I have a bit of a problem going on. My mother only heats her house with wood, wood that I either have to cut split stack or buy. Well, on average every two or three weeks I have to get her another truck load.

 

Lately those two to three weeks have turned into about 5 or 6 days.

 

Not a big deal, its cold right?

 

Well it wouldn't be a problem if her neighbors didn't heat with wood also. However, they never, EVER, have a stack of wood but seem to always have a fire. My mother didn't have wood for four days, the neighbors didn't have a fire for 4 days.

 

We have no solid evidence, but as my mother put it she has "rigged the wood pile" the last few days. The wood stays tarped and knowing her I know she did something crazy to test it. Well she got home the last two days and it has been messed up each day and there were foot steps on the back side when it snowed.

 

My question for BGP is.. What should I do?

 

She called the cops but there is nothing they can do without some hard evidence. Since I have no solid evidence I'm at a loss.

Stakeout.

 

Take pictures, film it...that's about the only way you can do it. If it weren't something they were burning, you could mark the things they were stealing as evidence, but they are destroying the wood so you couldn't do that.

My neighbor has some type of motion photography equipment in his yard. He likes to get pictures of animals who come in his yard. I know that, on occasion it has gone off as I have walked to my car. I doubt it was expensive to install, and, given your circumstances, it might be worth it.

 

Another idea would be to get a large bin/shed that can be locked to keep the wood in.

 

Pretty low stealing wood from a neighbor:rolleyes:

My neighbor has some type of motion photography equipment in his yard. He likes to get pictures of animals who come in his yard. I know that, on occasion it has gone off as I have walked to my car. I doubt it was expensive to install, and, given your circumstances, it might be worth it.

 

Pretty low stealing wood from a neighbor:rolleyes:

 

They don't have a good record from what I hear.

 

Does anyone know what the deer motion detectors cost? I looked at some hidden cameras online and they weren't cheap to say the last.

Wal-mart will have the cheapest motion cameras

You can get remote camera set-ups for under $200.

 

 

Is there any way you can get a lockable shelter or container for the wood?

Here is an idea that might work.

 

Get something that smells really, really bad. An example: animal urine. I think you can pick some up at a place that sells deer hunting equipment.

 

Put out a "fake" wood pile and cover it in this stuff. Another idea might be vinegar, IDK. Either way, it should smell pretty awful once they burn it.

 

It's hard to believe that the police won't even come out and question the neighbors. Other than some type of hidden camera I don't know what you could do to collect evidence.

Here's a motion detector camera at Wal-Mart for $85.

 

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Mace-CAM-PIR-Motion-Detector-Camera/13055963

She does live at the end of a private drive and the police did say they would patrol down here to give a scare to them. However, the odds off that mattering are slim.

 

A lockable shed is honestly the best idea, but I'm not sure how much a larger one would cost. The problem with this is, I'm a poor college student :lol:,a nother reason I'm so upset is the fact I either pay the money or do the work to get the wood.

Will these motions cameras pick up at night?

Pretty low to steal a lady's firewood.

You could try this. Get a large dog crate/cage. You can find them on Craigslist for around $40. It doesn't need to be in good shape.

 

Store the firewood in this cage and use a chain and Masterlock to lock it up.

 

That way they'd have to steal the entire dog crate full of wood in order to take anything.

 

This would be pretty heavy to steal, and surely they would not steal something so large. If it does go missing, call the police and it should be pretty easy to locate.

 

Here's one, for example:

 

http://lexington.craigslist.org/hsh/1573146323.html

 

 

Just make sure you secure the front and back with locks and your problem should be solved.

Have you tried talking to them? If you're worried it may be too confrontational, call them. Let them know that you know & ask them to stop, or start going 1/2 on the wood.

AS, you've put a lot of thought into all this :lol:

This is terrible. It makes me so mad when people take advantage of those that are older or on their own or in poor health.