Learning...It's a Trip by Kathleen Cleary

To safeguard your home while you're out of town this holiday season, it's best to take a few precautionary measures to make your home less appealing to burglars.

* A telltale sign that you're away is an overstuffed mailbox. Before you leave, arrange you’re your local post office to suspend mail delivery while you're out of town and have your newspaper delivery suspended for the duration of your trip.

* If your beautiful Christmas lights display glows in the weeks leading up to Christmas but then suddenly disappears once the holiday arrives, thieves can probably determine that your house is empty and therefore a good target. By leaving a kitchen light on inside your house and keeping your Christmas lights on a timer, you're at least giving the appearance that someone is home, and a yard illuminated by decorative lights makes it much more difficult for potential thieves to creep around your house under the cloak of darkness. Be sure to string up some lights in the backyard as well.

* Secure all windows. Along with making sure your windows are locked, hang thick curtains or blinds in all windows. These make it difficult for prospective burglars to see into your home to look for valuables.

* Give someone you trust a spare key to your home. Never leave a spare key in the familiar places, such as under a doormat or in the mailbox. Homeowners who just moved into their new digs should replace the keys and locks immediately, since there's no telling who might have had access to your home before you lived there.

* Many neighborhoods today feature a neighborhood watch program where any suspicious activity can be monitored and reported to police. Alert the program that you’ll be away. Particularly when you're out of town, this is a great way to provide yourself with some peace of mind.

* Light all entrances. Doing so makes it harder for burglars to inspect a home and break in. This is even more important for homeowners who do not decorate their homes with Christmas lights. Also, before leaving for an extended period of time, remember to replace all light bulbs with fresh ones, assuring that your lights will burn brightly throughout the duration of your vacation.

* Take good care of the lawn. A great place for a burglar to hide and go unnoticed is in bushes that are not well trimmed. Take this option away from him by making sure all of bushes have been trimmed neatly so he doesn't have easy access to a hiding spot he can use to scope out your house, even while you're home. It's also wise to strategically plant security bushes near any potential points of entry for a burglar. Placing a rose bush, for instance, near all ground floor windows is a serious deterrent for a potential burglar since rose bushes, while beautiful when in bloom, are also loaded with thorns.

* Put away patio furniture and other backyard tools. Household items strewn about the yard could facilitate a burglary. Ladders, chairs and boxes should be stored in a locked shed or garage, as a burglar can simply use the ladder to climb up to a second story window. Also, simple garden tools can be used to break windows or shimmy open doors, so lock those away as well. GG09B776

CAPTION: Because many homeowners travel during the holidays, burglars often target homes this time of year.