Pokemon in Your Yard? How One Man’s Sign Speaks for Lots of Homeowners

This is a sign one homeowner posted after so many people had come on to his property in search of Pokemon....

I had to laugh as this is JUST the type of "smart alack" sign I'D be likely to post if I caught anyone on MY property.

Thankfully, for WNY Pokemonners (??) everywhere, this hasn't happened – YET.  I've already vowed on the air if this DOES happen on my property, I'm turning the hose on them!

After a few of you emailed me saying that Pokemon Go does not, in fact, include private properties, I give you these Tweets from Australia to California. They ARE, in fact, invading homeowners' yards.

I see a person in the pitch dark walking around in pajamas, I'm calling for a 5150 pretty quick. Hopefully any armed, and possibly less-patient, neighbors won't see them first.

What would YOU do if you saw a stranger lurking in the dark on your property?  Remember, it's pitch dark, you have no idea who this person is or what they're doing, you're probably groggy, and they're wandering around in your yard.

Again, as I've said on the air, I will fully concede that there are SOME (very FEW, in my mind) positive benefits of this "game".  People are finally getting out and exploring their surroundings (note: you could've done this BEFORE the app existed) and some are finding newfound comfort in socializing (walking zombie-like staring at a phone doesn't sound social to me, but what do I know?).

However, thanks to my overly paranoid mother, I am now that overly paranoid concerned adult. I know a handful of 14 and 15 year olds whose parents refused to drive them around on the Poke-hunt in the evening, so they went ahead and sneaked out of the house after midnight and met up with a group of TOTAL STRANGERS in a park. Who knows who these OTHER people are, or what their intentions are?

Now, I know, some of you will want to bark at me and say "that's the parent's fault. Why weren't they aware of their child's whereabouts. MY kid would NEVER do that." To that argument, I implore you – remember when YOU were 14 or 15? A stern talking-to didn't exactly keep most of us from sneaking out, cutting class, or anything else we weren't supposed to be doing.

I'm not saying the game should be outlawed, not by any stretch of the imagination. I am saying, however, that until there's a way to constantly police who, when, and where these gamers go, it's going to continue having potential dangers, and to further sprout into your back yard.

And I'm NOT okay with that. In my (paranoid, yet humble) opinion, it's only a matter of time before something really, really bad happens.

Is collecting Pokemon really worth it in the end?