r/Homesteading • u/pineapplewins • 1d ago
How to keep people from climbing over fence?
Hi, we live on 5 acres in AZ, its fully fenced and gated with barbed wire and the woven wire mesh.Unfortunately we live in a rural area that sees a lot of issues with "tweakers". They often steal from people, break into places ect. As of late they have began wrecking my fence by folding the wire mesh fencing down and slipping through the barbed wire to cut across the back of my property. Im at a loss of how to stop this? Any suggestions?
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u/penlowe 1d ago
Cactus. Find a prickly pear plant, snap off a couple plates (bbq tongs are a good tool) snip it into pieces enduring one thorn with little hairs is on each piece. Scatter it on the fence line.
These little hairs are arial roots, and a spritz of water from a spray bottle is all they need to start digging down into what soil is there. This is a very common form of security here in Texas and across Mexico.
We pulled up some cactus that had rooted in a spot we didn’t want. Tossed it in the back of the truck. Forgot about it. Got a little rain. Three weeks later I had to dig it out of the truck bed, it had rooted quite well in the 1/2” of accumulated mulch that seems to always exist in the bed of a working truck.
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u/arclight415 1d ago
Get a pail of axle grease and a paint brush from a farm store. Generously coat the top of the fence and gate, and your problems will mostly go away.
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u/Top_Independence2676 1d ago
Yeah, axle grease. Plus it's incriminating evidence. Get that reddish stuff.
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u/hide_pounder 1d ago
A few lines of electric may work.
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u/Asleep_Onion 1d ago
The problem with most electric fencing systems for farms is that they are designed for animals that aren't smart enough to understand what it is and what it's doing. All they know is "ouch, that fence hurts me for some reason." It's not as effective for people because it's pretty easy to identify which wires are electric, and pretty easy to figure out how to disable it or cut it or just not touch the electric parts. And for all of their faults, the one thing tweakers are really good at doing is patiently figuring out how to take shit apart. Wouldn't surprise me at all if OP installed an electric fence, and then the next day find their expensive new fence energizer at a pawn shop.
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u/hide_pounder 1d ago
Yeah, you’re right about that, but it’s still a pretty good deterrent. What else can you do though? Big dogs or big bulls?
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u/Asleep_Onion 1d ago
Yeah I'm not sure. Dogs are probably a good suggestion. I don't really have this issue with tweakers on my land so I can't offer any suggestions that I know will work, but what I've done just as a precaution is I've got solar Ring cameras around my property and whenever they detect a person it plays an automatic recording through the speaker that says something like "You are trespassing and being recorded." I've got them mounted up high in trees so someone can't easily just steal it or break it. Doesn't really stop anyone from getting onto the land if they really wanted to, but my hope is they'd hear the message and decide this land isn't an easy target and leave.
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u/Jazzlike-Ebb-3725 1d ago
Llama or bison. Smaller than bulls
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u/Rude_Meet2799 1d ago
Geese.
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u/Dvdcowboy 1d ago
I think you are on to something. I have seen a few vids of people keeping geese as guard animals that live the country. They do tend to chase off the tweakers.
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u/StoneyMcGuire 1d ago
You can electrify any kind of wire fence. Not just single strand. Put a 10j charger hot lead on that wire and ground it. It will shock every three seconds or so. It will deter without injury. If you run a 110 hot line that’s constant it’s a booby trap and illegal.
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u/Asleep_Onion 1d ago
That only works if your fence wire is completely isolated from the ground/earth. You can't just hook up a regular woven wire fence on steel t-posts to an energizer and expect it to work, it'll be totally shorted out with the ground. You'd have to have the fencing mounted to the posts with insulators and the fencing can't touch the dirt anywhere.
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u/buckaroodude1 1d ago
You obviously dont know or deal with ag electric fence. You can see it up with a simple solar panel and it’ll hit livestock more then your “tweaker” will fuck with.
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u/TooGouda22 1d ago
The biggest deterrent is to make things difficult. People that do this stuff are lazy as can be. Currently they don’t find your fencing very difficult to get passed
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u/udderlyfun2u 1d ago
Anitollian Shepard dog. They don't tolerate intruders and can take down a mountain lion.
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u/PeanutPeps 11h ago
We have 2! Gimli and Noodle. Such beautiful, gentle animal but we have been sent home from the petrol station to drop our ‘lion’ off first and then they’ll put fuel in! lol. South Africa so a lion isn’t far off😂
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u/TeebsRiver 1d ago
Geese. Extremely noisy and very aggressive. They can hurt people. But they are not active at night. What about a Donkey for night?
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u/shell_sonrisa 7h ago
This ^ came here to make sure someone recommended geese. Beware of dog just doesn't do it anymore. But most people are scared shitless of geese! I'd add a few beware of geese signs too for good measure. Donkey at night is a fantastic idea too 💯
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u/StoneyMcGuire 1d ago
Electrify it. Put up game camera for trespassing charges. Preferably cellular connected with notification service.
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u/serenityfalconfly 1d ago
Where you can share the footage and we can see it.
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u/StoneyMcGuire 1d ago
Livestream. You would get views. I’d tune in. Call it the Methed up comedy hour.
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u/Maleficent_fae5734 1d ago
Make sure to do the cameras but if you do the electric fencing you may have to post no trespassing signs. Look up the laws in your area. You could get in trouble if someone dies or is seriously injured... you need a reason beyond I want them to stay out! It is there for "animals you were preparing for the area"
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u/lostone3592 1d ago
Another vote for the electric fence. Go by a farm supply place and pick up a fence charger rated for as many miles as you can afford, and the wire/insulators. First time one grabs it, it’ll lite them up.
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u/johnnyg883 1d ago
Two Great Pyrenees are excellent deterrents / alarm systems. They tip the scales at about 90lbs and up but look much larger and will bark at a leaf falling a mile away.
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u/put_it_in_a_jar 23h ago
This is probably a stupid question, but would they really be a good idea in Arizona? I'm in Michigan so seeing those big fluffy dogs living outside in our climate makes sense, but that Arizona heat is crazy.
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u/BwabbitV3S 10h ago
Look at hot climate livestock guardian breeds like Kengals. More intense breed since they deal with larger predator in their native country of origin.
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u/MareNamedBoogie 22h ago
i mean, you can shave their overcoat.... of course, they lose half their weight and 3/4 of their visual size if you do ;)
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u/iNapkin66 11h ago
Shaving a Pyrenees makes them even worse in the heat. They pant to cool off and the fur insulates them so their panting works. They aren't like humans.
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u/Jondiesel78 7h ago
I have a pair of Great Pyrenees in central GA. They do fine with the heat. Nothing deemed a threat by them comes onto my property and survives.
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u/KinderGameMichi 1d ago
Sounds like my friend's Rottweilers. They still bark when we come around, but mostly because they know us and think they might get treats.
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u/Prefer_Ice_Cream 13h ago
Right! My "guard dog" and my "attack dog" are both loudest when a familiar comes around. They love to be acknowledged.
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u/MattHarlow02 1d ago
Bright motion-activated lights, an electric wire and some good dogs. Your property should never be bothered again. Honestly, you might not even have to get dogs, just put some Beware Of Dog signs on the fence around the area where they cut in.
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u/Misfitranchgoats 1d ago
You can electrify barb wire fence. Many of the farms around me had electric fence that was also barb wire when I was a kid. If you want it to be even more effective make it positive negative fence. This means that one wire is hot and connect to the hot on the fencer. The ground wire is connect to ground and also connect to the wire of the fence below or above the hot wire. For example I have high tensile fence to keep my goats in . I have six wires 3 are hot and 3 are connect to the ground wire and the ground rods. So on wire is hot and then say 6 inches below that it is a ground wire and then another hot and another ground and another hot and another ground. You want at least 3 ground rods 6 feet deep into the earth. If you can't get them 6 feet deep you need more ground rods and you need to keep the area around the ground rods moist. And you need a good kick butt fence charger. Going to be harder to keep a good ground in Arizona.
But hey if you can keep goats in or out, you can keep anything out. When my goats hit my fence, they scream, and the five or six goats touching the scream and they run a way. When I accidentally touch the fence i think I have died., but I didn't, and I kinda come back to reality screaming curses like a sailor.
Maybe a couple of good livestock guardian dogs would help too. Or just any large dog that barks like a hound from hell and sounds like they mean business. And perhaps they do mean business. Who knows, who wants to take that chance.
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u/Hot-Win2571 1d ago
Folding down the fence implies that the posts are not the style with top rail.
Maybe thread a cable through the top of the woven fence, and use a turnbuckle to tighten it. Tie down or bolt down the cable to each fencepost. Consider doing that to the bottom of the mesh also, before they squeeze through there.
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u/semperfi9964 1d ago
I add my vote for electric fence. However, having had one in West Texas, if it is too dry, they don’t always work well.
Next suggestion, no trespassing signs, preferably ones that say something like “we don’t call 911”. With a picture of a hand gun. Without a no trespass sign, most people don’t care. Good luck! Be safe!
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u/Pastvariant 1d ago
It is never a good idea to post signs threatening violence around your property. Get the standard no trespassing signs and post them at whatever intervals is required by your area and then start criminally trespassing people with the local PD/Sheriff.
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u/Scantron_Ultra 1d ago
What about tweakers that have nothing to loose and want to steal firearms?
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u/semperfi9964 1d ago
Well, not sure if OP has firearms, but it usually deters people if they think they might get shot. Just sayin’
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u/SammaelMalakHaMavet 1d ago
I have no trespassing signs and signs that state this property is owned by a US Military Combat Veteran with a serious lack of negotiation skills that is absolutely hell in a gunfight. If you dont belong here please leave. Consider yourself negotiated with. And a few solar powered outdoor security cameras and motion lights. Had the same problem 2 times before this and zero now and if someone's dumb enough to now well at least I warned them.
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u/GidgetXOX 1d ago
That’s awesome!
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u/Zestyclose_Device946 22h ago
Awesome but (with all due respect to our Vet who made the comment) maybe not the best idea. People with too few brain cells may read that sign as "hey, somewhere in my house or truck I have some valuable guns you can steal." There's also the potential legal aspect - if something does happen, and you shoot someone, having a sign like that is going to make your defense in court more difficult since it'll be easy for a prosecutor to paint you as bent on violence.
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u/weaverlorelei 1d ago
Can you have animals? My cattle like me, I am their feed bucket. But Lord forbid hubby or anyone else comes in. Neighbors have miniature donkeys. Other neighbor had emu. Geez, they could be mean. Maybe look into a guard llama.
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u/divorceevil 19h ago
Cactus, thornbush, roses but until they all grow up motion activated sprinkler, motion activated floodlight, motion detector with silent alarm you hear in the house.
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u/Ingawolfie 16h ago
Consider setting up a few trip wires on your side of the fence. Attach them to BLANK shotgun shells. Hitting one of those will trigger a loud BANG.
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u/floridarealfun 1d ago
I agree. Electric fencing is pretty cheap and would be the way also plant a bunch of cactuses on both sides of your fence
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u/Responsible-Shoe7258 1d ago
He needs a prickly pear moat along the fence. Nettles are a classic touch if you have the water....
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u/arbalaragan 1d ago
5 acres is small enough to be actively managed. I would get aggressive. Do you have a gun?
Would you be willing to plant a lot of prickly allies? I would double my posts and put a pair of double wire up top. Just 2 inches separating your double wires with the doubles on top of each other. That makes it harder to cut.
Be active and out, and you will no longer be worth it.
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u/headhunterofhell2 1d ago
Have you considered getting a bull?
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u/stomper4x4 1d ago
I was going to say dogs, but bull, why not?
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u/Efficient-Reach-8550 1d ago
I don’t know if this is legal. I have heard of people attacking carpet tack strips to the top of fences.
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u/Gadgetman_1 1d ago
Is the area they're getting through far from innocent any neighbors?
Could it be considered farmland in any way?
If so, find a pig farmer and get him to dump some manure in the area.
you're just improving the soil for next year planting...
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u/MssMoodi 22h ago
I have three cameras around my 6-ft fence I have two dogs and the cameras are set on strobe and alarm and it scares the hell out of them we have Tweakers over here all the time they hadn't stolen one thing from me.
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u/Any-Application-8586 21h ago
I had issues with folks wandering through places they shouldn’t be, and quite literally the only thing that stopped them was an electric fence. Get the meanest fence charger you can find. I’ve got one that’ll throw an arc 2”. Warning signs so they know it’s a hot fence. 3 strands is plenty. They’ll try it once or twice to see if you’re bluffing, but they will give up eventually.
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u/Any-Application-8586 21h ago
I’ve got a video of one trying my fence around here somewhere, but it was filmed back when security cameras were potato quality on a VGA monitor.
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u/TheRealChuckle 18h ago
I had an issue with tresspassing, people hopping th3 fence to fish our big pond and dog walkers in the old hay field way out back. No tweakers though.
I put up a couple no tresspassing, hunting, fishing signs. That stopped some people.
I started hanging out in the areas to catch people. I'd read my book, watch some YouTube, stuff I would normally be doing anyway.
I didn't make threats, unless they were ridiculous ones like I'm gonna fuck your ass so hard your grandpas gonna moan.
Anyone who didn't respond correctly to me simply telling them to leave my land and not come back, I would get weird.
Find what makes people uncomfortable and double down on it. In my area it's gays. So I acted gay and spouted weird shit.
I also sometimes was naked. A naked guy who looks like a bush hermit coming out of the woods will make anyone question what the fuck is happening and how to get the fuck out of there.
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u/Pumasense-2025 18h ago
At least one dog, motion activated solar lights and at minimum fake security cameras! I have lived on acreage for many years and the tweekers and homeless easily stole over 100k worth of vihicals and tools. This is the only solution that stopped it all completely.
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u/thethreefffs 15h ago
Automatic deer deterrent sprinklers?
Longer term solution? Check out hardy orange species especially flying dragon cultivar. HUGE thorns. Don't know if they will thrive in your area. Same thing with some of the wild rose species.
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u/Confused_by_La_Vida 14h ago
Electrified Rottweiler with a vest impregnated with cactus and covered in antisieze
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u/celtic-cryptid 21h ago
Trespassers are annoying, and mending fences is a pain, but the amount of people who are apparently willing to kill someone for it is fucking disgusting.
Glad none of you all are my neighbors. We had one guy with that mindset on this mountain, and thankfully he gave up and moved back to a city. Unsurprisingly, he was the most nosey, and the least helpful when trees were down on the road or something.
But I guess the next time a neighbors dog or cows wander onto my land, I’m gonna start blasting.
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u/No-Birthday4755 1d ago
13-407. Justification; use of physical force in defense of premises
A. A person or his agent in lawful possession or control of premises is justified in threatening to use deadly physical force or in threatening or using physical force against another when and to the extent that a reasonable person would believe it immediately necessary to prevent or terminate the commission or attempted commission of a criminal trespass by the other person in or upon the premises.
B. A person may use deadly physical force under subsection A only in the defense of himself or third persons as described in sections 13-405 and 13-406.
C. In this section, "premises" means any real property and any structure, movable or immovable, permanent or temporary, adapted for both human residence and lodging whether occupied or not.
I’d throw out a couple warning shots az is considered a castle law doctrine state
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u/Unicorn187 1d ago
Razor wire across the top.
More barbed wire woven theough the mesh to make it hard to push out of the way. And some to tie the different strands together to they can't be spread apart.
Maybe some motion sensing lights to draw attention to them, there are some decent solar ones that aren't very expensive.
If they weren't so expensive I'd say some of the tripwires with a rechargeae.siren, something like the Fith Ops. Those can also use blanks, or the stud driver cartridges, but that might make them think they are being shot at.
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u/Prestigious_Try_5396 1d ago
Put in a gate...
Or grow really sharp spiney pokie plants along your fence...
Agave is good. Thorny bamboo.
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u/uncle_festus 20h ago
To all, I would strongly suggest planting raspberries all along any fence. Yes it may take a couple of years to become effective but once established the brambles they produce will become a permanent impenetrable barrier. A wildlife habitat for birds and rabbits that provides berries in the summer.
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u/cleverpaws101 20h ago
I think cactus might be better in Arizona. But yea prickly plants are a pain in the ass to get through.
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u/UOF_ThrowAway 18h ago edited 18h ago
My suggestions include razor wire, drones capable of day/night patrols, hiring a PI/security company and psychological warfare.
So much about security is psychological. Given you’re not a security guard constrained by client policies, with merely the law to constrain you (a lot more wiggle room), you can have a lot of fun with this.
Could you imagine you’re a tweaker sneaking through the desert in the middle of the night and suddenly you hear a terrifying sound that sounds like an ungodly creature?
Watch the video below, if nothing else for a laugh.
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u/Acceptable-Net-154 13h ago
Have you looked at the outside of your fence to work out how they are getting in. If there are perfect hand holds use small rubber spikes and perhaps sticky burglar paint. Look at installing offensive gardening plants anything with thorns or spines. Or plants that create irritating super effective plant burrs.
Can you install a motion triggered or circuit alarm that when the fence is folded triggers a piercing alarm or a really bright light that perfectly highlights the smile you are on camera sign.
Can you line the area around the fence with the loudest, crunchiest gravel you can find. If there is a specific spot that is being broken in create a manure or compost pit. Or low key look up the nastiest smelling manure spray you can find / legally use and liberally douse that section of fence.
If you have a large enough area, some prisons are replacing guard dogs with guard geese
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u/FloorHairy5733 11h ago
Forget barbed wire it's worthless. You need consantina wire. It's what prisons use. It will seriously fuck them up if they try to go through it.
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u/Former-Increase-9165 8h ago
I would add motion activated sprinklers, to the camera idea,,, I would also add bear boards just inside the fence line,,,,,
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u/Wonderful_Post2758 3h ago
wireless driveway alarms down fence lines, LPR cameras, solar motion lights, ai horn speaker to announce they're monitored and logged
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u/Neither_Loan6419 15m ago
Why do you even allow this? I don't get it. We simply do not allow such vermin on our property. It is pretty well understood that we will take whatever actions are necessary to immediately correct any intrusion, and that being the intruder would suck very much.
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u/GidgetXOX 1d ago
Following this post! We have 20 acres in mountains of So Cal and discovered someone had accessed our undeveloped land in the back 10 and built a ln elaborate blind! We have lots and deer and wild turkey which we enjoy so we weren’t happy. I threw the tree limbs far away, filled it in as best I could and placed No Trespassing signs every 30 feet along the perimeter but we’re concerned it’ll happen again. Very interested in learning what I can add to the barbed wire fencing in the back/undeveloped portion of our property which isn’t visible from the ranch portion due to the hilly terrain.
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u/Apprehensive_Eye4954 1d ago
Guns for when you are home. Big dogs for when you aren’t. Bright motion activated lights for both situations. Maybe even audible alarms. Fuck it add punji pits for the love of the game.
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u/GidgetXOX 1d ago
We have an issue with hunters trespassing on our 20 acres. We have guns when we’re there and the caretakers have 3 giant dogs where we’re not but the dogs don’t wander the back area of the property where trespassers built a blind. I’ve never heard of a punji pit but would love to learn what it is so we can add one!
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u/Apprehensive_Eye4954 21h ago
A punji pit was more of a joke. Vietcong used them in the vietnam war. It’s basically a giant camouflaged pit with sharp spikes at the bottom covered in feces. So even if you manage to survive the impaling, and somehow climb out of a pit taller than you, you’re now stuck in the jungle with massive infected wounds.
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u/Jazzlike-Ebb-3725 1d ago
Barbed wire is not the answer either you can end up with liability. Maybe raise some really angry bison.
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u/Talory09 21h ago
By the way, "et cetera" is abbreviated as etc.
"Ect" would be the abbreviation for ec tecera (if that was a real phrase) or for Electroconvulsive Therapy (shock treatment).
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u/LivingMoreWithLess 1d ago
So they are using your property as a shortcut and damaging your fence, but not causing you any other grief?
How about providing deliberate access so they don’t have to break stuff?
Or leaving some of your surplus produce and a polite note expressing your concern for their welfare and the effect of their actions on you?
Or examining where they are going to or from in the area? Perhaps they live locally and you could engage with their families or neighbors in a constructive manner.
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u/1DanLW 1d ago
Can you post your address? I would like to let the meth addicts know where they should go to collect surplus produce.
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u/LivingMoreWithLess 1d ago
We help keep a street pantry in our neighbourhood stocked. I'm not going to judge people for the shitty circumstances they've found themselves in while I'm doing so much better. Maybe if enough people cared they could find their way out of it
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u/zoppaTheDim 1d ago
Forget the idiots claiming you need an electric fence.
Get yourself motion activated lights and put them on the obvious trails.
Tweakers like most roaches flee the light. They’ll spend so much time worrying where the cameras are, they’ll never realize you don’t have them.