Bear Island break-ins

[wehatetoquitit]

In the past few days several homes on Bear Island have been broken into. Sometime between Sunday and Wednesday, thieves have broken into the Collins, Wieneke, Wilson, Chen and Duggan (as far as we know) camps on Bear. If you have seen anyone carring goods from the Island to the mainland, please contact the Police. It appears the the goods taken were small items, mountain bike (collins) etc.

Anyone who has a camp on Bear, might want to contact a friend locally, who can go over and take a look around your place.

[Bear Islander]

I know of 5 more break ins on Rock Island and Jerry Point.

Like you say, little things gone. No serious damage.

The homes involved are on both sides of the island, but close together and not far from Camp Nokomis.

[sa meredith]

It sickens me to hear this. Are you serious? I never thought this sort of thing to be problem on the lake. Is this common?
How fun would be to catch someone in the act? Maybe a tire iron to the back of the head!

[Bear Islander]

Many years ago a number of cabins were broken into on Bear. It turned out to be an islanders relative that had deserted from the military, was wintering on the island and looking for food.

I think the only edibles we leave on the island are on the spice rack.

[KonaChick]

Hopefully it's bored teenagers with snomo's, some time and their hands and not too many brain cells as compared to something more organized.

[liberator211]

It happened to us last year also. We don't leave anything of value on the island so it is really just a nuisance. They broke the glass on our door so they could open the door only to find nothing of any value. Our neighbor’s door and frame was damaged last year when they busted into their cottage. I left the island on Sunday after lunch and did not see anybody. I walked across and our camp is next to the boys camp across from Mark.

[Bear Girl]

Below is the text of an e-mail sent by Clint to the BICA Board and then forwarded to most Bear Island Conservation Assoc. members. Since I do not have everyone's e-mail address, one member suggested I post it here as well. Maybe someone will see something or knows something?! Very sad.
Debbie T.

**************
Hi and FYI,

This appears to have been a banner year for break-ins on Bear Island. There has been quite a bit of activity opposite the Cattle Landing. In addition,
over this past weekend (March 22-23) it is my understanding from Island Services and the Meredith Police that break-ins have occurred at the following
camps:

Cail (Anne) 39
Smith 41
Chen 44
Dougan 45 All doors bashed in, kitchen cabinets / closets opened, debris on floor. Appeared to be looking for alcohol, cash, guns and
anything else small and valuable.

Bachovchin 47
Ylvisaker 51
Wilson 52
Wieneke 53
Collins 56

I was at my camp on Thursday (3/27) with the police and Island Services. The ice appears to be safe (20" to 26" according to Island Services) in
case you want to check out your property. Keep an eye out for anything suspicious. These guys appear to be traveling by snowmobile or ATV.
Sorry about the bad news but wanted to alert everyone to the problem. Hopefully this will be the end of it.

Clint

[Bear Islander]

Thanks Bare Girl.

I hope you don't wait another 4 years before your next post.

[wifi]

Originally Posted by Bear Islander

Thanks Bare Girl.

I hope you don't wait another 4 years before your next post.

For a moment I read it as: before you showed yourself

[ITD]

He did call her Bare girl instead of Bear girl, maybe he knows something we don't.

[riverat]

I wonder if it is the same scundrels that have vandalized many Bobhouses on the lake this year, have not heard of any leads on that either.

[wildwoodfam]

Originally Posted by sa meredith

It sickens me to hear this. Are you serious? I never thought this sort of thing to be problem on the lake. Is this common?
How fun would be to catch someone in the act? Maybe a tire iron to the back of the head!

Things like this happen ALL THE TIME - this is lake winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, USA, not shangri-la!

Do people really still believe that you can leave things unlocked, or even visible in camps that are vacant all winter and not think some idiot will come along and decide he or she has better use for the item you own?!

We close up at the end of summer and anything that even "looks" valuable, even though we may have purchased it at the Christmas Tree Shop for $4.99, gets put into the interior closets and locked up, the drapes and blinds closed, the doors shuttered, and the bulkhead padlocked. As unfriendly as this may look and seem we have never been robbed - while neighbors on all side report break-ins almost annually!

[NavGirl316]

Originally Posted by riverat

I wonder if it is the same scundrels that have vandalized many Bobhouses on the lake this year, have not heard of any leads on that either.

I was wondering the exact same thing...

[NHDOLFAN]

What is the number for Island Services?

[wehatetoquitit]

NHDOLFAN: The cell phone number for Buddy Long of Island Services is: 603.387.0691

[KonaChick]

Originally Posted by wildwoodfam

Things like this happen ALL THE TIME - this is lake winnipesaukee, New Hampshire, USA, not shangri-la!

Do people really still believe that you can leave things unlocked, or even visible in camps that are vacant all winter and not think some idiot will come along and decide he or she has better use for the item you own?!

We close up at the end of summer and anything that even "looks" valuable, even though we may have purchased it at the Christmas Tree Shop for $4.99, gets put into the interior closets and locked up, the drapes and blinds closed, the doors shuttered, and the bulkhead padlocked. As unfriendly as this may look and seem we have never been robbed - while neighbors on all side report break-ins almost annually!

You make it sound as if people who have had break-ins are putting out the welcome mat and are leaving the family jewels on the screen porch with a "help yourself" sign attached. Someone who is hell bent on breaking into a home will do so reguardless of how many locks are bolted...albeit some places are easier targets than others and I'm sure that was the point you were trying to make.

[Island Life]

Originally Posted by wildwoodfam

We close up at the end of summer and anything that even "looks" valuable, even though we may have purchased it at the Christmas Tree Shop for $4.99, gets put into the interior closets and locked up, the drapes and blinds closed, the doors shuttered, and the bulkhead padlocked. As unfriendly as this may look and seem we have never been robbed - while neighbors on all side report break-ins almost annually!

If I went to the trouble of putting everything worth over $5 away in a closet, I, for one, would leave the drapes and blinds open to let any would-be robbers know there was nothing of value in the house. I'd rather they know that then have them look at the closed blinds and wonder what exactly the blinds are hiding. That being said, I do pull the shades (habit) and there is nothing worth over $5 in my camp anyway; I just don't bother putting anything in the closets. Closets, who has closets in a camp?

In the old days, a relative used to leave her door unlocked for the winter, with a note on the table to "Friends we have not yet met," explaining where they could find some crackers and water and blankets. People do sometimes get stuck out on the ice and she'd rather not have them break her door/window while trying to get shelter. I guess the old days are gone.

[wildwoodfam]

Originally Posted by KonaChick

You make it sound as if people who have had break-ins are putting out the welcome mat and are leaving the family jewels on the screen porch with a "help yourself" sign attached. Someone who is hell bent on breaking into a home will do so reguardless of how many locks are bolted...albeit some places are easier targets than others and I'm sure that was the point you were trying to make.

Please don't misinterpret what I wrote - I said nothing about setting yourselves - ourselves (since I include myself in the group!) up for break-ins when we leave our camps and homes vacant all winter long. I said - if you travel around the lake in the winter on a snow machine and see some of the things left out in full view of whomever passes by - and knowing that there are thefts (growing in number) each year up there - it makes sense to hide or make it unwelcoming for the would be thief.

The last poster sums it up by stating "I guess the old days are gone."

YOU GUESS?!!?

Nothing about summers on Winnipesaukee (with the exception of laying in the hamock at the waters edge) very much resemble the "old days." Frankly most of thats a good thing...I can get my dunkin donuts now and not drink the sludge from the 40year old percalator in the cupboard, and I can read the Boston Globe online from my dock, and I can do a lot of things we couldn't when I first started going to the lake in 1967!!

The OLD DAYS - including the simpler and safer aspects of lake winnie living are gone, as sad as that is for most of us - they are gone.

I cannot be the only realist in this forum?!

[CanisLupusArctos]

Hope this helps cheer things up...

There are no 'old days.' Break-ins have been happening since the beginning of time, along with every other type of crime. In the Bible and many other ancient texts are plenty of references to every kind of evil imaginable. It's just that within any specific place, eras come and eras go... each has its own nice things and its own crimes. I mean, here at Winni, the Old-old days saw tourists and residents always under threat of death from Indian raids (when you're in the Moultonborough Old Country Store go upstairs and see the Indian shutters where the women and children used to hide during the raids). Then things quieted down until an era came where guys with handlebar mustaches drank whiskey over card games and occasionally ended up shooting pistols at each other and those around them.

Those who put up with the threat of death by Indian were also able to stake claims or buy already-claimed property for dirt-cheap... try doing that today. Those who lived with the possibility of taking a bullet from a drunken good ol' boy were also able to ride trains from the lakes region to just about anywhere.... nowadays the only train between Ossipee and Boston carries gravel and the Lincoln-Laconia-Boston rail line stopped regular passenger service in the 60s so we're all stuck paying $3+ a gallon for gas to countries that don't even like us.

But there are a lot of nice things about this era we're in... and some not-so-nice things... and regardless of what they are, this era will give way to something else with new perks and new problems.

[Blue Thunder]

Originally Posted by Island Life

In the old days, a relative used to leave her door unlocked for the winter, with a note on the table to "Friends we have not yet met," explaining where they could find some crackers and water and blankets. People do sometimes get stuck out on the ice and she'd rather not have them break her door/window while trying to get shelter. I guess the old days are gone.

We have winter break-ins as well. I know many people who leave their places unlocked so the damage of a break-in won't occur, the rationale being, if they're going to break in anyway, you might as well save the repair bill and damage of a broken window or door until someone discovers it. I don't particularly subscribe to that school of thought but it makes you think....

Blue Thunder

[JayDV]

I remember those days very well. No locks on the camps, and please sweep up and close the door for the next renter.

Anyway, insurance companies are more than hesitant on covering theft or damage, due to "friends we haven't met", if you don't make an honest attempt to keep people out.

Shuttering your camp windows might keep the wind from causing the glass to break and allow weather and animals inside at the least.

Or was it the animals breaking the glass door so the friends could save the belongings by removing them?

[SAMIAM]

So sorry for all those who were broken into.Unfortunately this has gone on as long as I can remember......mostly bored teenagers,since real crooks know there is not much of value in island homes and camps.We are lucky to live in an area with very little crime.Violent crimes against strangers are almost unheard of and there is not a street in the lakes region that I wouldn't walk on in the wee hours.Most serious crimes are crimes of passion or drug related among people who are known to each other.
I still rarely lock my truck or home unless I plan on being gone for a long time.
I've had my business broken into 4 times in a 20 year period and fortunately,thanks to security camera's and good work by the Moultonborough P.D.,the bad guys (kids) have been apprehended.
Don't let a bad experience spoil your enjoyment of the area...it's still one of the best places to live and vacation in America.

[Airwaves]

Just my $.02 but if I were a victim I'd get together with the others, make a list of exactly what was stolen then keep an eye on Craigs List, Ebay and even the old Want Advertiser.

More than once when things were stolen from our boat club down in Mass we found them using one of these types of services to unload them
Good Luck I hope you catch the bastards
AW

[CanisLupusArctos]

Originally Posted by JayDV

Or was it the animals breaking the glass door so the friends could save the belongings by removing them?

We may laugh, but bear break-ins are becoming more common around the area. A couple summers ago I heard a police dispatch on the scanner for Laconia PD to respond to a cottage where a bear was trying to get in through a screen window of an occupied cottage.

As a result of such reports (and having seen a mama bear and 2 cubs outside the window one day), we no longer leave the first-floor windows open at night, and we're a lot more careful not to leave food, garbage, or other aroma-producing items in a place where the smell could lure them to break in.

[JayDV]

Originally Posted by CanisLupusArctos

We may laugh, but bear break-ins are becoming more common around the area. A couple summers ago I heard a police dispatch on the scanner for Laconia PD to respond to a cottage where a bear was trying to get in through a screen window of an occupied cottage.

As a result of such reports (and having seen a mama bear and 2 cubs outside the window one day), we no longer leave the first-floor windows open at night, and we're a lot more careful not to leave food, garbage, or other aroma-producing items in a place where the smell could lure them to break in.

Sorry, I do forget about the larger animals, Down here in So CT the bear still roam quite a ways inland. I was thinking raccoons and deer, but same same. Keeping the doors and windows closed and locked are the basic protection schemes to prevent man or animal from taking or wrecking what wasn't theirs when they got there.

[CanisLupusArctos]

JayDV, no worries... you actually brought up an important variation on the 'break-in' topic that few people think about. "Animals not afraid of humans" is a pretty new thing around here, mostly resulting from habitat loss that has forced them into populated areas, more people feeding "the cute little critters" and other factors. Animal break-ins aren't new in the White Mountains (I know someone from the White Mountains who woke up to find a bear in the kitchen a few years ago) but they're pretty new in the more-populated areas of the lakes region. So while we may not like to lock the doors and windows to criminals, we forget that closing doors and windows has also been made necessary by the critters (big and small.) I say 'small' because I've noticed "squirrels with attitude" the last couple years... ones that have made a run for the door behind my back (once inside the house, they go on a rampage... I've seen it...) I try to close the door right behind me every time now, even if I'm just walking around for a minute or two and then going back in.

[nj2nh]

Those bear incidents are happening with some regularity down here in Jersey, too. Most are in the western part of the state, nearer to Pennsylvania, but they are headed towards the eastern portion of the state as well.

We had a terrible time with raccoon getting into our garbage. No matter what we did, they found a way in. The squirrels helped them out by eating through the tops of the bear cans!

So, we got a huge plastic trash box thing. No more squirrels, no more raccoons. They sure did try, though. I still see little footprints on my car (which gets parked right up against the garbage cans) every little morning.

nj2nh

[kmg]

What have the Police done?

Originally Posted by wehatetoquitit

In the past few days several homes on Bear Island have been broken into. Sometime between Sunday and Wednesday, thieves have broken into the Collins, Wieneke, Wilson, Chen and Duggan (as far as we know) camps on Bear. If you have seen anyone carring goods from the Island to the mainland, please contact the Police. It appears the the goods taken were small items, mountain bike (collins) etc.

Anyone who has a camp on Bear, might want to contact a friend locally, who can go over and take a look around your place.

[wifi]

Originally Posted by kmg

What have the Police done?

Set up radar traps ?!?

[secondcurve]

Actually, they are making access difficult by melting the ice around the island!!

[wildwoodfam]

Originally Posted by CanisLupusArctos

Hope this helps cheer things up...

I mean, here at Winni, the Old-old days saw tourists and residents always under threat of death from Indian raids (when you're in the Moultonborough Old Country Store go upstairs and see the Indian shutters where the women and children used to hide during the raids).

Sorry to disagree - but I see this misconception quite often. The reference of "Indian Shutters" was not a term used until the early 19th century 1820's-30's. Quite a while after the discord between early settlers and natives resolved in this region of the country.

The pocket shutter - which dates back to use in early Great Britain and other European countries as far back as the 16th century - was brought to the New World by settlers who used them for the same reasons they had used them in Europe and Great Britain. Indian Shutters were not used to "protect" agains raid - rather they were and are used for the same purpose we use "Shades" today - privacy.

The fact is that neighbors, passers by, and yes, the locals, thought nothing of walking up to a family homestead and speaking or calling into windows at any given time, day or night. So pocket shutters were created to slide shut and lock, to prevent this disruption from occuring.

Don't believe me - show me an Indian Shutter with an arrow head cut or better yet, a tomohawk cut in it?? Ever see one of those? Neither have I, and I have seen hundreds of "Indian Shutters."

We have tons of these in our old homes in many New England towns, and on campuses at various boarding schools (including my old home on one of these campuses). We did a whole study and course on these historic homes.

[nj2nh]

Weren't these shutters good protection from the weather, too? I thought that is what they were actually for. I have never heard the term Indian Shutter before.

Are they similar to the decorative shutters on homes now? Like the ones, perhaps, all over Williamsburg?

nj2nh

[CanisLupusArctos]

Originally Posted by wildwoodfam

Sorry to disagree - but I see this misconception quite often. The reference of "Indian Shutters" was not a term used until the early 19th century 1820's-30's. Quite a while after the discord between early settlers and natives resolved in this region of the country.

The pocket shutter - which dates back to use in early Great Britain and other European countries as far back as the 16th century - was brought to the New World by settlers who used them for the same reasons they had used them in Europe and Great Britain. Indian Shutters were not used to "protect" agains raid - rather they were and are used for the same purpose we use "Shades" today - privacy.

The fact is that neighbors, passers by, and yes, the locals, thought nothing of walking up to a family homestead and speaking or calling into windows at any given time, day or night. So pocket shutters were created to slide shut and lock, to prevent this disruption from occuring.

Don't believe me - show me an Indian Shutter with an arrow head cut or better yet, a tomohawk cut in it?? Ever see one of those? Neither have I, and I have seen hundreds of "Indian Shutters."

We have tons of these in our old homes in many New England towns, and on campuses at various boarding schools (including my old home on one of these campuses). We did a whole study and course on these historic homes.

Sorry, my info came from the interpretations posted in the general store itself. If you go in there (upstairs, to their museum) and see the same interpretation is still there, you should see if they'll correct it.

The fact remains that rural New England in the 1600s and early 1700s wasn't a friendly place for white settlers. Indians saw the European settlements threatening their way of life, and like any self-respecting people, they didn't sit by passively and watch.

I was only using it to make a point that the break-ins on Bear Island aren't a sign that the world is worse than it ever was because "eras come and eras go, and each has its pros and cons."

[wildwoodfam]

Will have to check out the references at the Old Country Store - we get there weekly throughout the summer - every guests wants to visit!!

I also would agree with you - theft and robbery is nothing new - not here or in general. Still - sad that there is an innocence lost feeling at the lake. For most of us, the lake always afforded an escape from the problems of the busy world we live in....now the lake is just part of that same world!

[CanisLupusArctos]

Definitely check out the museum upstairs at the country store. It's been a few years since I've been up there but as I remember they had a lot of artifacts including the building itself (early 1700s).

I agree, there's an innocence lost as the outside world takes up more residence in the lakes region. I think in this case it's two factors... first, the area's population is up. So if you had 1 criminal when the population was 100, (just an example) you'd have 2 criminals if the population rose to 200. Yet the headline would read, "Crime has doubled" without also noting that the population had doubled. Readers would be left to think that something was wrong when in reality it was just mathematics.

Second, until just a few months ago, we were in an "age of excess" in which a lot of kids around here probably got snowmobiles for Christmas. The next thing you know, they were probably looking for some sort of trouble to cause, like groups of kids often do when they hang out. Up until a few years ago they didn't have as many material possessions to aid them in their quest for rule-breaking. Until a few years ago they also didn't grow up with teams of counselors reminding them that nothing is ever their fault... therefore they had a greater fear of consequences than the current generation.

That's just my guess...

[fatlazyless]

How about an outdoor video cam activated by motion? Is there a cheapie one available on the market for say one hundred dollars? Maybe a mini cam that looks like an outdoor light fixture that records video for 90 seconds when activated by motion.

For the local police prosecutor, a picture is worth a hundred words, and a video is probably worth a thousand words.

[wildwoodfam]

Originally Posted by nj2nh

Weren't these shutters good protection from the weather, too? I thought that is what they were actually for. I have never heard the term Indian Shutter before.

Are they similar to the decorative shutters on homes now? Like the ones, perhaps, all over Williamsburg?

nj2nh

The decorative outdoor shutters were created as protection against the weather. Indoor pocket shutters are different, and served a different purpose. The shuttered inside the window....

I think the Williamsburg Homes you refer to - much like the New England homes in our "quintessential" villages often have both, pocket shutters and weather shutters....but you see more often the decorative shutters that hang on the outside of homes.

[CanisLupusArctos]

What I saw at the Old Country Store didn't look like shutters though. It looked more like a "secret" closet like what you find in those supposedly-haunted houses you see on the History Channel. The sign on it said "Indian Shutters" and said what it was for. That was a few years ago. I haven't been to the upstairs museum since; I keep getting distracted by the smell of the aged cheddar wheel at the regster.

To FLL's question (and anyone else wondering)... there is a cam on the market for less than $100 on NewEgg.com. It is the Panasonic BL-C1A. Tiny little thing but I have used it and I liked it. I borrowed one to use as a backup cam when my primary WeatherCam was down for service last fall. I believe it has motion sensing as a trigger but it doesn't say so on NewEgg's site.

[Pepper]

Originally Posted by CanisLupusArctos

... Until a few years ago they also didn't grow up with teams of counselors reminding them that nothing is ever their fault... therefore they had a greater fear of consequences than the current generation.

That's just my guess...

AMEN!

and ...

Originally Posted by CanisLupusArctos

...I keep getting distracted by the smell of the aged cheddar wheel at the regster. ...

Definately our #1 reason to visit that store! MMMMMmmmmmmmm.