Theft at Brierpatch Cats! :-(

This afternoon - in a brief lull in the rain - my mom and I headed out to the land to feed the critters.... and I forgot my rubber shoes :-( I had them in my hand as I headed for the door, and yet somehow managed to set them down before leaving. This meant I had to wade through the water barefoot - a somewhat painful experience.

When we got to the gate of our land, this is what we saw:

The lock to the gate had been thoroughly smashed and scratched... and damaged to the point that we couldn't get it open, and had to climb the gate to get in.

Now, if you back up a little bit, this is what the gate looks like from a distance. (We had a LOT of rain today, if you can't tell!)
Behind the van is a shed with a "car port" for the lawn mower...
(Keep in mind that the "road" passing this property is nothing more than a private access track used by us, hunters and those going mudding.)

Anyway, I bet you could guess what was coming.
Yep... no $1500 Husqvarna lawn mower :-(


Sadly, all the rain had obliterated any chance of tire tracks or footprints.


Many drawers and doors in the Spartan had been opened.Luckily, we don't keep anything valuable in the Spartan.

<>
We called the cops, who took a report.
Not too hopeful that anything will come of it, though :-(

I guess we're lucky that they put the lock back on the gate when they left, or else who knows where the horses would've gone! And yes, the horses and all the cats are accounted for, safe and unharmed, so I guess that's something.