Safety whilst observing

[ashenlight]

Think I might have to dig out that invisibility cloak!

[Astro_Baby]

It is a bit scary - I tend to be out alone with the big scope and until I found the observing site I currently use it did used to make me nervous a bit.

No matter how good you are in a fight if your jumped by a gang your a bit stuck so I just work hard to find places people wouldnt tend to go and keep the car close by. If push came to shove I guess I'd have to abandon the scope and take to the car.

A flashlight is good - big heavy one but thats very much a last resort.

[ashenlight]

Thanks Astro_Baby, at least I know I'm not alone Will have to go hunting in the garage, sure there's a flashlight in there.

[Macavity]

I did a bit of "remote" observing. I can understand a certain amount of anxiety re. a (nominally) public place. So I chose a location that was down a muddy path and behind a cemetary! Only problem, as I discovered, negotiating a muddy path, loaded with stuff, in pitch blackness, is a tad different from doing same in broad daylight.

So, if a "weird person", staggering about the countryside at night and swearing,

is reported on "crimewatch"... Don't worry - it's probably just an Astronomer.

[axolotl]

I know exactly what you mean, despite being male (albeit a weedy one) I sometimes get unnerved by things going bump in the night and sounds from the undergrowth (amazing how much more acute my hearing seems to be when out alone at night). Sometimes the culprit is a hedgehog or cat but usually, when i get the torch and and have a look there's nothing there.

Do you know though that the cardiff Astronomical society runs observing sessions at appropriate dark sites? I've yet to go to one but plan to do so when the nights begin to get a bit longer.

[Kit-Fox]

While this is gonna sound very contrary to the preceding advice I feel the need to say it anyways.

Never take anything out with you with the intention of using it as a weapon, even one of self defense, as thats still premeditation. Also anything you take out is not just a weapon for you but also to your would be attacker should they be able to wrest it from you.

A loud alarm and perhaps a nice big light mounted somewhere nearby that can be triggered remotely as you feel the need for it.

But even then its unlikely you'll be attacked, most people fear what they cant see and well at night you cant always see much to help you determinethings so your imagination runs wild with possibilities. Just keep calm & remember should any guy try anything there is always one vulnerable spot you dont need anything else but your knee to inflict pain upon

[Taff]

Two ideas, down load of dogs barking then burn them on to a disc then take a portable CCD out with you Any noise play the disc.The other idea i can send a picture of the wife and pin it on your fence the people will soon run away LOL.Mark

[Mel]

I'm reading this thread with interest since I too get jumpy at night sometimes, even if I'm only 30 feet from my back door. Hey, it's DARK out there, right?

It's human nature to feel afraid of what we cannot see, and there's plenty of 'wild' life around at night that most people just never see - foxes particularly can be quite noisy and cats jumping on fences, rooting around etc..

I found being in my dome is worse - you hear a sound then stop and listen harder, convinced someone is lurking. But the best way I have found to get over this somewhat irrational fear is just to go out and confront it. After several times having a good look round, you will eventually realise that the only thing you have to fear is yourself!

Clear skies and relax!

Iain

Oh, and the torch/personal alarm combo sounds ideal for you.

[Talitha]

..you will eventually realise that the only thing you have to fear is yourself!

Not exactly, lol... depends on where you live.

A Cougar snarled at me a few years ago, and i had to pack up and head home the summer before that, because a wounded Black Bear was wandering around moaning and huffing (turns out the poor thing had been hit by a car). Living out here in the country, i have to keep remembering to make noises every so often to make sure the wildlife knows i'm there... they give a wide berth as long as they're aware of my presence.

I'd been trying to split a tight doublestar and was quiet for much too long (my bad), and was apparently downwind of the Cougar, which is how/why it managed to get so close. I should have been on my guard though, because i'd heard two Rabbits die that night.. figured it was the Fox thinning out the Bunny population (they're thick as grass on my land). It never occurred to me that there was a Cougar 20' behind me hunting for her kittens, though. My bad again, because it was early July and i should have realized there might be predators wandering around.

After unsuccessfully waiting for the atmospheric cells to pop and give me a clean split on that double, i silently removed the small 5mm ep and then plopped the huge 32mm into the diagonal. The noise startled her, she snarled at me, and left. I can still hear that snarl.. they sound just like they do in the movies, lol.

Two days later my friend who works dispatch in town finally remembered to call and tell me not to go out to the Starpad (the observing area on the front half of my 40 acre parcel of land). Apparently a Cougar was spotted at the NE corner of my land, a few hundred feet from the Starpad.. less than six hours before it snarled at me.

Btw, i never take any sort of weapon with me.. just my hands, which, when clapped and accompanied by a loud shout, sends any wild creature scurrying back into the forest.

I bet you're wondering "Did she go home after the Cougar snarled at her?"

Heck no, the sky that night was to die for, lol.

[Macavity]

Ah, Carol... It is such a <bump> to return from the wilds of "Jack London" to British suburbia!

But I will shortly (hopefully) move to a home with a garden. A definite "step up" from the quasi-ZERO possibilites of Flat plus "communal" garden! But, when I LAST lived in a traditional UK "brick box + garden", the main security risk seemed to be the path around the side of the house. Of course, everyone for miles around, had "paved paradise", and put in a concrete pathway. With less resources, my path had degenerated to bare earth (No light = no grass) with stepping stones for aspiring burglars!

But, needing a quick fix, a local workman came up with (in retrospect) a seemingly effective solution: PEBBLES! So eventually, there was a kind of pebble "moat", where anyone approaching would have to negotiate an almost "Welsh beach" [teasing], creating noise and significantly impeding rapid progess? UN-tested, but I felt better about things. Also eco-friendly, since concrete has rendered many suburban estates far more prone to flooding now.

I think the problem is the (expensive) Equipment. As a keen walker, while "on the move", nightime countryside holds little fear for me. Yet practical advice from a (reformed character!) friend assures me I am NO MATCH for anyone determined e.g. to take my money/life. I would part with anything material, to save my life, yet I would also be DEVASTATED at the mere loss of a... Baader Hyperion! I think one can anticipate much: 2-legged preditors are pretty opportunistic? Few stray far from mettled roads? Indeed I am more wary of brightly lit towns with their creature comforts: Outdoor seating, fast food, ready provision of alcohol etc. Tho' the latter CAN be perfectly fine in the right hands / circumstances!

But I SO look forward to my little garden - this time the PEBBLES come preinstalled and there's even an astronomy group based in the town itself! Such plans... a run off shed(?), an HEQ5(?) - Ooops, we digress!

[dark knight]

Plant up the perimeter of your viewing area with some prickly plants like Holly, rambling roses et al. Looks great in the daytime and works as an excellent deterrent at night. No one would want to plough through these plants, I even have a wild area with stinging nettles for the wildlife, a lovely symbiotic relationship.

[brianb]

negotiating a muddy path, loaded with stuff, in pitch blackness, is a tad different from doing same in broad daylight.

Yup. So if anyone decides to go after you, they'll get stuck in the gloop & you'll hear the cursing long before they're a threat.

So, if a "weird person", staggering about the countryside at night and swearing, is reported on "crimewatch"... Don't worry - it's probably just an Astronomer.

Don't laugh. I've been descended on by a squad of four very aggressive policemen on my own property - some charlie in a nearby holiday house noticed the (faint) red torchlight as I was setting up & reported me as a burglar. I also got intercepted at gunpoint whilst using a 6" Newtonian not far from a known airport approach path (in the 1970s, in Northern Ireland) by an army patrol who suspected I was setting up a missile launcher.

Quite honestly the cops scare me more than anything else these days. They remained surly throughout and were obviously very disappointed that I didn't fight, run or even swear at them (much though I was tempted by the last). The army patrol were spot on, very friendly & apologetic, once they realised I was no threat, they stayed a while & I was able to show them some of the sights.