It's 2:00 a.m. The dogs and cats alert

And the sound they are alerting to has awoken you.

What is the first thing you do?

What is the second?

I'll post my list after the jump.


When something wake me up and the animals are alerting, the first thing "I" grab is my glasses.  I am almost legally blind without them.  So every night when I lay down I put them in the exact same place.  On the keyboard of my computer which is on a wheeled TV stand next to my bed so I can use it from bed when my back issues flare up.

The second thing I grab is my 3 "D" cell mag light, which is standing on the floor next to my bed where I can grab it if I need it.

The third thing I grab is my cell phone which was laying next to my glasses.

THEN I will grab my Taurus .38 Special in it's clip on holster, and a clip on dual speedloader pouch.

I always sleep in a pair of shorts and a pocket tee t-shirt.

The phone will go into my pocket, the Taurus and it's holster and speed loader pouch will get clipped to my waistband before I even stand up from my bed.

Then I will grab my cane and get up.

What happens next depends on various factors.

I have teenage children, specifically I have a 19 year old daughter who works sometimes until after 1:00 a.m. and she does have her own social life, so coming home after 2:00 wouldn't be unusual.  However the dogs and the cats know her walk, and while they will alert it is a different kind of alert.  Instead of the tense ears forward ready to pounce alert, it's the ears back tail waggin because they know she is going to come in and pet them and talk to them.

The first type of alert though, those are the ones I dread.  Because I don't know who or what might have alerted them.

There have been times the dogs and cats have alerted because of snakes, possums, raccoons, armadillos and even deer have been outside.  Those false alarms got my heart rate going.  However there have also been times when the dogs and cats alerted to someone outside who they didn't know.  A rather intoxicated young man was outside once trying to get into my truck.  I just called the sheriffs office and let them deal with the young man, who was evidently trying to walk home from a party a few streets over but was so inebriated he decided to just find someplace to sleep.  And he thought my truck would be a good place to do that.  I didn't go outside to confront him, though legally I would have been in the right, in a different state, I might not have been.  The only time I had where it might have been something really bad was last year.

I have my scanner going 24/7 so I heard when the local police had pulled over a car full of young men.  Two of the 5 ran from the police, and the PD, the Sheriffs office and the State Police were looking for them.  This was less than a mile from my house.  Where I live is basically a peninsula surrounded on 3 sides by water with only 1 road in or out unless you have 4 wheel drive and you want to trespass on quite a few peoples property.  All of my kids were in the house for the night, all the doors and windows secured. 

So I sat up listening to the scanner and going through my blogroll when first my cat Tufts was staring at the outside corner of my bedroom, and all of her hair started to rise.  Then the dogs started to look at the same place and their fur started going up as well.  When all of them were either growling or hissing, I grabbed my cell and dialed 911.

While I was on the phone to dispatch, I grabbed the Taurus, it's speedloaders and put them on my waistband.  While I was still on the phone to dispatch, I then went over and got out my High Standard 12 Gauge pump and checked it's load.

The entire time all the animals in the house were staring at the corner and hissing or growling.  They had never done that, even when the armadillo was out there.

What ever was out there, was moving now to the corner of the house where my truck and my suburban were parked.  And whatever or whoever it was, they tripped my motion sensor light.  The light came on and all I saw was a shadow fleeing over to the property next door.

I was still on the phone with dispatch, and told them what was going on.  They informed me that there were deputies on the way.  From the time I first called 9-1-1 to the time deputies were there searching was 9 minutes.

What could have happened in those 9 minutes?

What could have happened if I didn't have the motion sensor light?

What could have happened if I didn't have a scanner to let me know what was going on in my area?

What could have happened if I didn't have pets to alert me?

What could have happened if I didn't have firearms and the knowledge to use them?

What could have happened if I didn't have a phone, cell phone or a cell phone signal?

What could have happened?

They caught 1 of the young men at the end of my street when he got caught in the fence.  The other they caught 4 blocks over when he tried to break into a house to hide, and set off the alarm.

Both were on probation, and both had warrants out for their arrest for violating their probation.

So I ask you again.

What could have happened if anywhere in these chains of event, I DIDN'T have the means with which to protect my family?

The people who are trying to ban yours and my firearms, from Hollywood actors and actresses to politicians, have private ARMED bodyguards.  We don't.  But that doesn't matter to them.

As long as THEY are safe.

They don't really care about us, despite what they say.