After the massacre of the chickens and turkeys on two separate nights, we have realized how vulnerable our animals and ourselves really are. We have had a big wake up call.
Yesterday we put up two motion sensor lights. I had purchased these a couple of months ago to put on our new barn. They work surprisingly well. They were actually picking us up 50 or 60 feet away. If it detects no other movement, it will turn off in 30 seconds. I ordered 2 more from Harbor Freight last night.
They run off of a small solar panel.
We picked up a cheap wildlife cam from the feed store and Papa Bear set up an old hospital bed frame and hooked the camera to it near the trail something has been traveling. There wasn't a tree nearby. I didn't even ask why he didn't put a post in the ground and mount it to that instead of adding more junk in the back. Sometimes I am good that way.
I did not have the PIR set right on the camera so it is a really bad picture but it did get a shot of something. It is in the bottom center. Brindle in color. It came in just before 1AM. It ate all the snacks Papa Bear left for it and also drug off a dead chicken he had left in the trail. Most of that was ate just in the edge of the woods.
The camera went off again a little after 2 AM. I could not tell anything in this picture. I have changed the PIR so we will see if anything comes tonight and see if the picture quality is any better. Papa Bear put out more "snacks" but it is pouring rain so I don't know if they will be roaming or not. I used to have a great picture editing program on the computer that I may have been able to sharpen these enough to see something but I can't find it. I wonder if it has been accidentally erased?
I took the advice of Glock Mom, Senior and Lotta Joy (thanks guys!) and ordered 2 different types of driveway announcers. I ordered two of each one. One is on back order but I should have 2 of them before the week is out. I also ordered 2 rechargeable spot lights. We should be able to go out onto the back deck and sweep the back with one, the other I will use on the golf cart at night as the lights refuse to work on it now.. Trying to hold a flash light, drive and reach for a weapon just doesn't get it.
For the past few months I have been looking for a full blooded Great Pyrenees. At $600.00 and up plus the cost to have it shipped was way too pricey for us as I could not find one local. Today I was looking on Craigs list and found a male less than 75 miles from me. We had decided not to get each other presents this year and put all the money into the new barn but when I saw this little fellow (he's on the left) I went and found Papa Bear. Merry Christmas to us! Sent the lady a deposit through Paypal and will pick him up on December 23rd. Showed the Marine the picture and told him we were getting him for Christmas. He wants to name him Harley...We'll see if the name fits when we get him.
Those puppies look sooo cute. Sure hope you catch the critter(s).
ReplyDeleteThanks DFW. Nothing came back last night. I don't know if it's because there may be sick or dead dogs somewhere or if it was because of the rain.
DeleteLooks like you are all set to ID the intruder once you get the cam set right. The LED solar motion lights from Harbor Freight are the best ones I have found and have lasted the longest of any I have used so you made a good choice. Don't ever buy a Westinghouse one they downright suck.
ReplyDeleteGratz in advance on the new puppy!!!!
We bought 2 lights from Sams Club a couple of years ago. I don't know the brand but they did not last long at all. I don't even think they made it through the warranty period but I could not find my receipt and Papa Bear never took them down. They are still on the back corners of the house.
DeleteCan't wait to get the puppy. I know it will be months before he can do any protecting but we can get him used to everything while we're doing chores.
I don't know your situation land-wise but may I make one suggestion? There are two Pyrenees dogs I have to deal with regularly on my way to one of my outter apiaries and they are a menace. I have come close to putting a round into one of them more than a few times. The owners have enough land to keep the dogs on but not when measured from their front doors.
DeleteThe dogs' range overlaps unto others property and damned near proved fatal on a couple of occasions for the dogs anyway. After a year or so they finally got to the point they ignore me now but during the Winter if I have to park and walk to my hives due to snow it can still get dicey.
I don't know if you can train them to recognize their own borders or not but the natural range and protectiveness could become an issue if you frequently have visitors that have a right to be within it.
May not be an issue with you guys just something I have noticed having to deal with that dog type as an outsider.
PP...I have already been studying these dogs and know some about them. Even the family I am buying this one from says they will and can cover up to 3 miles. We don't have 3 miles of property...Wish we did. I am already looking into an underground fence with the static collars for the dogs. Especially since I have put a sign out front threatening the neighbors dogs if they come on our property. I have to be extremely careful with mine. Right now if one of mine escapes the fence they run straight to another pen to visit the other dog so I usually know where they are and it doesn't happen often. I have completely went around the perimeter of the fence in the backyard with short chicken wire and left a few inches laying on the ground so the Marines little ones can't dig out and escape. I used to let them out front. One is OK out alone but if he has a buddy the first thing he or she wants to do is hightail it up the road.
DeleteMB - I am glad you are on that. I thought about getting one once myself. I have enough room that it shouldn't be an issue but after the run ins I had with the ones down the road I was hesitant. The owners down there even admitted to me they hadn't thought about the overlapping on someone else's property and no one had mentioned it to them.
DeleteYou might want to consider tying an alarm into the lights, or at least something to notify you when you're in the house, that something is out there.
ReplyDeleteGS...We have ordered 4 driveway announcers to place around the property. Each one supposedly covers up to 400 feet. We should be able to know when trespassers are on the property with these.
DeleteOMG ! Great Pyrs are gorgeous dogs. I love him all ready.
ReplyDeleteI am glad you took the harbor frieght advice.And I hope you get the little hell hounds. Those motion detectors from HF are the best. We keep the base beside our bed, when it goes off you will def. know it. That thing can wake the dead.
Got my shipping notice today. They are coming from California so I doubt if they make it here before early next week but at least they are on their way. Maybe I should have drove the 60 miles to Alabama to the store and picked them up. With Papa Bear and the Marine sick I didn't feel like I should leave the house for that long. Hopefully other things are working and we won't have any problems until we get the alerts in.
DeleteForgot to say we are very excited about a new puppy and love him from the picture! too... I told Papa Bear here I am complaining about a pack of dogs and when I pick this fellow up we will have seven! At least I know where mine are almost at all times! It's going to get really crazy on bath day!
DeleteThat look like a coyote, wolf, or evil dog :/ We have a big white dog in our woods every once in a while. It's huge. I'm sure it's a great Pyrenees. My husband got the trail cam for his birthday and I love it. I check it every morning it's exciting to see what's running around the yard. Hope you catch your predator soon.
ReplyDeleteKelly..I would much rather it be a pack of coyotes than dogs. After I saw the picture I looked up brindle coyotes to see if there was such a thing. There has been several probably as a result of mating with domestic dogs. There was nothing on the camera yesterday morning but it could be due to the hard rain we had during the night. After this morning chores I will go fetch the SD card and see if anything is on it. I will post pictures if there is.
DeleteMamma Bear,
ReplyDeleteI'm happy to hear you picked up some solar lights and a critter cam. Hopefully, the lights will scare off these critters. We have several of these solar lights from Harbor Freights, great product. The critters which returned and ate the treats may have cured the problem.....we can hope!!!
Caught one on camera during the night. Don't know if she's part of our problem or not. People need to keep their animals contained on their own property or risk that they may not come back home. Lights and alarms around the property is going to make me feel a whole lot better!
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