Sorry I haven't been around too much lately, but I hurt my back last week and have been recovering. This started with a burglary in my barn.
Our home is on three acres outside of Poplarville and we have an old barn in the pasture about 100 yards behind the house. I use the barn to mostly store heavy items that I don't use too much and fuel. I don't believe in storing (much) fuel near the house for safety reasons.
Last weekend, someone got into the barn and stole 25 gallons of gasoline. Even though I realized it would be useless, I called the SO, just so they'd be aware of the episode and maybe could see a pattern of similar crimes in the area. The responding deputy was pleasant and professional, but agreed with my assessment that there wasn't really anything they could do.
Anyhoo - burglars often return to the scene to see if they can score anything else and I had a 3 ton Yale chainfall hanging from one of the barn's rafter supports. This was too tempting a target for thieves so I decided to remove it and bring it up to another outbuilding close to my house. Now this chainfall probably weighs 80 to a 100 pounds and I had to stand up to full height to unhook it and remove it from the rafter support. Did I mention that I have a bad back?
Sooo, as I unhooked the chainfall and started to bring it down, I must've twisted just the wrong way and my back went out. MAJOR LEAGUE PAIN!!! I had to go to my doc and get a steroid injection and local anesthesia. That helped, but it's still healing slowly.
Anyway, we've been here for around ten years and never had a problem with theft. The rear of our property borders several hundred acres of woodlands, so anyone can pretty much travel through those woods - and into the rear of our pasture - undetected.
I think the poor economy in our area is probably leading the thieving class to take chances they might not otherwise pursue. I do a lot of shooting on my back pasture range and most of the locals would realize we're well-armed. If I were a thief, I wouldn't want to chance it, but thieves usually aren't the best and brightest.
Anyway, if any of you have even modestly valuable items that you keep in remote outbuildings, you might think about keeping a closer eye on things or even investing in alarms.
Best regards
Doc
Our home is on three acres outside of Poplarville and we have an old barn in the pasture about 100 yards behind the house. I use the barn to mostly store heavy items that I don't use too much and fuel. I don't believe in storing (much) fuel near the house for safety reasons.
Last weekend, someone got into the barn and stole 25 gallons of gasoline. Even though I realized it would be useless, I called the SO, just so they'd be aware of the episode and maybe could see a pattern of similar crimes in the area. The responding deputy was pleasant and professional, but agreed with my assessment that there wasn't really anything they could do.
Anyhoo - burglars often return to the scene to see if they can score anything else and I had a 3 ton Yale chainfall hanging from one of the barn's rafter supports. This was too tempting a target for thieves so I decided to remove it and bring it up to another outbuilding close to my house. Now this chainfall probably weighs 80 to a 100 pounds and I had to stand up to full height to unhook it and remove it from the rafter support. Did I mention that I have a bad back?
Sooo, as I unhooked the chainfall and started to bring it down, I must've twisted just the wrong way and my back went out. MAJOR LEAGUE PAIN!!! I had to go to my doc and get a steroid injection and local anesthesia. That helped, but it's still healing slowly.
Anyway, we've been here for around ten years and never had a problem with theft. The rear of our property borders several hundred acres of woodlands, so anyone can pretty much travel through those woods - and into the rear of our pasture - undetected.
I think the poor economy in our area is probably leading the thieving class to take chances they might not otherwise pursue. I do a lot of shooting on my back pasture range and most of the locals would realize we're well-armed. If I were a thief, I wouldn't want to chance it, but thieves usually aren't the best and brightest.
Anyway, if any of you have even modestly valuable items that you keep in remote outbuildings, you might think about keeping a closer eye on things or even investing in alarms.
Best regards
Doc
