Off topic--farmstead security ideas--some other thoughts

Hey everyone thanks for the great posts/advice to my question about farmstead security.

I am thinking about getting a good loud-barking outdoor dog, and was wondering what others thought about a dog being a good "security device". If a dog is barking because a stranger is on the place, even if you aren't around the burglar still doesn't know if you might be out in the trees or the field and might show up any moment.

I have to admit being really dismayed by the idea that someone might burglarize my farm. I live in Platte County Nebraska and there has been a huge number of farm home break-ins and farm thefts reported the last year. It's really hard for me to get the idea in my head that someone would actually break into my house or steal something from my farm. Growing up as a farm boy has just made me too trusting, I guess!

Ya we used to have a yello lab for the longest time. If it was someone she recognizedshe bark two or three times to say they were there and run up to em. If she didnt know the person shed sit there barking like crazy to let you know someone or in some cases something was around that shouldnt be.

It seems like everyone has a security light, but I've read that many are going the other way, darkness.

Obviously this is a night time solution. For example, if someone was helping themselves to your fuel at night under a security light, a deputy (or friend) driving past has trouble telling if this is you preparing for tomorrow or a thief. However if he sees someone fooling around a fuel tank with a flashlight (with the security light off) he has reason to be stop and ask questions.

One of the best deterrents is a video camera. Game trail cameras on the drive way, positioned to catch the image of the driver and the plate, are ideal.
But don't stop there. The idea isn't so much about "capture and prosecution", as it is about prevention. Put up clearly visible signs that say, "Premises videotaped" or some similar verbiage. Burglars and thieves don't want their pictures taken.
A dummy camera or two are an excellent deterrent, and they are cheap. (Harbor Freight or Northern Hydraulics)
Put the FAKE ones where they are VERY visible, and not easily reached, such as up in the peak, under a gable on an outbuilding. Don't put them on a pole, where it can be quickly seen if there is a wire going to them or not. Hide the REAL cameras well, and don't brag to your neighbors about how well you hid them, by telling them WHERE you hid them. A surprising amount of rural burglaries are by neighbors who know when you are home and when you aren't.
I have a neighbor who has been losing stuff w/ regularity. I've told him time and time again to get a game trail camera, with infrared capability, (about $120), but he hasn't done it yet. Doesn't matter how good the advice is, if it is unheeded, its ineffective.

I have a Great Dane, Lab, Mutt mix. Weighs about 80 lbs, bark weighs +200 lbs. Good natured, but strangers are cautious.

Charles

Some good advice here but good luck having a deputy drive by at the exact few seconds it takes someone with a flashlight to find the gas cap before turning it off. With some moonlight, they may not even need a flashlight.

Some of these burglars are city people who just drive around the country. They will stop and go to the doors banging on them faking some kind of car problem. If no answer, then they break in. A barking dog that doesn't attack them is a good sign for them. With the door knocking and barking dog and then no one stirs, that is a good sign no one is home. They won't take long to load their car and be gone.

Some include a lot of druggies who rent the old farmsteads out in the country that are being abandoned by old farmers who die, move to town, etc. and some relative just collecting rent. They drive by all the time. They can avoid the cops and cook their meth at the same time.

Some include a neighboring farmer's kid with a drug habit to feed. The nicest kids you least suspect may have the worst drug problem.

Some include a friend or hunting buddy (with a drug habit to feed) of a neighboring farmer's kid who may or may not have a drug problem. Some of these school and hunting buddies may see an opportunity at your place.

Besides the cameras, mark your tools and equipment and valuables with one of those inscribers. First thing they do is head to a pawn shop with your stuff. Make an obvious mark on something like your generator or chain saw may cause a pawn shop not to buy it if they see your mark or that it has been scuffed off. Also put a mark of some kind in a place where a thief may not look such as on the frame and behind or under a cover, etc.

Dogs do deter some people. I know it sounds bad but you can get battery powered cameras that look like cameras, but they don't actually do anything. They move and spin like real ones. It looks like you have sucurity but you don't, you could also stick one of those home security signs by your house that says you have a certain brand of home security even if you don't.