Defending The Homestead

Stand up, meet the challenge and defend the homestead!

the-impenetrable-home.jpgTHE IMPENETRABLE HOME: AND HOW TO FORTIFY YOUR DWELLING

How easy is it for a burglar to break into your home? This is a question for both homeowners and home-planners to ask. The home-planner has not yet erected a house but is in the process of planning his future home. This is the best time to ask that question because it will allow you the most amount of options in safe home design. Having said that, the homeowner has options too. There are many things he/she can do to fortify an existing home. In this writing, I will provide ideas and information for both home-planners and homeowners.You can purchase my e-book THE IMPENETRABLE HOME: AND HOW TO FORTIFY YOUR DWELLING at Kindle books. Link.


Defending The Homestead

When you started homesteading, you signed up for adversity. The typical homestead is situated  away from civilization in a sparse and remote location. And when there are few people around, the critters show up. They want your food, they want your supplies, they want your preps and they want to bring your homestead  down. But thats where you come in with all of your rugged independent frontiersman /frontierswoman self to meet the challenge. Stand up, meet the challenge and defend the homestead!

What animals do you have to be on guard for? Bears, bobcats, mountain lions, wolves, coyotes, racoons, hawks  and snakes to name a few.

The most dangerous of these is the bear and that is because a bear is capable of actually killing you. Some bears can get up to 280kg(600 pounds).Most of them do not want to get into a conflict with a person. They are usually content to   ransack your garbage or attack your animals. However bears have certainly been known to attack and kill humans. This is more likely to happen if they feel that their cubs are  threatened by you.  Bear spray, bear bangers and bear bells are all good things to have along with you in bear country but nothing will even the playing field better than a firearm. Keep in mind however, if you are unfortunate enough to be in a fight with a large bear it can take more than one shot to bring it down.

Most homesteads have chickens and they are preyed upon by just about anything. Wolves love them and so do coyotes. So do racoons, possums and skunks. It will take a considerable amount of fencing to shield them and even then, if you don't fence off a roof birds of prey like hawks and eagles will swoop down from above. It is the job of every homesteader to protect his/her family and animals from these threats.

Snakes actually do a lot of good around a homestead by hunting rodents. However, if they are poisonous they obviously pose a threat.

How do you defend a homestead? Here are some suggestions:
  • Lots of strong reinforced fencing that is frequently  inspected and maintained.
  • Live traps.
  • A large barking guard dog.
  • A barn cat for keeping down the mice  and other rodents.
  • Electric fences.
  • And of course an elephant gun. Even a herd of 700 pound grizzlies will get the message if you start using an elephant gun.

Some homesteaders will put out poison to kill predators. I don't recommend this option. You don't know what other animal might eat the poison. Perhaps even one of your livestock might eat it.

A kennel of several loud barking dogs is a real force multiplier. To a predator they sound like a large pack of dogs and the predators won't want to stay around.

Predators don't necessarily have to be killed. If you catch them in a live trap and you have a soft spot for them, instead of finishing them off, take them to a far away location and release them again.

Remember the wild wilderness is no match for the serious homesteader. You have tools and strategies that give you the upper hand.

Shawn Stevens

 

REFERENCES
Starting a Homestead: A Guide to Finding Property and Moving Toward Selfsufficency. Jill B.
https://bearwithus.org/8-bears-of-the-world/
https://www.offthegridnews.com/self-defense/top-weapons-to-defend-the-homestead/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Force_multiplication