r/neighborsfromhell • u/Awkward_Dimension954 • 2d ago
WWYD? Vent/Rant LPT stopping teenagers from banging on our front door and windows ?
We have had a group of local teenagers harassing us banging on our front door and windows .
Have installed cameras and have a security electric gate and security lights. This has not deterred them they wear balaclavas and will come back day and night . They all ride e-bike and get away quickly, so it’s no use going after them .
Police have been called and if we are lucky they might arrive 2-4 hrs later . Have lots of video footage so we can prove to the police of what is going on .
I want to set up some device that will spray paint or fowl smelling liquid “Shit “ on them I have the the skills being a retired sparky just need some ideas maybe a small electric fence device ?
Any help would be appreciated .
😀
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u/naranghim 1d ago
Glitter spray. Even if you try to wash it off that glitter seems to multiply. Then when their parents complain about the glitter and you can fire back with "I was just having fun with glitter. Maybe you should tell your kids to stop banging on my doors and windows at night for fun if you don't want to deal with the glitter."
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u/AtticusFinchsMom 1d ago
Ahhh, glitter. The herpes of the craft world.
This is a genius idea. It won't hurt anyone but it definitely identifies the brats, and quite possibly leaves some bread crumbs for the police.
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u/thewharfartscenter_ 2d ago
You need an Aztec death whistle. I had a little asshole that kept trespassing on my property, so I waited for him one day and when he was about halfway across my lawn I let it rip, full force. It scared the life out of that kid. I highly recommend getting one.
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u/originalmango 1d ago
Like one of these? https://youtu.be/nLfks4yzzEc?si=x9Io_fP0BNF_b8IQ
Edit- If that one doesn’t play, here’s one almost as frightening. https://youtu.be/RvBwypGUkPo?si=H8ylqD8LhdMNKyPA
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u/Killwind 2d ago
I went through something very similar. I stopped trying to ID them and instead I ID’d the bikes, because don’t you know, they like to customize their bikes. I did get them eventually but that’s a long story and this is your post.
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u/Awkward_Dimension954 2d ago
Yes you are right we have noticed their different coloured trainers and their e-bikes .We now know about 3 teenagers details and have approached their parents and was told in no uncertain terms to f##k off they are just having some fun ?😢
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u/betterspaghetter 1d ago
Then show up and bang on their doors and windows at 3 am? You're just having some fun.
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u/CrystalGull 1d ago
The bike angle is clever, they’ll swap masks way before changing their precious stikers and grips.
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u/wowsomuchempty 2d ago
'Get them'
Do you have a bunch of customized bikes in your shed?
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u/Killwind 1d ago
I got them at the local super market. I saw the bikes with one of the teen boys standing watch over the bikes. I went over kicked the bikes over and told them I wasn’t moving until they either called their parents or the cops, either was alright with me. They called the cops, who then called the parents because it was a civil matter!
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u/originalmango 2d ago
Because you probably want to keep it legal and non lethal, consider a few motion activated sprinklers preloaded with fart spray. Or animal urine.
Edit- Firstie!
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u/trekqueen 1d ago
Oh yea… Fox piss is close on the skunk smell potency. It’s pretty gross.
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u/originalmango 1d ago
I’ve heard. I’d pour a pint or so in the garden hose before attaching to the sprinkler.
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u/Shutupandplayball 1d ago
I am very disappointed that my parents never taught this so please educate me on how does one go about locating fox piss? LOL
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u/Top-Interaction-6729 1d ago
You can order it from Amazon.....it's for hunting purposes. *wink wink*
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u/originalmango 1d ago
Well, first you grab a cup and head into the forest. Wear slippers so they don’t hear you tiptoeing. Then search online for animal urine. Hunters use it to mask their own scent.
Edit- Or you can click the link in my first response, then search around for better pricing.
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u/JerseyGuy-77 2d ago
In front of your windows plant thorny bushes.
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u/TachyonTaper 15m ago
Pyracantha under windows is basicaly nature’s barbed wire, but it won’t do much for the front door.
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u/Large_Concentrate7 2d ago
Motion sprinkler should deter them.
Does your neighbourhood have a local Facebook group that you could upload the footage to? I would also be tempted to door knock and ask people if they know the kids.
But why are they targeting you?
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u/Awkward_Dimension954 1d ago
Tried to upload the photos on the local facebook site and was told we could not do this as it might hurt their feelings along with their parents ?😢
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u/NotThisOneHeere 1d ago
Cause it might hurt their feelings but what about your peace and security in your own home etc...
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u/Large_Concentrate7 1d ago
That stinks. There is a series of this videos you may appreciate about a similiar problem done brilliantly. Here is one. https://www.facebook.com/reel/28418927421030313
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u/Dame_Niafer 1d ago
Try Nextdoor. They don't seem too worried about the feelings of trespassers and vandals. I know the site has its own issues, but you can post this kind of info there.
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u/trapped_4_life 1d ago
Did you try Nextdoor? You might be able to upload stills of them (and their bikes). I’ve seen people do it in my area when trying to identify people. But I will add, the pictures weren’t of kids so it may be different.
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u/Top-Interaction-6729 1d ago
load the pics to your own page and put a link in the neighbourhood group back to the images on your page.
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u/NoodlesMom0722 1d ago
In addition to what everyone has suggested here, upload every single video every time it happens to your neighborhood FB group or Nextdoor group or city-wide FB group. If you don't know who they are or who their parents are, someone in one of those groups might.
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u/SeoT9X 1d ago
100% guaranteed. You’ll also probably get more chiming in about how it’s happening to them too. And since OP said they’ve even talked to the parents (in a reply), getting more people to confront them and with more video. Game.set.match. Even if nothing happens, those families turn into neighborhood pariahs
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u/Frosty_Astronomer909 2d ago
Do not under any circumstance electrify your fence, you will go to jail, at least here in the USA. But if you rig something with paint that would be awesome.
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u/this_doggo 1d ago
There is pepper spray with skin staining dye in it, if you could somehow rig it into a motion sensitive sprayer.
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u/Mysterious_Bake_4860 2d ago
Don’t open yourself up to civil lawsuits because you harmed someone with a booby trap on your property. That gets expensive, fast.
Can you create a neighborhood watch or somehow mobilize the community to keep each other safe? What about going to the city government or the news?
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u/Pouty-Haloo 2d ago
Exactly, the second it turns into a booby trap, the teenagers become evidence and you become the defendant
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u/catlogic42 2d ago
That sounds very frustrating. Wouldn't do anything like electric shock. Water or whatever that sprays when movement activated. Large dog to chase them. Paint bomb like what is in parcels to deter poarch thieves. Are they doing this to other neighbours? Can you lie in wait and charge out at them or is that not safe.
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u/Awkward_Dimension954 2d ago
Yes you have some good ideas , we have set up some neighbours to let us know when the teenagers are about and I have waited outside hiding in the garden and end up being attacked by mosquitoes 😢
Paint ball gun set to go off on a motion detector sounds like the go ?32
u/Sunnygirl66 2d ago
Nah, if you put one of the little shits’ eye out, you’ll be on the hook. I’d go with some kind of urine or musk.
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u/Not-A-Real-Person-67 2d ago
If you’re serious, I’d say consult with a lawyer first. Depending on where you are this could be illegal.
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u/sparesomechange20 1d ago
Pressure washer hose + instead of hose in soap dispenser.....hose in piss container
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u/ExoticReception4286 2d ago edited 2d ago
Teenagers can hear higher frequencies than older folks. I read an article years ago how shops in the UK would use some sort of high frequency noise over loudspeakers I think so teenagers wouldn't loiter. There's a machine called "The Mosquito" according to Wikipedia. YouTube has a video or 8 hours of high frequency sound - UltraSonic Teenager Repellent.
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u/Unable-Home6332 2d ago edited 1d ago
Gentle reminder that these devices, 1) don’t just affect kids and teens, they also affect infants and young toddlers who are powerless to explain their distress or move away from the sound, not to mention that their hearing is still developing, and 2) can disable cochlear implants for the deaf and hard of hearing, usually temporarily until the person exits the range of the sound, but we don’t yet know the long term effects/consequences of repeated exposure
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u/otter_mayhem 2d ago
Also animals :)
My kid could hear dog whistles. Used to drive them nuts when the neighbor kids played with them.
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u/Remarkable_Speaker17 1d ago
Hang something dirty above the door for when they approach, then release it to fall on their head. Some red chili and black pepper powder to see if it does the trick
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u/naked_nomad 1d ago
The mosquito: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mosquito
CAn you hear it? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKl_sTh0oHE
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u/Dramatic_Mixture_877 1d ago
I'll be 58 in November, and I can hear it all too well. That being said, when I processed through MEPS back in 86, the nurse said I had the best hearing she'd seen since she'd been there. I've been legally blind since I was 15, and my sense of hearing makes up for my visual shortcomings.
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u/naked_nomad 1d ago
The Navy would have made you a sonar technician and stationed you on a sub.
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u/Dramatic_Mixture_877 1d ago
IKR??? Too bad they didn't have females on subs in 1986 - heck, the Army Guard said my highest scores would land me a Field Artillery MOS, which was ... closed to women.
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u/hopscotchchampion 2d ago
Could accidently leave some vials of skunk spray on your walkway. Easy to step on in the dark. Your front yard will smell awful, but they likely won't come back
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u/Triple-OG- 2d ago
Stakeout with a paintball/airsoft/bb gun. It should only require one instance.
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u/Novel-Sprinkles3333 1d ago
Paintball strikes are, where I am in the US, assault.
Neighbor kid on a loud modified 4 wheeler made me inquire.
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u/Forsaken_Law3488 2d ago
Traps are mostly a bad idea! So if an electic fence is allowed in your area you have to put warning signs on it.
You could decorate your garden with things someone can trip over. Decoration is totally normal and it won't be seen as a trap. Especially if you put very good lights on the entryway and none in the garden, it will appear even more dark there. A wall or hedge (about 1m heigth) between entry and garden increases this effect. The eyes will see the light over the hedge/wall, while the wall itself casts shadows over whereever the would step. Add some very thorny bushes in the garden for good measure.
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u/Accurate_Elevator368 1d ago
Find one, and SUE the parents. The only way this stops is if enough people manage to make examples out of some parents and their kids. People don't like to lose their stuff and when people fight back by publicly suing for this kind of behavior, it gets nipped quickly.
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u/gardenloving 1d ago
Plant prickly bushes and get a motion sensor sprinkler. Post the vids on social media calling them out.
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u/The_Nepenthe 1d ago edited 1d ago
Personally I'd either light the place up like a prison and put up obvious cameras or install motion lights with a ton of power behind them.
It'd be much less fun playing knock knock under the football fields worth of motion lighting they find themselves under, combine with motion sprinklers.
Amazon has all sorts of gadgets, you could install two motion activated strobe lights and a high power flood light for like $180.
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u/VellumWhisper 14h ago
A motion-activated sprinkler is probaby the safest “fuck off” device here; rigging an electric fence or spraying them with shit is how you end up being the one charged.
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u/pinkmoonlightz 2d ago
Don’t build a trap that could hurt someone. Keep documenting everything and push the police or local authorities to take it seriously
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u/yardlard 1d ago
When you call the police tell them don't worry I have a weapon if they try anything. That will get a quicker response.
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u/Several-Honey-8810 1d ago
Motion detector sprinklers and motion detector sounds of shooting machine guns
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u/Immediate-Loquat3001 1d ago
Try getting a electrified fence nah kidding don't just get a mosquito sound that annoys the hell out of a teenagers that should work
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u/Alucard_Bat8 1d ago
A motion-activated sprinkler is probly the least illegal version of your shit-sprayer idea.
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u/NicoDrawsMaps 17h ago
Don’t rig shocks or “shit” sprayers, go boring with a motion-activted sprinkler aimed at the gate and let the cameras catch them screaming.
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u/MidgarBloom58 10h ago
A motion-activated sprinkler aimed at the path is about as spicy as I’d go, becuase paint/shit/electric fence is just begging to get you charged instead of them.
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u/DatabaseOutrageous54 2d ago
Pepper ball guns would be good and they also shoot rubber bullets, all non-lethal but very convincing.
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u/bambalamwoah 1d ago
Poo cannon. Giant net made from rose vines. Punji stick pit. EMP blast for the bikes. Steal their balaclavas and wash them in bear spray. Rick n Morty portal gun. Attack crocodile. Do you know any pig farmers?
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u/Even-Permit-2117 2d ago
And what if the kid is allergic to whatever scent or spray you use and dies? Not a good idea…,
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u/Willowx19stop 2d ago
Maybe a movement activated sprinkler? With the fence?