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Strange incident at my house last night

The Don

Guest
Joined
May 28, 2010
Messages
397
Location
in your pants
We had something very strange, and pretty disturbing, happen at our house last night.

We came home about 8pm and put our daughter (about 2.5) to bed. About 8:30 I took our dog out for a walk and returned to the house. Everything was fine at that point.

This morning, about 7am, I took him out again before we left for work. As I went outside I noticed immediately that there was a pile (similar to a heaping spoonful) of white powdery/grainy substance on the thumb-press lever of our doorknob. I shut the door and foolishly blew it away (exposing myself and my dog to whatever it was). I finished taking the dog out, came back in (only touching the latch with my thumbnail) and about 10 to 15 minutes later we left for work/daycare.

I didn't let either of them touch anything in that area or linger in that area, so hopefully they weren't exposed. Got to thinking about it more as I drove to work and when I got to work I called the Jefferson County Sheriff and asked them to come out and take a sample of it. They did, but only tested for cocaine (negative) and said if it happens again to take a sample in a ziploc bag and call them again.

It happened between 8:30 last night and 7 this morning. Whoever did it was SNEAKY because our dog, a mastiff, never heard a thing - never even twitched all night. I figure they had to park at the bottom of our driveway (about 200 feet) and walk up, because he would have heard a car. We live in the country - about 30 miles from Madison, in a small pseudo-subdivision of about 6 houses, all with about 1.25 to 2 acres.

So, we're putting a motion detector (with a beeper inside the house) on our exterior lights and quite likely installing a camera to watch that door, too.

Anyway, strange things are afoot, and upon some trusted advice, I figured I'd relay the story to you guys in case any of you have anything similar happen.

BTW, the police chalked it up to a high school prank.

Could be. Seems very deliberate to me, though. Sorta like someone is saying, "I can get to you. Oh, and here's a little something to remind you of all the anthrax scares in the news over the past few years."
 
M

McX

Guest
watch your back Don, anyone who apporaches your domain after hours is up to no good.
 
X

XxCaMeLxxToSiSxX

Guest
We had something very strange, and pretty disturbing, happen at our house last night.

We came home about 8pm and put our daughter (about 2.5) to bed. About 8:30 I took our dog out for a walk and returned to the house. Everything was fine at that point.

This morning, about 7am, I took him out again before we left for work. As I went outside I noticed immediately that there was a pile (similar to a heaping spoonful) of white powdery/grainy substance on the thumb-press lever of our doorknob. I shut the door and foolishly blew it away (exposing myself and my dog to whatever it was). I finished taking the dog out, came back in (only touching the latch with my thumbnail) and about 10 to 15 minutes later we left for work/daycare.

I didn't let either of them touch anything in that area or linger in that area, so hopefully they weren't exposed. Got to thinking about it more as I drove to work and when I got to work I called the Jefferson County Sheriff and asked them to come out and take a sample of it. They did, but only tested for cocaine (negative) and said if it happens again to take a sample in a ziploc bag and call them again.

It happened between 8:30 last night and 7 this morning. Whoever did it was SNEAKY because our dog, a mastiff, never heard a thing - never even twitched all night. I figure they had to park at the bottom of our driveway (about 200 feet) and walk up, because he would have heard a car. We live in the country - about 30 miles from Madison, in a small pseudo-subdivision of about 6 houses, all with about 1.25 to 2 acres.

So, we're putting a motion detector (with a beeper inside the house) on our exterior lights and quite likely installing a camera to watch that door, too.

Anyway, strange things are afoot, and upon some trusted advice, I figured I'd relay the story to you guys in case any of you have anything similar happen.

BTW, the police chalked it up to a high school prank.

Could be. Seems very deliberate to me, though. Sorta like someone is saying, "I can get to you. Oh, and here's a little something to remind you of all the anthrax scares in the news over the past few years."

I don't know of any highschool pranks that accoured in this way, hope you figure out what happend, stay safe.
 

Brass Magnet

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Apr 23, 2009
Messages
2,818
Location
Right Behind You!, Wisconsin, USA
Hopefully there's some natural explanation for it. Did someone go shopping and press a grocery bag up against the door with a bag of flour in it or something? Just saying because usually when I find something really weird like that it comes down to something that can be explained without nasty motives.

On the other hand; if it is some sort of prank, what ever happened to a good old flaming bag of dog doo doo?
 

The Don

Guest
Joined
May 28, 2010
Messages
397
Location
in your pants
Hopefully there's some natural explanation for it. Did someone go shopping and press a grocery bag up against the door with a bag of flour in it or something? Just saying because usually when I find something really weird like that it comes down to something that can be explained without nasty motives.

On the other hand; if it is some sort of prank, what ever happened to a good old flaming bag of dog doo doo?

Yeah, thought about that already. We did go shopping last night, but the only stuff I brought in the house was a thread protector for the HK USP Tactical .45 and a gallon of milk.

A friend of mine suggested some sort of insect, but a pile of powder about the diameter of a quarter and a good 1/4 inch or so high seems like a bit much for an insect.

Just doesn't seem like it would have a "natural" reason, either, since there was no powder on the ground below it or anything like that...at least not until I blew it off the thumb-press.
 

RR_Broccoli

Regular Member
Joined
Jul 14, 2010
Messages
170
Location
WI
good question. pics i just found online show that substance being dark grey/black. the stuff on my door was white/off white. not soft like powdered sugar, but not grainy like uncooked cream of wheat. in between.

I am not a guano expert, but have been called upon to remove many bats. (I think they are cool, so people that know this want me to get them out of their houses.)

Bat guano, especially fresh, is black or brown. It comes in small single droppings that look sort of like longer, lighter mouse droppings. Unless the bat is roosting there, it is NEVER in a pile as they go on the fly as often as they do hanging around. (hehe)

Not guano.

I might carefully check the door jam and area above the door though, some newer "solid" core doors have a sheetrock type substance inside them, so it COULD be something burrowing. I'd suspect wasps, they are looking for places to hole up this time of year, and they CAN chew through some materials.
 

The Don

Guest
Joined
May 28, 2010
Messages
397
Location
in your pants
I am not a guano expert, but have been called upon to remove many bats. (I think they are cool, so people that know this want me to get them out of their houses.)

Bat guano, especially fresh, is black or brown. It comes in small single droppings that look sort of like longer, lighter mouse droppings. Unless the bat is roosting there, it is NEVER in a pile as they go on the fly as often as they do hanging around. (hehe)

Not guano.

I might carefully check the door jam and area above the door though, some newer "solid" core doors have a sheetrock type substance inside them, so it COULD be something burrowing. I'd suspect wasps, they are looking for places to hole up this time of year, and they CAN chew through some materials.

That's a good idea. I'll check the door frame/door/etc. This door is about 3 years old and is solid Brazilian Mahogany (and if it's not, I'm going to have words with the contractor who did my remodeling 3 years ago...i read the fine print on everything, and this said nothing to that effect when we picked it out).

Thanks for the suggestion.
 
M

McX

Guest
maybe it was bat guano from an albino bat? You musty have come home, and scared the crap out of him.


sorry had to add this on edit: alllllllrrrrriiiiigggghhhhtttty then!
 
Last edited:
Joined
Jun 29, 2010
Messages
232
Location
Green Bay
A couple of years ago I was home alone in my apartment, the girl had gone out for a girls night. I was playing Modern Warfare online, and when I play I tend to zone out my surroundings. At some point while playing I heard a girl SCREAM, but sadly, since I tend to zone, I didn't think anything about it. X amount of hours later, I went outside to put my Tahoe in the garage. When I reached the bottom of the stairs I noticed a blood stain about the size of an apple on the door. Immediately I thought of the scream. Call it silly but I grabbed my pistol and a light and searched the rest of the building. Then after mulling it over for an hour, I called the police. That was the end of that, never figured out where the blood came from or who it was that screamed. It rattled me a little though.
 

rcawdor57

Campaign Veteran
Joined
May 18, 2009
Messages
1,643
Location
Wisconsin, USA
What Does Fingerprint Powder Look Like?

Could this perhaps have been someone trying to get fingerprints from your door knob? Lot's going on with the open carry guys and all that has been going on with the police in Madison, Brookfield and other localities. We can never be too careful.

A motion detector is a great idea and works well. We have one on our walkway to the house as well as one in the garage. They both alarm inside the house with a "Ding Dong" chime. The range on them is something like 300 feet (supposedly) but we only transmit about 40 feet. A camera is great too and if you can mount it inside your home facing the front, sides, back, etc. of your home and have the feeds input into a four channel recorder that would be handy. Wireless would work well with that.

I hope nothing comes from this event. Stay sharp!
 

Shotgun

Wisconsin Carry, Inc.
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
2,668
Location
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
Finger print powder grayish in color almost like graphite.

Fingerprint powder comes in various colors, from white to black, with some silvery grays too. It is extremely fine powder, like soot, and won't appear granular. Nobody would just dump it in a pile, it's very carefully brushed on or even blown onto a surface. If you touch it or spill it, it makes a mess that's a pain to wipe off.
 

Citizen

Founder's Club Member
Joined
Nov 15, 2006
Messages
18,269
Location
Fairfax Co., VA
SNIP Got to thinking about it more as I drove to work and when I got to work I called the Jefferson County Sheriff and asked them to come out and take a sample of it. They did, but only tested for cocaine (negative) and said if it happens again to take a sample in a ziploc bag and call them again.

I wonder who they were gonna arrest if it turned out to be cocaine?

Put it in a baggy next time? Uh, huh. NO EFFING WAY, copper!! I have absolutely no inclination to hand over something that can be twisted and used as evidence against me.

Deputy Gotcha on direct: "Yes, Madam Prosecutor. He handed me a baggy complaining he had been ripped off by a dealer. Wanted me to arrest the dealer for fraud in selling under strength, over-cut coke."

No thank you.
 
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