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AIBU?

to think we DO live in a world where we can leave the bavk door open

113 replies

TraineeBabyCatcher · 10/02/2013 23:31

There's been an article in (forgive me) the dailyfail about a baby who's finger was ripped of my a fox that got in the house. I shall not link you to it- long story short, back door got left open, fox came in and attacked baby.

Whilst I.can understand that if you live in an area where there are a lot of foxes/fox attacks then you do need to be careful but many people have commented on saying that anything could have happened, baby could have been snatched etc.

Please tell me I am not living a deluded life thinking its okay to leave your back door open whilst your in the house?!

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bruffin · 11/02/2013 08:20

Live not far from London and we leave back door open all day when itscwarm enough and then only lock it at night.
We have come home and find one of the dcs had left it wide open all day.
There was a fox in our garden last week but he didn't come close to the house

TheElephantIsADaintyBird · 11/02/2013 08:22

I've gone out and left the keys in the front door quite a few times it's dead handy though, saves rooting round in your bag to find them!

pouffepants · 11/02/2013 08:23

Oh, I've got stupid personal psychology going on on this one.

I can't lock the doors the doors at night because then i can't sleep. I'm aware that's stupid, but if I don't think about locks and stuff, then I don't worry, but the act of locking up makes me think there might be something out there to be scared of.

So our doors are never locked, and in the summer they are often wide open. I've been known to go away for the weekend , and come back to a door on the latch.

I obviously don't have any insurance because it would be pointless. But I kind of figure by the time I'm burgled it will have been worth it for all the years of freedom I've had. 17 so far.

I've only ever lived in council houses, so maybe that's why no-one bothers burgling me, there's probably loads of wealthy people that are a better bet.

DeDevilTail · 11/02/2013 08:27

Easilybored, surely it is sometimes necessary to leave a baby in a room alone. I know I did (and still do) to go to the loo or have a quick shower while the baby naps.

We've had an attempted break in while we were at home...and we have 2 massive dogs (evidenced by the huge dog kennels in the garden) which obviously weren't enough of a deterrant (or our burglars had a death wish). One of the dogs alerted us to something being amiss and DP scared them off as they were trying to prise the glass out of the kitchen window. For this reason, I usually lock the back doors when I'm in the house...although obviously that's pretty ineffectual if they're going to remove a window to get in.

EasilyBored · 11/02/2013 08:28

Oh yes, that's not what on saying at all. Just meant that it seemed from all the reporting that the baby had been put down to sleep in a cot in another room for the night. Which is against all the SIDS advice and generally makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

Whistles · 11/02/2013 08:39

I leave the front door unlocked during the day when I'm at home, so I suppose anyone could just come in if they tried the door handle. It's quite a safe area, but thinking about it, maybe I should lock it!

Punkatheart · 11/02/2013 08:56

Let's be honest - it's not just about thieves, is it? I wouldn't want someone in my house and of course there is always the possibility that you could be attacked. Leaving doors open is a gift to the criminal. So why do it? Make life hard for them.

Also - as someone who had this problem - mice and rats are looking for somewhere to set up home. Perfect if you leave the door open!

pickledparsnip · 11/02/2013 08:57

My back door is open all day in the summer. I live in town & my yard backs onto a restaurant and I'm surrounded by a few houses, but mostly businesses. To get in you would have to gain access via one of the houses, or jump over a massive wall. I generally feel safe.

Flatbread · 11/02/2013 08:59

We have three doors downstairs and all are left unlocked, even when we go out.

I have never gotten into the habit of locking doors

My neighbour is a bit paranoid and locks her door even when she is just coming to my place

lazybastard · 11/02/2013 09:02

I would put mine down to sleep in my room when they were that age. I would then go and wash the dishes, do the ironing etc before going to bed myself.

pickledparsnip · 11/02/2013 09:05

I always always make sure my front door is locked at night. As I said I live in town, and my lane is used by students to get to the main street. It can be noisy as hell due to crappy sash window, but I actually feel safer knowing that people are walking by. Bastards students do like to steal things from my front door though, I've had 2 plaques stolen. Thieving buggers.

5madthings · 11/02/2013 09:11

We leave our back door open in the day and the front door is shut but not locked in the day. Lock them when we go to bed. Back garden enclosed and anyone would have to get through several gardens to get into ours.

alemci · 11/02/2013 09:38

I was surprised at the back door being open in this weather in the fox story unless the fox snuck in when the rubbish was being put out for example.

My back door is usually unlocked. It is often left open in the Summer whilst we are in. Once my dd went out and left the backdoor actually open but locked the front. wasn't amused.

Our back garden is enclosed and we have a railway behind it.

calandarbear · 11/02/2013 10:19

If it is warm I leave the backdoor and frenchwindows open in the day whether we are in the room or not but not when we go out.
At night I leave them open as long as DH is home and lock them at bedtime. If I am alone I shut them at night purely because I am terrified of foxes and I've seen one on our decking if it came in the house I can't imagine how I'd be brave enough to chase it out. I had a panic attack once when one was going the opposite way through an alley straight past me.

MsVestibule · 11/02/2013 11:00

One of my friends posted this story on her FB wall with the comment "In his own room 4 weeks old????" Yeah, that's the problem .

I often have my back or front door open in summer during the day.

lljkk · 11/02/2013 11:04

YANBU.

treaclesoda · 11/02/2013 11:17

My back door is rarely locked if I'm in the house, and in the summer the back door is sometimes open all day, otherwise the DC slamming it on the way in and out to the garden every thirty seconds would drive me to commit murder.

My garden is enclosed on all sides, the back door is not visible from the front or side of the house. I did once have a trespasser in my back garden but he ran away when I spotted him. Despite this, I feel perfectly safe. I live at the end of a cul de sac, and a stranger sauntering up the street is immediately noticeable and sticks out like a sore thumb. There are no back alleys, my garden backs onto someone else's garden, so my trespasser had to climb over two hedges and a fence. Its ten years ago and the hedges would now be all but impossible to climb through as they are so much bigger.

I can see both the front and the back door from where I am standing right now. If my house was bigger, or a different layout, I might feel differently.

usualsuspect · 11/02/2013 11:19

I leave my back door open all day in the summer. Its unlocked all day in the winter.

I never lock my front door if I'm at home either.

Buzzardbird · 11/02/2013 11:26

I have posted this on the other fred about this but does anyone worry about catflaps?

Ormiriathomimus · 11/02/2013 11:30

I often leave my back door open. Not intentionally I might add But not been burgled yet.

Ormiriathomimus · 11/02/2013 11:31

Oh! You mean when we are still in the house? All the time.

calandarbear · 11/02/2013 11:54

BuzzardBird- i worry a lot about foxes coming through cat flaps so I don't have one and let my cat in and out as she asks and keep her in at night (she uses a litter tray most of the time anyway, even if she is outside she comes in to poo).

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 11/02/2013 12:11

Dependent on the area. When I was a student in Nottingham, they used to try our doors every night. Next door once left the kitchen window open one drunken night and we actually watched the burglars climbing in. We were burgled three times in one term.

However here in my lovely Cornish village, I once left the back door of our landrover wide open all night, and it was absolutely FULL of valuable things for our business. You could see it all the way up the road. Anyone walking or driving past would have seen it, and not a thing was taken. Things like that make people in the countryside blase though.

I've never had a fox wander in though :)

ArielThePiraticalMermaid · 11/02/2013 12:12

The only other animal which has come through our catflap has been the alpha tom in these parts.

Buzzardbird · 11/02/2013 12:34

My mother found a cow in her kitchen and she couldn't get it out because it was a galley kitchen and cows don't walk backwards usually...

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