How do I keep people from jumping my wall in my backyard?
Question:In my girlfriend and I's back yard we have a wall seperating our house and "the hood". People keep cutting through our yard to get to a main Rd in Orlando rather than having to go around the hood to get to it they cut through our yard. We wouldnt mind but now they are stealing things. We've tried thorny bushes..they get trampled. The police tell us there is nothing we can do (of course). Does anyone know of something good like that sets off an alarm or someting that would scare them off? And no, barbwire isnt legal..If law enforcement or firefighters got caught in it..not good. Any ideas out there world? And no African Bumble bees is not a good idea. And no my girlfriend wont allow a dog to live outside..That is the true answer..but if anyone has some other ideas we'd appreciate it..thanks!
Answers:
You can run a small, nearly invisible wire about a foot up from the top of the wall that, when it breaks sets off a strobe light a siren. It is VERY important that this have a timer on it and that it does not recycle after being tripped, or the local alarm ordinance law will cause you to have a ticket. You may even want to register this as a burglar alarm with the police department to comply with local alarm ordiinances. This method is a poor mans version of photo electric beams, which are VERY expensive and prone to false alarms from birds and such. The trip wire method has a low false alarm rate. There is actually a special switch made for this that has a magnet that is held in a socket of a switch by the magnetic pull and pulls out when the wire is tripped on. It can be put back and used again. The special switch is made by the Sentrol company. I think it could be used outdoors. Here is the info on it:
Sentrol # 1005 Series Mini-Magnapull Magnetic Pull-Apart Cords. Mini Magnapull magnetic pull-apart cords are used to protect valuable free-standing items, such as office equipment, video systems, art objects, and gun cabinets. Positive magnetic retention limits false alarms.
A burglar alarm company can rig this up, but their rates are over $60 per hr. to do this kind of custom work.
Cow Bells on a string would be another, less costly but less effective option! (And noisy in the wind) Bad guys hate to make noise!
OR, A cattle control electric fence wire won't hurt anybody (but really smarts) and would do the trick. See your local feed store for this system and check with your city or county codes about using one of these. (MY CHOICE, if legal!)
Good luck!
Rick
PUT UP AN ELECTRIC FENCE AND KEEP IT ON
Put up a no trespassing sign and when they do call the cops..
These ideas will work best if the wall is solid and the kids can't see through it. The surprise will be effective.
Make the landing unpleasant.dig a trench, fill it with really loose soil, and turn it into mud.
Make the landing loud. pieces of thin sheet metal, metal garbage can lids, anything that clatters when someone jumps down onto it.
Dig a trench... and cover it with a taught tarp. so the tarp collapses then it's stepped on. A unexpected drop would be scary!
Cover the area with thick plastic and make it oily, slippery and really tough to walk on.
Fill your back yard with shopping carts. Even one row right up next to the fence would make it hard to negotiate.
Change the situation frequently so they don't know what is coming next!
Put up a "Trespassers Will be Shot" sign and stake out with a high powered rifle or shotgun and when the hop the fence blast them and i guarante that they wont do it again.
If it is a wall at least 3 to 4 inches thick, you could do what has been done for years atop the brick or stucco walls which surround the courtyard gardens in the French Quarter in New Orleans: they line the entire top of the wall with glass bottles that have had their bottoms broken off. They are placed very closely together (actually touching), with their jagged, pointy broken glass bottoms facing up. The bottles are permanently held in place in a neat bed of cement. They use colored and clear glass bottles. It is an interesting feature in the French Quarter, and the tourists think it adds character to the place. It will last for years. Can you imagine the thoughts that would go through the mind of someone thinking of climbing over this?
Break the bottoms out of a lot of glass bottles. Glue these to the top of the wall, in a line, all touching each other.
Try a Moat or some bright lights focused on the fence.
The best thing is to ask for a variance fro the city building dept, explain your problem to them, make your fence as high as permitted.
If you have problems with them talk to your councilman.
Good Luck
If it`s a fairly solid wall, add a 2 or 3 foot wrought iron fence to the top. I imagine the pointy finnials on top wouldn`t be illegal. Good luck, I can`t stand law-breakers.
String a bare wire on top of the fence insulate it from the fence get you a neon sign transformer about 15,000 volts and light it up they wont be jumping over the fence to many times. I had a huge garden once did that all around it about 400 feet of wire about 8 inches off the ground BBQ 3 rabbits and a whole family of skunks !!
You could put motion detectors up that will turn on lights when something crosses the beam. There are also motion sensors that are battery powered that will emit a loud sound when the beam is crossed. You can move these sensors around until you find the perfect position. They are not very expensive and you can find them at a store like Radio Shack or maybe Harbor Freight.
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