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jkycia
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# Posted: 17 May 2011 12:20am
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Hello Group
Any Ideas of what this may be due to?
When opening up my in-law's cabin this spring on the bruce peninsula, ontario, we found that the door was broken in.
The door was pushed in and the
door frame had given way. The spring/piston mechanism on the screen door was ripped off. I have attached pictures. What does this look like to you?
I would not think it is an animal because they did not rip open the screen in the screen door. Also the damage in localized.
If it was a person, I do not understand why they hit so low and with what.
Also the small scratches to the side of the hole seem odd. Other than the broken door, nothing inside seems to have been touched. Not at all, no shuffling or anything.
DoorA
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Here is a close up ...maybe
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CabinBuilder
Admin
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 05:57pm
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Puzzling...
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turkeyhunter
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 07:46pm
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strange..............did the door open, by the hole in it. Looks chewed..........
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 08:02pm
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The door was pushed open. The door was somehow
pushed and the force at the door lock (at the door knob) made the door frame split vertically along the grains of the wood. The door then was able to swing in.
I just don't understand why the damage to the door itself looks like that.
If it was a person, they may have used a pick but why did they hit there and not closer to the door handle. Also why are there these small nicks to the left of the main hole? A blunt tool would have been more effective.
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rayyy
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 08:34pm
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Look's to me like it was rammed open by somthing solidly mounted to a 4 wheeler or jeep or somthing.
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 08:42pm - Edited by: Gary O
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Quoting: rayyy Look's to me like it was rammed open by somthing solidly mounted to a 4 wheeler or jeep or somthing.
Most probable, rayyy, nice one...but again why?
Here's my twisted wandering:
Assuming nobody was scheduled to visit over the winter, and any tracks would be removed by snow melt, several events could be assumed.
One thing for sure, someone/something felt the need to remove the barrier (door) during snow season.
An animal or person that became distracted or scared off?
Doubtful an animal, as you say, nothing much disturbed.
Person?
As you say, why so low (assuming no stairs that would give the door abnormal height).
Flip side:
Someone is shut in (swollen door, funky knob), for an extended period.........
Assuming the door opens inward, bashing it from inside might not be as productive as punching a hole with (say) a crow bar, using a golf shot and using the claw (through the hole) and pulling.
Or an outside opening door with snow piled against it.....
Notice the hole is torn away on the outside edges, like from a blow from the interior, and the marks are generally on the left, suggesting someone with a left handed swing and pull with a crow bar (from the inside).
But then again, there appears no room on the inside to the right, so an awkward left handed swing by a righty is more probable, explaining the lighter marks on the right side from a vain initial attempt of a right handed pull
Of course this is all conjecture, and assuming windows (covered with snow?) were not an option.......
Where's Watson when I need a light of my pipe?
Thanks for the mind exercise jkycia
Now I'm going to turn a large piece of wood into a smaller one.
Please tell us more clues, so we can revisit this adventure, and most probably blow my theory all to hell with something not so far fetched.
(actually, I think rayyy is onto something)
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bobrok
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 08:44pm
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My guess is an animal...a large animal that gradually got emboldened. Do you have bear in your area?
I have seen them break into an outhouse (?) and a locked ice cream freezer chest. The can be methodical in finding a way in if unprovoked and left to their own devices.
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hattie
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 08:55pm - Edited by: hattie
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I dunno what it was, but I don't think it was a bear. We've had them break into our camp many times. They will tear out a screen really easily and you said the screen was intact? Also, bears usually leave really long, narrow claw marks. I wondered about maybe a porcupine because they really love to eat wood, but Hubby said no way. How about a raccoon?
Quite a mystery you have there... such unusual marks and so low to the ground. Come on with all the smart people we have here somebody must know......
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 09:40pm
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The door was built to open inwards. There are many windows
that could be easily broken to get in. The screen door that is outside of the
wood door swings outwards. So that one could have been blocked
in the middle of winter (but there is a big overhang on the roof just above). I was surprised that there was no signs of
weather getting into the cabin. Meaning the door had had not been open for long. When we got there, the time of year, there was very little snow
left. (just is a couple of drifts).
I did wonder if they were still in the house, so I did check the whole place carefully. My first guess was someone broke in to take things. I had some binoculars on a shelf, an old nice looking fm/shortwave receiver, some fishing tackle. That was it for value, not touched. We had no liqueur (one theory of mine was older kids getting in looking for alcohol). Next theory was someone was using it for shelter. The beds were all made nicely as we left them. Nothing was touched.
There was an electrical breaker box right at the door, all power off. They
did not turn on the power or leave it on at least. We left the fridge doors open and empty.
Ok, so then could it have been an animal. ...We for some reason had left
a bag with some potatoes and onions in the kitchen. These were not noticed or eaten.
So maybe a person or animal opened the place and got spooked and ran. Even if it was someone looking for alcohol, I would have thought they would have left the kitchen cabinets open as they looked for it.
Ok now outside. There is a single step leading to the door, so maybe it would not be so easy to use the 4 wheeler.
More details (maybe distractions). If you look at the picture of the scratches to the left of the puncture. look at the scratches, just below there are these unusual pin pricks.
Look to the left of those scratches, there are dents that did not break the stain.
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 09:46pm
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We do have bears and porcupines. The porcupines do love wood.
The screen door piston thing was ripped off (it screws into the wood frame). This would allow the door to open more. There was a spring on the
top of the screen door was also ripped out.
That makes it seem like a person, The ripped the parts off to stop the door
from closing on them while they were working on the main door.
Could give them more clearance for bashing.
There are people with 4 wheelers going around.
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 09:48pm
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Side thing about bears. There was a bear here that was taking peoples
garbage (several cabins). Nobody noticed, they thought their garbage was being collected. The people found the garbage was being opened in the woods a distance away. Pretty smart.
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BlaineHill
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 10:20pm
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If I had to guess... Some idiot opened the screen door and tried the door handle thinking he might get lucky and find the place unlocked. This same idiot, who watches too many movies, thought he would try to kick the door in. By the strick pattern, it looks like a left foot hitting the flat of the door, deflecting and depositing most of the energy on the raised details of the door. After the first kick, it became clear to this idiot that a screen door, hinged on the left, resting on his backside was limiting his back-swing, so he decided to over-extend the mechanism to get the screen door out of the way. After a couple of kicks his foot started to hurt so he wised-up and threw his body weight against the door and the broke the frame. It does not look like a rational break-in. The idiot was probably drunk, high, or both and was looking for guns, drugs or booze. Probably not interested in the trivial pawn value of the contents of the cabin.
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bobrok
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 10:29pm
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Where's Horatio Caine when you really need him?
YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 10:53pm
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That settles it.
Drunk bear/porcupine mix, driving a four wheel drive dump truck.
Seems so obvious now...
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 10:54pm
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One thing I want to check is if somehow and for some reason that the hole and the gashes are due to the piston in the screen door. So if it was ripped off at the door frame side and then the screen door closed, would it hit the wood door at that location. It is at the right height but maybe too far to the right. Also the screen door is pretty flimsy and is not damaged.
I will be going over for a long weekend tomorrow and will look at things
more carefully.
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 11:17pm
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So a possible scenario.
The screen door was not latched. The wind was blowing. This cottage
is on the water on Georgian bay. It can be extremely windy.
If the spring broke, the door could swing open until the
piston ripped out of the door frame. It then slammed into the
wood door repeatedly. The punctures are from the wood screws?
The mounting part (plate with 4 wood screws) would then have to
have broken off leaving just the rod part of the piston.
This plate was also detached from the piston rod when I got there.
So then the piston rod punched though the door and then somehow the door frame gave way.
...That would explain no disturbance inside.
Seems unlikely because of the lack of damage on on screen door
and could that really break the door frame. The frame is made of
pretty light wood. ...maybe cedar.
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 19 May 2011 11:22pm
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Quoting: Gary O That settles it. Drunk bear/porcupine mix, driving a four wheel drive dump truck. Seems so obvious now..."
...come to think of it, that sounds like my neighbour!
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mag162
Member
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# Posted: 20 May 2011 12:27pm
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That door needs a deadbolt added to it.
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neb
Member
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# Posted: 20 May 2011 08:37pm
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Bear or beaver.
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jkycia
Member
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# Posted: 23 May 2011 08:36pm
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Looking at the damage this weekend I am not so convinced of my
screen door piston theory. The damage is a little too low and more to the right than I would expect from the position that the piston was mounted
on the screen door. If the piston was slamming into the door I would
expect a wider stripe of damage at the same exact height.
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Gary O
Member
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# Posted: 23 May 2011 09:01pm
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What, not buyin' into my bear/porcupine theory?
OK OK, it was one a them teenage turkeys, you know the ones, feathers all stuck in their hind ends, loaded up on tryptophan, stereo all amped up, drivin' a garbage truck with a battering ram strapped to the front.
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knottypine
Member
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# Posted: 23 May 2011 11:16pm
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porky did it. i seen it a hundred times before at my camp
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Hermid
Member
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# Posted: 25 May 2011 10:59am
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Looks like something was chewing on the door, Raccoons would do this kind of damage or porcupines
or someone who did not know how to kick doors down was trying to kick it down.
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sourmashjack
Member
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# Posted: 27 May 2011 10:29am - Edited by: sourmashjack
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Showing no sign of damage on the inside, nothing stolen,nothing disturbed, I think the screen door got whipped open and broke the piston mount from the door frame. Over the course of a unknown period of time the piston rubbed and chipped away and finally chipped a hole through the door. There was enough force where the piston hit the door and broke it open.
Mystery solved ... next mystery the Lindbergh baby.
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squatch
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# Posted: 4 Jul 2011 09:34am
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it was me, sorry.
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Brad B
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# Posted: 4 Jul 2011 09:53pm
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My cabin was recently broken into- Similar low damage, as the crook must not have been in to martial arts or didn't stretch... I still have the muddy prints on the door. Looks like three kicks did it for mine. The deadbolt held, but the wooden door frame broke away on the hinge side.
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KevTheBugMan
Member
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# Posted: 27 Jul 2011 06:18pm
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Are there any feral hogs in your area? May not have been trying to get in, just rootin around and scrapin his tusks. If there is no human scent around for awhile they can get curious.
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