War over? Sadly, no. Not by a long shot.

Oh, I checked the videos on several occasions, just to be sure they were gone and had not returned. Nothing. No invaders. No masked bandits. No thieves in the night. Not even a possum. All that changed yesterday evening.

Ok, so there was this one coonie that showed up from time to time. Somehow, the little genius found a way to maneuver his way between the electrified wires protecting the sunflower seeds without getting nipped. I call him Neo. His brothers and sisters and aunts and uncles were far less intelligent. All felt the Wrath of Warren when they entered the matrix and got their butts burned. All but Neo.

As many times as I watched the videos, I couldn’t figure it out. He would step right between the hot side and the ground side, one wire touching his back while the other brushed his belly. Nothing. No reaction. An invisible shield? Seemingly unfazed, he gleefully stole my sunflower seeds and feasted until the sun came up. I knew it was only a matter of time before Neo passed his secrets and skills along to friends and family. Clearly, more security was needed.

Going from the latest videos, I think there are now four separate groups raiding the property. We have Ma Barker with her four sons, Lloyd, Herman, Arthur, and Fred. Fred has been missing lately. Maybe roadkill? Then we have the gang of three possibly from the Medellin Cartel. One of them strongly resembles Pablo. If that weren’t enough, a new pair has recently entered the scene. They look to be married. They shall be known as Bonnie and Clyde.

What to do? I had to keep Neo guessing, throw him off his stride, destroy his confidence. I decided to increase the complexity of the matrix.

 To edit photos in Photoshop, it’s common to use something they call layers, sort of like stacks of acrylic sheets where adjustments can be made without harming the original image. I would stack my matrix by adding another layer, a layer of wire, a hot one as the middle layer along with two ground wires, one above and the other below the hot wire. I not only ran this new layer around the perimeter, but also crisscrossed it between the posts. I gave it one last check. It was a thing of beauty, the silver wire shining in the sun and oh, the symmetry! It was a work of art. I threw the power switch to ON. Hee, hee.

Let’s see you how you handle this little challenge, Neo.

I wish I owned some night goggles.

BREAKING NEWS! I just received this photo from a friend. This could get ugly.