Last nights strange noise, and forums good advice

[ppkheat]

My wife and I live in the country and it's pretty rural, isolated, and dark at night. I also am aware that due to distance we'd have quite a long wait for leo help to arrive, and I know that I'll be the "first responder" on anything that might happen here.

As we hear about burglaries, home invasions, etc I have continued to beef up our personal security and management. Recently we heard that some ex-neighbors that had moved, had been shot by a home invader who came in through an unlocked door in the evening. My wife and I happened to talk about beefing up our house security since then. Admittedly a few times we have gone to bed, only to find out the next morning that we had forgotten to lock a door. Never again, so just yesterday we implemented an easy habit to maintain and we call it "patrol". Early each evening one of us will conscienously lock all the doors, and close the blinds/curtains on each window. I don't want someone watching us, or walking in on us, and I want a method to utilize so we don't ever forget about locking a door again, and that they are locked early.

So last night my wife and I went to bed about 11 pm (kids are grown and gone) so it's just the two of us. Let me pause here and say that I've always slept with a handgun and flashlight within easy reach. Since reading this forum I've added HD shotgun and SureFire light to my bedside stuff. So last night the house had been properly locked, my wife has already fallen asleep, though I'm still awake. Suddenly I hear a noise from somewhere in the front door/den area, which is sort of the middle of our H-shaped floor plan. It was a repetitive noise, like tap-pop-pop-tap-tap-tap. We have three cats that allow us to live with them, and I'm thinking that one of them is playing with something and hasn't settled down for the night. I didn't hear the noise anymore, but I decided to ease up in the bed, look around our darkened room and count cats. I saw three, and thought uh-oh, all the cats are in here with us, so it couldn't be a cat playing somewhere. In fact I could tell one cat was looking toward the den.

So I very quietly ease up in bed, reach for my Benelli M2 and Surefire and lay there listening for any more noises. I can't tell ya'll the sense of security I had while holding a good shotgun and good flashlight. I had those two due to this forum planting ideas in my head and I was thankful for them. Nothing else I had would have felt better.....no other pistol or rifle. I nudged my wife awake, ssshh'd her, and whispered for her to help me listen. We laid motionless, quiet, and in the dark for about 20 minutes waiting to hear any more noises. If someone was around I wanted to know pretty much where they were, and I didn't want them to know that I was wide awake.....just yet. While waiting I remember wishing I had a light switch next to my bed that would turn on all the house lights at one time, excluding the light in our bedroom. Anyway after waiting and trying to identify the odd noise which we didn't hear anymore, I got up and carefully checked the house out and as expected nothing was out of place at all. I don't know what it was, I wasn't dreaming, and the house doesn't creak. I even wondered if the owl was back in our fireplace flapping his wings, but nope on the owl. Maybe a critter scratching at or bumping the front door? It really sounded like someone trying out one of our exterior locked doors while shaking it heavily. No evidence of anything amiss this morning either.

I'm sharing this story about an unidentified night noise to let you know that under a little pressure I felt comfortable having a HD shotgun and SureFire light right by me that I could easily retrieve without hardly moving, making a noise or turning on any lights. So thanks for the previous ideas and advice posted here.......it all worked fine and wound up being a good exercise

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[ExactlyMyPoint]

That is kinda why this forum is here. I have learned a boat load about not only what to do but what NOT to do. The collective experience of this forum, the exchange of ideas and helping others is unmatched.

Stay safe.

[Sharp]

More than likely it was just an animal or it could have been someone trying to bump key your door. There really is nothing more comforting than a weapon when in time of need.

YouTube - Lock Bumping and Bump Keys

[stanislaskasava]

I know you said that you live in the country, but is there actually a reason that you ever keep your doors unlocked? Like doing yardwork or carrying in several bags of groceries?

I live in a city and am perpetually locking doors after my roommates. Just last week they found a tweaker/metal thief sleeping on our back porch. I am hoping this will be a wakeup call for them.

I usually check all the doors whenever I leave the house or come home. A door's purpose is to let you in and keep them out.

[ppkheat]

I know you said that you live in the country, but is there actually a reason that you ever keep your doors unlocked? Like doing yardwork or carrying in several bags of groceries?

I live in a city and am perpetually locking doors after my roommates. Just last week they found a tweaker/metal thief sleeping on our back porch. I am hoping this will be a wakeup call for them.

I usually check all the doors whenever I leave the house or come home. A door's purpose is to let you in and keep them out.

I understand what you're saying and I'd be wearing out my door locks if I lived in the city too (and I have). Actually I live on a pretty large size piece of private property off of the main highway. I have a long private road that goes to my house. My wife is home 3/7 days, and I'm here 7/7 because this is where I work, so consequently I'm in and out of the house a lot, and if outside, I'm nearby without any close neighbors (the ones I have I trust and we watch out for each other). During daylight hours it's not easy to sneak in here, the house is generally unlocked unless I leave to go on an errand somewhere, then it's locked up and security features activated. I also have some "back-up features" in place even if the house is unlocked

[Doc Holliday]

Glad everything turned out alright. You'll be amazed at all of the good stuff you can learn here. Many great members with lots of knowledge and experience.

[Supertac45]

I've been awaken several times where I nuge my wife to alert her, grab my nighttime weapons of choice and clear my home. So far, just good practice at hearing raccoons and bears knocking stuff over outside. But you never know even up here.

[Stirling XD]

I too try to follow a routine for locking up at night. Once about every two to three months I have to clear the house do to an unknown noise. Several times my wife wakes me up to tell me she heard a very specific noise (such as an interior door latching) inside the house. Sometimes I wonder if she doesn't hear these noises in a dream and then wakes up and assumes she heard it in reality. We also have neighbors that work nights that may be responsible for some of these noises. Either way, it's not a good idea to ignore that kind of thing. At least she is willing to back me up while inspect everything.

[Rock and Glock]

Excellent post, and thanks for sharing. All of your points pretty much mirror my circumstances too.

Assuming you have quality deadbolts, etc., do you also lock your bedroom door?

[retsupt99]

Excellent post, and thanks for sharing. All of your points pretty much mirror my circumstances too.

Assuming you have quality deadbolts, etc., do you also lock your bedroom door?

We do a double check on all doors...we do NOT lock the bedroom door so that the dogs have access to noises on the other side of the house...they don't miss anything.

Stay armed...stay safe!

[ppkheat]

Excellent post, and thanks for sharing. All of your points pretty much mirror my circumstances too.

Assuming you have quality deadbolts, etc., do you also lock your bedroom door?

No, we don't lock or even close our BR door it stays open to the rest of the house. The cats that rule us need to come and go in and out of the room as they please. Locking it would buy some time, as it would be an additional barrier for a BG, but for us it might make it difficult to hear some initial entry noises. When our kids were living with us, I'd be asleep but would instantly wake up when I heard them unlock the door.

[P95Carry]

Hmmm - that ''unidentified sound" - always worrysome and disconcerting.

We lock up but I have experienced this even tho we are in a well spread row of houses, both sides of access roadway, fairly semi rural tho, and a huge corn field out back. I go on alert and listen and try to ID the nature of the sound ...... and finally usually do a check in the dark.

I know one time months ago it was a 'coon raiding our garbage bin ....... but once or twice else I have finished up with no explanation at all. i guess tho in the end it means we go into hyper mode anyways - and as such perhaps opractice for knowing what we wish to do.

I tend to grab the EDC which is on floor - as the Mossy (kept empty chamber) sounds so loud to rack at night I wonder who will hear it - other than of course maybe one day - someone who would not want to hear it!

[Logan5]

Hmmm - that ''unidentified sound" - always worrysome and disconcerting.

... fairly semi rural tho, and a huge corn field out back. I go on alert and listen and try to ID the nature of the sound ...... and finally usually do a check in the dark.

With a corn field out back that would concern me – I’ve seen the movie Signs & Children of the Corn – I could not handle having a corn field that near to my house.

[bzdog]

Some potential odd noise generators: Bushes rubbing up against the house in the wind. Bird or critter on the roof. Critters under the house or in the walls.

-john


BTW, the lock bumping thing is really unnerving. Thanks Sharp for the link.

[Southtexas]

While waiting I remember wishing I had a light switch next to my bed that would turn on all the house lights at one time, excluding the light in our bedroom. :

HMM food for thought, anyone have some suggestions on this? because this is something I would not mind coughing up some cash for? an emergency light switch? wonder how much it would cost to have installed, or you could do the cheap route and have several lamps set up through out the house on a remote, vs hardwiring the whole house? someone help me out here, I would much rather have someone run off because the whole house lit up at one moments notice than to have to clear the whole house, of course being able to turn them all off at a moments notice as well would be a tactical advantage if there was an intruder.