on, when no one else has power, will scare the crap out of any would be intruder. Coupled with the sound of a pump 12 gauge loading, you should should be able to deter all but the insane.

-- Bill (bill@microsoft.com), October 02, 1998.

Another post that wasn't asked for ("other than guns"); but it seems to come back to that.

I'll never take a life if it can be avoided, out to the extreme. Neither do I want to own an animal that would possibly be put at risk defending me....such as a guard dog. Somebody might shoot or cut the dog. Have known that to happen.

I have two indoor guard cats (laugh all you want!)

They think I'm their parent (raised 'em up since they were 2 wks old, barely had their eyes open)....the knock comes at the door, they growl like all get out and take off for the door lickety-split...if it's at night, they're sleeping at my feet on the bed...quick wake-up call...plenty of warning. (Ever heard a cat growl? Lions, tigers, and leopards do it all the time. So do my 15-lb. tabbies. They were born wild. They're my babies! and they know it)

I'll keep the house just as it is. Motion detectors and watch-cats in full force. Anybody comes prowling better be able to shed lead. Better them than me. Mossberg model 500 pump 12-guage is a recommendation. Heck, remove the plug, who's gonna know, if you don't hunt with it.

-- John Howard (Greenville, NC) (pcdir@prodigy.net), October 02, 1998.

We got a couple of the solar motion detectors from SUN-MATE, I think they were $79 each. I do remember that SUN-MATE had the best price.

http://www.sun-mate.com

They have lots of neat solar gadgets, including battery chargers and a radio. Info-mate radio. It's solar, battery, ac, and dynamo charged, and has Short Wave. We ordered one of those, too, but it was back ordered until mid-October. Can't wait to see it!

The blackberry bramble are a GREAT idea. We have a deep back yard that gives onto a steep bank down into woods. We had neighborhood teens running through our yard to get to the woods, UNTIL we started training the wild blackberries to grow across the path. Nasty, grabby, don't-want-to-let-go brambles.

We will also have a small roll of barbed wire stashed in the garage, just in case.

-- Arewyn (nordic@northnet.net), October 02, 1998.

For early warning and ferocious protection get a gaggle of geese. They are loud, very territorial and hurt like hell when they take a chunk out of you. They cannot be bribed with hamburger or a goose in heat and are very low maintenance. An intruder cannot shoot them all, and they don't give up when on the attack. Ask any kid who has grown up on a farm. The US Army used them in Viet Nam. Get some "Guard Gooses"

Bill in South Carolina

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), October 02, 1998.

If you want an added measure of personal protection but are not convinced guns are the way you want to go, buy some mace or pepper spray. (Assuming it is legal in your municipality.)

-- Ron Southwick (southwick@macconnect.com), October 02, 1998.

Bill,

We live in a village that doesn't allow geese. No livestock zone, I guess.

However, we are not going to be overly concerned with that when TSHTF, so could you answer a couple of goosey questions?

We live in the northern tip of New York State, and it will be COLD. What kind of shelter do geese need? How much space? What do they eat?

When I was a kid, I had a friend who had geese, but all I remember about them was the hissing, the nipping, the honking and the chasing (them chasing me!). I do believe you're right about their value!

Thanks!

-- Arewyn (nordic@northnet.net), October 02, 1998.

I remember reading that NATO uses geese at its nuclear weapons storage facilities in Europe. They say they're much better than dogs as far as warning of intruders.

-- Ned (entaylor@cloudnet.com), October 02, 1998.

In regards the Goosie questions: I know nothing about the critters except that they ruined a short vacation I had as a kid when we visited a farm in upstate N.Y. I was afraid to go out of the house, and I suspect my dad was also. I do know that they are kept in Europe where it gets damn cold. One down side is that they have poor toilet habits which could be an asset when the intruder slips and slids all around the yard.

In regards to pepper spray/tear gas. The biggest arguments against them is: You have to be too close to the attacker to use them and you have to be sure that you are upwind from the bad guy lest you both roll around crying and in pain.

-- Bill Solorzano (notaclue@webtv.net), October 02, 1998.

For what it is worth - Try any major hardware chain. I picked one up at Menards' a couple years ago. On a 1-10 scale. Concept scores 8.5, Execution scores 3. shop hard - and try to get a demonstation of the unit. Problem is it isn't very bight - kind of like 2 old fashioned flashlights... Better than nothing but not overly impressive. I would have been happier with fewer cycles on charge and brighter lighting.

The solar powered electric fence on the other hand seems to do the trick in dicouraging deer from the garden and with a good battery, provides a jolt that will make you dance....

jh

jh

-- John Hebert (jhebert@co.waukesha.wi.us), October 06, 1998.

I must be tired, John. It took three reads through your msg. before I realized you were talking about electricity and solar-powered lights and not geese.

-- Robert A. Cook, P.E. (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), October 07, 1998.

3M makes a product called Scotchshield, a clear plastic film that adhears to the inside of your window. You can see through it, it provides some UVA protection, doesn't interfere with opening the window, and will stop a rock, shotgun or bomb blast! The glass still breaks, but it doesn't go anywhere. It won't stop multiple bullit hits, but it will take more than one or two to go through. They market it in two grades, the lighterweight as an anti-vandalisim device, the heavier grade and anti-terrorist. The 3M website isn't very helpful, but this number is:

3M Scotchshield Ultra Saftey shield 1-800-480-1704

It's fairly costly, as it has to be installed for the warenty, but with Y2K, earthquakes, and an ex-husband, I'm putting it on all my windows.

Annie O'Dea

-- Annie O'Dea (tarotmaid@yahoo.com), October 08, 1998.