When I came home last night, I noticed that there were motorcycle tracks going in and out of the driveway.

We don't get many unexpected visitors back here. Because of where we live, nobody in their right mind would ever venture back here without permission. The driveway from the county road to the house is over 1/3 mile though the woods, with no way out, except for the way in.

Tonight, as the rain started, I went to put the tractor away. I went out the front door and I found four "Lugar 9 mm Blazer" brass casings at the bottom of front steps to our deck. They couldn't have been there very long, as I just raked that area last Monday.





I'm sure one of my friends has a very good explanation for this this, and I would guess I'll find out what it is sometime in the next couple of days or weeks. For now, I'm just kind of stumped. I doubt there is anything sinister or illegal going on -- but you never know. I just can't imagine what it might me.

I love my neighbors and friends. Does anybody else live in such a crazy place?

Any dead bodies or blood ?

I'm burning up right now.

There better be a good explanation, or I'm coming down there with my hide set-up. The longer I've been in the hide, the worse off for the perp.

None noted -- so far!



Sunil -- your are more than welcome to come down in your "hide set-up" to determine what is going on.

But, I've got to warn you -- the longer I live here, the more I find that most sinister situations turn out comical.

Somewhere I have a post about the blind horse staring in our bedroom window one Saturday morning. When I finally found the horse's owner, and after I described the horse to her, she was crazy enough to ask me if the horse was blind in just one eye, or both eyes!

Each time I get suspicious, I get embarrassed.

For those of you old enough to remember the TV show called Green Acres -- that is us.

I'm not surprised Ken, the more remote your location the more people want to explore.
Maybe they just wanted a quiet place to shoot their 9mm so they wouldn't disturb the neighbors.

Time to call Michael Weston from Miami!

Seriously though did you call a local LEO to at least get it on record?

I had a loco calling me the 'f' word with my first name a couple of years ago from the highway several times. For the life of me I never could figure out who it was and why. I think I posted it here.

If it was my house there are so many spent rounds laying around I would never have known. I think that would be the only warning needed. I do have a sign on my doors saying, "This house is protected by an armed american there is nothing in here worth dying for".

Cat, do you notice anything with holes in it that didn't have holes in it last week? The brass usually goes to the right and rearward. Can you figure out what direction they were standing, or see footprints?

Sunil, I have a little something that will let you put your hide in a comfortable area and still let you reach out and touch 'em when needed...

I haven't really had enough time to go play with it, but when I picked it up at the gunsmith we went out and I sent a few rounds downrange. Without the barrel being broke in, nor any handloading for accuracy, I was still able to pulverize a 6" dia rock at 1050 Yds. on the 3rd round down the tube.

Scot they are looking for snipers in Afghanistan...

On the advice of counsel, Ken will decline to answer this question, Your Honor.

That's really messed up, Ken. Especially with them having been right at your steps. Definitely keep your eyes open. I also agree that you should look for holes that weren't there last week and see if anything's been damaged. If so, call the police without hesitation.

Of course, it could have been the exterminator in his off hours just trying to help you guys get rid of the remainder of your bat problem!

I've got enough worries getting shape for stomping around at 10,000 ft elevation in Colorado in October. I'm a LONG way for being in shape for going over there!

I would report the incident to your local law enforcement agency. There may be a simple reasonable explanation, but you never know... Making the sheriff's office aware of the situation will make them more likely to swing by your place when they get a chance. If you need some fire power I know a few guys who have some not too far away. HAHA A word of caution... There has been a huge uptick in gang related incidents in the Winchester area. You aren't too far away so please be careful. Both Hispanic gangs and motorcycle gangs seem to like that area for some reason.

Can you hide a trail camera somewhere where it wont be seen but can take pics? Use a dark green cable chain and lock it for good measure.

The more I read on here the more I think security cameras are in order for all those that are away for periods of time from their ponds. Fortunately for me I live right on my ponds and I have adog that barks at every little movement outside.

Well, it wasn't the exterminator -- but you are close. I don't think I reported the rest of the whole crazy bat story . . .

Two weeks ago we were about to move back into the master bedroom when we found that the bats had returned with a vengeance. The smell was awful. Since the exterminators were of no real assistance, I called one of my crazy, but highly regarded, and very resourceful friends. He and his wife came over for dinner that Sunday night to survey the situation.

He got in contact with a true exterminator friend of his who turned him onto a non-lethal aerosol that makes bats want to vacate. That Tuesday night around dusk he came over with his dad, his father-in-law, brother-in-law, and nephew -- all close friends of ours. Earlier in the day, he had told Lynda that it would be best if she stayed out of the house overnight and the next day, which she did.

They got the bats out. He said that quite a few hit him in the head has they flew out of the hole he was filling with the aerosol. His brother-in-law was on the ground with a 9mm handgun. When I told him what I found, he said I should have seen 16 casings. Anyway, his BIL didn't hit a single bat.

After that episode they went up into the bedroom and tore off the drywall where they found quite a mess. They went up there with tennis rackets and a couple of my landing nets. Thankfully, they got the bats and the mess out. Plus they sealed up the bat entrance pretty well.

While all this was going on, I was at the place I stay while I'm at work during the week. As I think I reported, I moved out of the Olde Folks Home last month, and I'm house sitting for a female co-worker who is on assignment Australia for several months.

So, that gets me to the rest of the story. . .

My friend's wife reported to the neighborhood, via e-mail, that five men spent the night in Lynda's bedroom, while I spent the night at "the other woman's house."

Thankfully, everybody who got the note knows us well, and most got a chuckle out of it, including our pastor from church.

Like I said, life is never dull in the country. I'm just glad to have such good friends, even if they are kind of wacky.

Nobody wants bats in their house. I have had to get a couple of them out of mine and it's not fun. The truth is that brown bat populations are in serious trouble in our area. If the bat is outside what is the purpose of firing a hand gun into the sky at one with a probability of 0% of hitting one?

I'm not trying to be negative as it sounds like they did you a good service but he could have at least picked up his shell casings and not left them laying right by your porch. I wonder what goes through peoples minds?

i kinda feel sorry for my bats. they were living all around the eaves of the house before we renovated, several hundred of them. kept the bugs away good. since metal roof, cement siding, and all gaps neatly filled w/ stout trim work, we have no more bats on the house. call me crazy, but i happen to like the critters (as long as they're not IN the house), and will probably put up a bat house in the near future...

DIED, you'll probably need to put up a couple. It sounds like you have a number of bats!

Cat, I think they were giving them an added incentive to stay away with the loud noises. If they really wanted to hit a few they would have used a shotgun.

16 rounds... Sounds like he emptied the whole gun! 15 in the magazine and 1 in the chamber! All for a few bats, WOW!!! When fired into the air, bullets do come down... And unless fired almost straight up, they can kill people. They invented shotguns for a reason... HAHA

Just a little more country craziness . . .

I got home late last night from several days away. As I got close to the house, I could see there was a large flat-bed trailer down by the pond. I was sure it was the eminent domain folk harassing us.

As I investigated, I was very angry that they would leave a trailer in the middle of my back driveway. To get past it, I had to drive past my burn pit -- which somebody completely filled with branches and debris.

The light went on! This wasn't the power company. Friends had come over earlier in the day to remove a number of very large and dangerous half-dead trees near the house and garage.

When I got home late this afternoon, they were again out in force. They were now cleaning around the pond, including taking out some large willows, and some big dead oaks, on the back of the dam.






With friends like this . . . it just makes me glad I've got so many wonderful friends.

Time for bed. My granddaughter and I are headed out early in the morning to do some community volunteering with these same crazy friends and their kids and grand kids!

Life is good.

That's great! Hey, when they're done, send them over here. My neighbor has about 250 trees that need to be removed from around his pond and that small excavator with the thumb is just the ticket. Most of them lean over the pond and they'll be fun getting out once dropped.

It's a good thing they got it done now, there's a good sized storm headed your way early next week.

Firewood ?

Yup. They are back down near the pond this morning. I'm hoping they can get 5-10 cords of wood for themselves out of this. It's a good thing it is so cold. The ground and pond are frozen pretty hard. I'm afraid they would otherwise sink to their axles behind pond once they get their trucks fully loaded.

Wow, what great neighbors!

I got to come home on a Tuesday night -- but it is just a one-night reprieve!

As I was driving in, I couldn't help but notice that there is a big red 20-ton dump truck parked down by my sediment pond. Lynda isn't home yet, so I can't ask her. I don't recognize the truck.

I'm sure it will have an interesting story.

Maybe friends are harvesting ice. Geeeze it's cold!

Probably was dumping toxic waste barrels in the sediment pond, and then the guy drops his hat accidently in there, and when reaching for it, falls in and disappears in the sediment.