Something looked wrong in my cactus garden this morning when I went out to do some weeding at the front of my property.
Then I realised what it was.
Someone has stolen two of my plants.
A beautiful ferrocactus and an echinocactus grusonii.
Both about 8 inches across in great condition.

Can you believe the front of some people.
Not sure what I will put in their place. I have a nice little tree aloe there too but maybe it won't be recognised for what it is.

Some people

Yeah i dont put anything in the front-yard that i care too much about for that very reason, only cacti are some Opuntia / prickly pears ... B*****ds.

Man that sucks !

This is where americans have the advantage over us...they can protect their plants with jumping cholla.

Sorry to hear about your losses.

What a poop of a thing to do... I'm sorry to hear about your loss mate. Jumping cholla sounds like a good defence. Maybe try the dreaded cylindropuntia of death?

Seriously, if people have valuable cacti or other plants within access to tresspassers, I'd suggest some security.

Motion-activated lights and alarms for starters, and as a perimeter line of protection, a camera. Wildlife cameras are sufficiently cheap these days that they are worth the cost, and they take both visible and infrared stills and video. Although I do not specifically endorse this site, they list a few of the better brands even if they do not sell them all.

I'm looking to get a camera myself, so I' might give some feedback down the track.

Yep people are goobers. Sorry to hear you been nimble fingered Rojer

I agree with WD on that comment tho, security is cheap I will be investing in a small two cctv camera / HDD recording station once I finish setting up. one that gets em coming in/on property and one that aims right at my greenhouse. cos I sure as hell don't mind paying a few hundred dollars for security systems than losing thousands of dollars of rare cacti. and the fact if they know what there looking for. you can rack up huge losses in only a couple of trays worth of plants.

Please note, Plants in pots are claimable on insurance, but not ones in the ground. so it pay's to take a catalogue of photo's of your plants in pots for such reasons. as if you do ever have the misfortune of being robbed a specialist will assess them. Dont forget to add that photo of your mates ario collection in the mix too.... =P

-A

Hey Lachy.

You really need to check with the company you do insurance with but most general home and contents insure things on your property in pots. again please confirm with your insurer. My home and contents is with racv insurance along with my car. I actually only found this out when my grandmother had all her orchid collection knocked off just before mothers day. However she got very little as she was only paid out a std pot size vs price of pot size, not type, age or rarity. tho she never had any photo evidence of exact details.

And from what Kanje went through im fairly sure they have your catalog or evidence assessed by an independent , usually people from societies or specialist nurseries . I believe K was paid a reasonably fair sum for his collection, but having said that it's very hard to put a value on them. It really does pay to keep invoices for larger purchases or rarer plants. and to keep a good folder of photo evidence to show growthsize/vs/value. I dont have any set values attached to specifics but I think having my collection knocked off is 5times worse in $ than having my tv or electronic equip stolen from inside.

Hope that sheds some more detail. Bout all I got.