I have a scumbag neighbor who lives between myself and another guy who burns wood. The scumbag got caught stealing wood from the neighbor on the other side....and even though I keep a close eye on my stacks, I would not be surprised if the guy is taking a few here and there from me. Probably just enough not to be noticed. What can be done about this other than pulling the punk out of his house and pounding him? Anyone else have experience with someone stealing their wood?
Scumbag neighbor stealing firewood...
- Thread starter jstellfox
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my first thought would be a direct conversation. "Take my property and we will have problems" Then I'd try to actually catch him in the act with a scouting camera. Once I had proof I'd probably call the law and press charges. Just my thoughts.
Setting up a game camera to catch him trespassing would be an option. Perhaps you could mail him a letter telling him that your have been made aware of his theft of your other neighbor's firewood. You could tell him that you will press charges if he steals from you. Tell him to stay off your property. Mail the letter registered return reciept requested keep a copy of the letter and keep the card after he signs for the letter. When he comes unto your property for any reason call the police and show them the letter instructing him to keep off your property and ask them to arrest him for defiant tresspass. I wouldn't go onto his property for any reason. I would not say anything that could be taken as a threat such as "pounding" him. I have good neighbors that have never stolen from me, thank God.
im lucky ive been blessed with awesome neighbors. im glad also cuz i would have a hard time not pounding the guy if he came on my property. how low.
you can threaten to sue him or take legal reacourse, and it would probably work since he probably isnt that smart. But all you could get him for would be "damages" so thats just a few logs....
[JOKING] how about you use a paddle bit and put a m80 inside one of the logs then bury it with wood putty [Im Joking here]
more suggestions I am not suggesting:
stop pulling the poision ivy on the backside of the pile
oops i broke a few beer bottles back there.
I like the trail camera, but as soon as he sees the flash, or you show him the picture, the camera is going to get smashed or go missing
Might be nice to plant some blackberry bushes behind the wood pile.
[JOKING] how about you use a paddle bit and put a m80 inside one of the logs then bury it with wood putty [Im Joking here]
more suggestions I am not suggesting:
stop pulling the poision ivy on the backside of the pile
oops i broke a few beer bottles back there.
I like the trail camera, but as soon as he sees the flash, or you show him the picture, the camera is going to get smashed or go missing
Might be nice to plant some blackberry bushes behind the wood pile.
A Scouting camera would be a good way of getting proof.Drilling holes in a few logs and filling them with black powder would be more fun!
I would never say a word. However, I do have some large drill bits, some glue, some sawdust, and a very good back ground in explosives. I'm not sure how I would use this knowledge...
It would be bad if someone got hurt like Kids or wife? Your better off just confronting him like a man and give him a piece of your mind
A book I once read alluded to the m-80 idea in a similar wood-thief situation, except that they used a blasting cap, which was even worse. As tempting as it might be to drill-n-fill a log with black powder or something even more devious, probably the best bet is to confront the thief, as unpleasant as that may be.
I had the opposite situation last summer, when my foreclosed-upon neighbor moved close to a cord of pretty decent wood onto my property shortly before they left.I can't say they dumped it, since they moved it relatively far onto my land, with no tiretracks whatsoever. And some of these pieces were chunks of tuliptree probably over 100 lbs. So it appears they actually carried it in by hand. Pretty strange.
I had the opposite situation last summer, when my foreclosed-upon neighbor moved close to a cord of pretty decent wood onto my property shortly before they left.I can't say they dumped it, since they moved it relatively far onto my land, with no tiretracks whatsoever. And some of these pieces were chunks of tuliptree probably over 100 lbs. So it appears they actually carried it in by hand. Pretty strange.
Putting bombs in firewood is a good way to go to JAIL....not passing "GO" directly to Jail. But, on the other hand take the same drill bit and make a hole large enough to place a test tube full of fox urine When that stolen log is burned the stink will be unbearable.
It's a shame people have to stoop that low to steal. I would probably just put some security lights up and keep an eye on my stacks. I wouldn't confront him till you knew for sure he stole from you. just my $.02
it would be neat if there was something you could put within a log that would send smoke out of the chimney in the color of red or blue or something. There has to be a chemical powder that isn't horribly dangerous, but could signal who has your wood if it is used in their stove...
BTW, I don't think sex will solve this problem. You might, however, try beating him up.jstellfox said:
Dare I ask if the guy is hard up? I mean is he a typically normal person who just happened to be in need and while I cant say its right maybe hes too proud to ask for help?
Other then that I agree with the timeless, teddy roosevelt, walk quietly and carry a big stick. Simply say as a neighbor, heard you had a run in with 'bob'. you okay? If I catch you snatching my wood, I'll beat you with it. ( Im rolling with Oak, although Ash would work nice too. Think, thick and heavy)
Other then that I agree with the timeless, teddy roosevelt, walk quietly and carry a big stick. Simply say as a neighbor, heard you had a run in with 'bob'. you okay? If I catch you snatching my wood, I'll beat you with it. ( Im rolling with Oak, although Ash would work nice too. Think, thick and heavy)
How about a little hot pepper seasoning?
(broken link removed to http://burglarbomb.com/AB-2000.aspx)
(broken link removed to http://burglarbomb.com/AB-2000.aspx)
jstellfox said:
Same thing happend to me , I had to move my pile to the back yard. I guess the part that makes me mad is if the guy would have asked I have some stuff that I burn in a outside firepit I would have given him, He was taking my good oak and cherry
First of all, make sure your property is posted for no trespassing.
I would definitely go toalk with him and make sure he knows that you know about the other theft. Don't threaten him, don't imply that you'll do him harm or anything else foolish...simply have a nice conversation with him and make sure he knows that his past thefts are common knowledge.
Do not plant a booby trap in your wood pile...you're liable if someone comes to grief over it.
Do setup a deer cam or other item like that so you cna catch him in the act if he does actually take some wood. If he does, call the cops and let them scare the living crap out of him by showing up at his door.
I would definitely go toalk with him and make sure he knows that you know about the other theft. Don't threaten him, don't imply that you'll do him harm or anything else foolish...simply have a nice conversation with him and make sure he knows that his past thefts are common knowledge.
Do not plant a booby trap in your wood pile...you're liable if someone comes to grief over it.
Do setup a deer cam or other item like that so you cna catch him in the act if he does actually take some wood. If he does, call the cops and let them scare the living crap out of him by showing up at his door.
I would verify the theft before talking to him. First I would verify the theft from your other neighbor. Are you sure that the scumbag guy next door actually stole firewood from the other neighbor? How does your other neighbor know the alleged scumbag stole firewood? A game camera would help - it could provide proof if a theft occurs, and it can be fun anyhow to take pics of game.
I wouldn't go over and start making accusations if you don't have proof.
I wouldn't go over and start making accusations if you don't have proof.
jstellfox said:
I've got some neighbors that moved in about 5-6 years ago. They say first impressions can be very accurate and I should have listened to them. (First impression was they party too much, their dog craps on my yard, and they don't know how to maintain a property). After about 6 months they invite us over to a wine tasting party.... long story short my wife becomes good friends with his wife. So we start to hang out a bit, have em over for a beer at the firepit or barbeque and vise versa. Now I'm a mechanically inclined type who knows how to fix stuff (house stuff/car stuff) and he is the exact opposite. So being the good neighbor I offer to help out with a few things. After a few years of "helping out" I start to realize that maybe I'm being taken advantage of, ie they always seem to have money to party and go to concerts or the bar, but never any to repair things around the house or properly fix the cars. oh well, they're still good friends so we over look that short coming.
Fast forward to last april... (here is the firewood part). These neighbors use quite a bit of wood in their outdoor firepit. I'd taken him along on several firewood getting excursions using my truck & equipment and we'd split the load 50/50. Well in april they were out of wood and a nice day comes along and they want a fire. It was a Sunday afternoon and my wife and I go for a couple hour bike ride. We get back and I notice about a 1/4 face cord is missing right from end of the stack closest to these neighbors.... a raging fire is going in their pit and they are having a party. Hmmm. Now being a trusting guy I don't confront or even really suspect them at the time. a couple weeks go by and I am bugged that some firewood walked off... I install a security light to light up my stacking area. Not a day later this neighbor walks over and starts to make small talk, then says whats up with the light?
I say I'm missing property (firewood) and did they see anything? He goes on about how much the light bothers them and can I take it down...and finally gets around to admitting they took the wood and didn't think it was a big deal "only a couple arm loads" so can I take the light down? We'll I'm a little miffed at this point, and point out that I spent $50 on the light and an afternoon putting it up and why didn't they ask for wood or say something about taking it? (also pointed out they took good oak, not firepit wood) At the end of the conversation I said I would work with them on the light (lower wattage bulb/ turn it off when they are at the firepit)....
Well that should be the end of it right?
A couple days later I'm walking in the back alley that I use to bring in my wood to the storage area and they have blocked it off
with a chain and sign that says private property. He comes back says to get out of the alley, they've checked with the city and it's not an alley it is their property.
In the next day or two I then receive a letter from the city stating lighting codes and other bla bla... basically my light can't be brighter than 1 candlepower at the property line.
what the eff?
Well long story short I had a survey done, proved that it was an city alley, chain and sign are down, a big a** privacy fence is between us and them. Wood stays put, we ignore them, they ignore us... all is good.....;-)
several tears back I had aproblem with someone knocking over my bird feeder
what I did was, got a pressure tank, filled it with red dye and pressurized to 100 psi
i then wired a micro switch the the bird feeder and a solenoid on the tank
installed a sprinkler head with a round pattern and hid it all
when they came back and knocked over my bird feeder the micro switch tripped,
spraying red dye in a roughly 8 foot circle covering whoever it was in red dye
never did find them, but it never happened again
what I did was, got a pressure tank, filled it with red dye and pressurized to 100 psi
i then wired a micro switch the the bird feeder and a solenoid on the tank
installed a sprinkler head with a round pattern and hid it all
when they came back and knocked over my bird feeder the micro switch tripped,
spraying red dye in a roughly 8 foot circle covering whoever it was in red dye
never did find them, but it never happened again
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