For the last week or so, there has been a ruckus happening a couple times a day outside but it’s not the kind we had before we introduced the training collars to calm down the fence fighting between pack members.

Those things are great, by the way!

Instead, our pups have been instigated off and on by this little robin who insists on annoying the heck out of them by running up to the fence and yelling at them to stay away from her nest nearby. 😄

She knows that she is making herself a target and that she is something they’d looove to catch and eat for breakfast (or lunch or dinner). And really, she can’t possibly know if the kennel fencing that separates them will protect her but she has faith that it will, which emboldens her.

And if it doesn’t and they push it over and come after her? She has faith that she can fly faster than they can run.

On top of that, she knows I’m on her side because I open the bedroom window every day and tell her so.

Hey, we’re both moms. I can totally relate. Also, I can’t help but see an analogy here.

I mentioned in my last post about dehydrating veggies to put up for long(er) term storage that it’s important to consider what we all need to do to protect ourselves and our hard earned stocks the same way this momma bird is protecting what’s hers.

Of course the best way to protect yourself as a prepper is to never, ever tell anyone that you have food, water and other supplies stored away for future calamity.

That’s fine if you’re in the city, but when you have visible gardens, chickens, a green house and live where we do? Where most houses are built with Mormon-approved food storage rooms? Where a lot of folks still hunt and fish and farm?

Pretty much everyone assumes you at least have a few things tucked away in your pantry and a few pounds of beef or pork or deer meat in the freezer.

Or elk.

Or whatever.

There are those of us who don’t mind telling the world what we’re up to at some level because we want to encourage others to do the same. We see value in our efforts because if we all prepare, the impact will be far less for us all. If you are ahead of the curve, you won’t be caught up in the panic buying or having to stand with your hand out in a bread line or waiting for a box of expired food from a food bank.

Of course you have the preppers who love to show off their entire stash, and almost seem to get an ego boost from doing so, but I mean, between you and me, if my stash looked as good as some of theirs I’d want to show it off, too!

Heck, I *wish* this was my coffee stash…

I’m not bragging but mine is pretty close to that (not really).

No matter how we do it, we have to protect it, though, because there are those out there who boast that their plan is to come and take from you and me and whoever they can in a disaster. They may say it jokingly, but we should ask ourselves if these are people who actually would? Or are they just full of it?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell.

That’s why you always have to be careful who you share info with in your inner circles because those people are the most likely to head to your place, not some random person on the internet who watches your YouTube channel or reads your blog. Your brother, your neighbor or your “friend” who knows you are the go-to person with all the food and water and what not are going to be your biggest threat, I’m afraid.

I know that in an Apocalyptic, dystopian stereotype it’s always hoards of bad guys that come in like a flash mob cleaning out a Target in Compton, but I mean honestly, if the price of gas continues to rise then those of us in rural areas won’t have to worry about marauding bands of thieves pouring out of the cities because they won’t be able to afford to get very far!

I seriously doubt these are fuel efficient…

We do, however, have to worry about local people who can and will come knocking because their bellies are empty and they know you have been stashing cans of Spam for a couple of years. They might even know exactly where to go in your house to get it and just might wait until you’re not home to help themselves.

I read a comment recently where a lady said her grandparent’s root cellar was robbed while they were at church during the Great Depression and they almost starved that winter. 😯

Not good!

Now, while I won’t tell you the specifics of our plan to protect what’s ours if the time ever comes where we have to, I will say that there is no foolproof way to do it.

Sure, you can have dogs and guns and cameras (solar powered are best in case the grid goes down) and you can make sure there’s always someone at your place (who is handy with a gun, preferably) but you won’t be able to stop someone who is deadly serious about taking from you even if it means just siphoning your extra gas or pilfering from your garden or whatever.

People with bad intentions can usually find a way.

So while it’s important to think about these things, we can’t overthink them, either. If I sat here and worried about fortifying our property and our gardens and our chickens and our gas tanks and everything else, I’d be a paranoid mess and I don’t want to go there.

I do feel confident that we have what it takes to protect ourselves if we have to, but hopefully we won’t ever need to worry about that. Hopefully enough folks around here are aware that they need to stock up on food for themselves and their families so they don’t feel they have to take from mine.

Instead of worrying about them, I’d rather spend my time honing my own survival skills and encouraging others to do the same so we can get through hard times together rather than dividing up into the haves and have nots!

We are already divided enough, don’t you think?

Okay, back to work…