[Boo Baby]

I was hoping some could give me some advice. I am a big Halloween fan and absolutely love to dress my house up for the Holiday. I am usually working on my lawn earlier in the season and setting some of my lawn props up to warm up for the season but this year there must be some bad eggs hanging around our neighbourhood. Kids bikes have been disappearing and I myself caught kids stealing lawn chairs off my front lawn. I'm pretty disappointed because I'm thinking that it really may not be a good idea to decorate at all until Halloween day and then try to take it all down again at night. Either this or most of my stuff will likely disappear.

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should do? Any advice of teen-proofing my front lawn??

 

[mementomori]

sorry no advice, just commiseration. i was decorating the outside like 2 or 3 weeks in advance. Then i came home one night and saw my blucky that i had in a chair all decorated tossed about over the lawn. So now i usually do it the week of and put nothing out that I won't be upset about it being ruined.

 

[Boo Baby]

Sorry to hear Mem. It really takes away from the fun.

 

[stev1955]

It's unfortunate but that seems the way it's going in a lot of towns, including my own. No putting anything out that could be taken, until the day of.

 

[Spats]

Honestly?

You could put up a high dollar security system, complete with cameras.

You could take the week of Halloween off and keep a constant vigil on the yard, even at night.

You could put everything up on the morning of Halloween and take it down after midnight. (the most common solution)

You could fence the yard and get a large, vocal dog.

 

[dustin2dust]

Barbed wire or electric fence? > It could add to the ambiance!

Seriously, I don't know. Even if you do put up a security camera, it is really going to do anything? So you have it recorded, are the police going to be of any help and would it really get your stuff back? I think the dog solution would be the best, but getting a dog just for Halloween decorations is a little impractical and who knows if the dog would take interest in the decorations too. Last year I had a wreath I made on my front door destroyed and it was pretty disheartening. Sorry you are having to deal with lame neighbors too!

 

[dustin2dust]

That was supposed to be a mean smiley face. Yarrrr!

 

[icezombie]

What about some flood lights pointed at your front yard? You can also get a fake security camera and rig it up in plain site. This might scare away the vandals.

 

[kym]

BOO BABY! We must live in the same neighborhood!!! That is so funny , I was just thinking the same thing just a couple of days ago. My neighborhood has reached that dreaded point where all the chidren have turned into teens and theres been tons of smashed mailboxes , shattered beer bottles and overall mahem. Theres no chance in he!l that my precious decorations are going to make it outside for more than a couple of days..and I am so bummed about it Im seriously considering next year making a walkthrough area in my backyard instead.

 

[Haunty]

I would like to suggest:
bear trap
electrical fencing
motion detector lights
roof top servalence with a bb gun

But then once they get caught... they will likely sue you for damages even though they are trespassing on your property, & destroying your things.

Why is it that someone has to wreck things for others? Guess I'll never understand what goes through their heads. Why do they feel the need to destroy something that someone else has taken time, money, & energy to create? Grrr!!!!

 

[skullboy]

I did a cheap camera set up,after you approach the parents with a video the stuff stops quick.

 

[haverghast asylum]

Make some grave markers. Have the engravings read "Vandal # 1, valdal #2, thief #1, thief # 2. Ect." It's More humor the protection I suppose

 

[Boo Baby]

Lol, I appreciate all the colourful suggestions. I was thinking of some kind of wiring along the props hooked up to some electrical source so when the vandals touch the props...ZAAAP!! Not enough to maim or kill, just enough to cause them to jump and perhaps wet their pants.

I'm thinking the likely (and much less amusing) answer is to just set up and tear down the day of Halloween even though the nasty guard dog, cameras and barbed wire sound much more fun.

Thanks all

Ps...I think the headstones with Vandal 1, 2 etc may be a do'er though

 

[a witch from canada]

i dont remember who on the forum did this boo baby but i tought it was a great idea and hilarious too when you watch them try and leave unnoticed ; someone on here had serious problems like this and he hook up fishing line to his props and metal cans attached to the fishing line so when the kids at night would walk into his lawn they would get tangled in the line or when they tried to steal a prop the cans would make a racket noise that woke up everybody lol i tought this was a wonderfull idea

or sit in costume on the porch like your a prop and wait for them with the phone in hand and your camera get a pic or video call the cops and report them , but will the cops care hummmm maybe it will get you more police surveillance in the neibourghood for awhile

or you can get some of these and soak them wet YouTube - Original Motion-Activated Sprinkler vs. Pigeons

i bought myself some of those fake cameras in ebay last month but never got them (got a bad seller instead ) so i am in search of another seller/source for these but i really want to try adding some fake cameras this year even if so far nothing bad as happened ....

 

[christmascandy1]

sorry to hear that...i keep reading these and getting more nervous every day getting closer to halloween!!

 

[haverghast asylum]

That sprinkler is too cool, I'm sure it would get stolen

 

[Evilernie]

I had props stollen once so i hooked up christmas bells on fishing line and attached them to each prop.
Some of my props are sensor activated as well. My dog(bull mastiff) handles the rest.
Christmas bells are cheep and available at almost any department store. If you have no dog the bells are loud enough if your window is close, and may even make them run with the noise.
Best of all as mutch as we all would like to beat them, string them up and turn them into a new prop there is no harm done.

 

[malibuman]

That sprinkler is too cool, I'm sure it would get stolen

I'm sorry, but that made me have a good laugh. But, if I did that, it probably would get stolen.

 

[Boo Baby]

Witch had mentioned something very similar, but to use cans attached to the props. I think that is a great idea and I will give it a try. I'm still not going to put out any of the costlier props I own just to be safe but I will do this to the ones I do put out. Should work well actually, our bedroom window is on the ground level right near the front lawn so we'd hear them go...

 

[nhh]

I like the bear trap idea.

No sugestions here either just support. We put it up that day, take it down that night. If there is something we can leave out and feel safe it just gets placed the day before. We take down everything that night and pile it in the garage unless it's like webbing or something... It does suck.