Intruders

[contender]

Another thread got me to remember something that happened several years ago.

A lady called me with a problem.

She described things as follows.
She was asleep in her bedroom, and heard a noise coming from her kitchen area. Loud enough to know she had an intruder or two. She quietly dialed 911 in fear of who was inside her home. The back door to her kitchen is connected to her garage, and she figured someone had come through that door.
As she was awaiting the police,, which were about 20 minutes away due to the distance to her remote home,, she realized the noises seemed to stay in the kitchen.
The police arrived,, and they came in through the front door,, after looking all around the house. No noticeable sign of entry by someone.
When they approached the kitchen, they saw the back door open,, and when the lights hit the (2) raccoons,, the masked bandits scurried out the back door, through the garage, & out the pet door in the garage door.
Her kitchen was in a bit of disarray,, and her garage had been ransacked as well. Apparently,, the coons had gotten in her garage via the pet door, searched for food a bit,, and discovered the back door, and were able to open it. Kitchen smells obviously attracted them.
She was a bit embarrassed in front of the cops,, but they assured her it was fine.

I was called in the morning,, and the next night,, I captured (2) masked bandits. Intruders were arrested.

 

[Wyandot Jim]

 

[blammer]

I've often wondered about what else might come in a pet door.

 

[Jeepnik]

Had a skunk come in the pet door of our first house. No release but the skunk died a few days later.

 

[Mobuck]

Raccoons are pretty handy about opening doors. During the period in which we didn't have a dog, we had raccoon and possum problems big time. I kept a 22/45 with a laser by the kitchen door so I could just open the door a crack and slide my arm out to shoot by aiming with the laser vs opening the door wide enough to step out and shoot. One night I discovered a coon on the deck right next to the door. When I unlatched the door, it came open about a foot because the coon had his claws in hooked in the space between door and jam and was pulling. A bit un-nerving to be shin to nose with 15# of raccoon but I held firm on the latch and kicked it in the face. I expected that would send it running but the bugger just ran off the deck and stopped to see what would happen. It may have seen the flash and I don't think it heard the bang.

 

[contender]

Yep,, coons are quite handy at opening doors & such. I've had more than one case of a coon opening doors to homes.

Pet doors are an INVITATION to all kinds of critters. But hey,, keep installing them. It helps keep me in business.

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

Absolutely no way I will ever have a pet door in my house. That's because I agree with the above statement.

 

[Rockrat75]

Had one get in my shop and durn thing ended up on my shelves, running and knocking things off, onto the floor. Had two skunks come in the shop while I was in there. They just looked at me and hid. Luckily, no spraying.

 

[vito]

When I lived in San Antonio many years ago there were a number of burglaries where the thieves entered through a front or back door that they had unlocked. They used a kid to crawl in through the pet door, then the kid would unlock the regular door from the inside. Two lessons learned for me: no pet doors, and double sided dead bolt locks, not single sided that just have a turn knob on the inside.

 

[Enigma]

My youngest son lives on 60+ acres on the side of a mountain near Roanoke, VA. He regularly has bears traverse the property. I recommended that he NOT install a doggie door for his new Golden Retriever, or else the bears might come inside looking for food! He had to agree.

 

[Watchman]

Rats are big enough to push through dog doors too. Years ago I came home from a trip and opened the garage door, only to see a very large rat scurrying out the dog door on the back wall of the garage. As it turned out, they had been living in a tote full of camping gear, and had ruined my best tent and about 3 sleeping bags. Worse yet, they had chewed a hole in the side wall leading into the basement bathroom, and were nesting in the dead space under the cabinet floor. It took a lot of work to fix all the damage and get rid of the smell. No more dog doors in the house for me!

 

[jimbo1096]

My sister had a visitor a couple month ago. All her dogs have passed and I was concerned about someone getting through the doggie door that was big enough from her German Shepherds to use. I installed a slide-in door block that looks secure enough to stop an intruder.
One night she heard a noise about 4 am, eventually got up to use the restroom. She noticed the front door part way open, her large screen TV and a 12 pack of Dr. Pepper missing. Her sideboard and silver chest had been opened and riffled thru but nothing obvious taken. PD called and they found someone had put a ladder up on the side of the house and crawled through the small kitchen sink window, across the sink, over the dishes and counter to gain access. They left via the front door. PD guessing it was a couple teens looking for quick money as many items of value were in plain sight but not disturbed. They've never been caught. I now have safety stops on all her windows so they won't open more than about 5 inches without the catch removed,
I've taken possums and racoons out of neighbor's houses, garages and sheds. Had a small possum that kept climbing into one of my outside trash cans. Even with the lid secured he would manage to get in, Scare the crap out of me when I'd go to throw something in the can and the contents started moving. The final time it was almost trash day so just tied the bag up and left him in there.

 

[caryc]

Absolutely no way I will ever have a pet door in my house. That's because I agree with the above statement.

You mean they don't have pet doors now that only open when a small device on your dogs collar gets within a foot or so from the door? If not...they should.

 

[Merle1948]

I've often wondered about what else might come in a pet door.

Several years ago I saw a vid from Florida where a 4 ft gates came into the kitchen thru the pet door!!!

 

[contender]

"Several years ago I saw a vid from Florida where a 4 ft gates came into the kitchen thru the pet door!!!"

I'm assuming you meant "gator" !

 

[toysoldier]

I've had a small dog door for years, leading into the "mud room" outside the kitchen. One time my two dogs raised a terrible racket there. I didn't get there in time to see what they chased out, but I think it was a big black tomcat that roamed the neighborhood.