Hana and Backside Maui Residents Experimenting with New Ways to Say 'No Trespassing'

Residents and property owners in the Hana area and backside Maui are experimenting with new types of 'No Trespassing' signs in the ever-lasting battle with nosy visitors.

"Simply putting a 'No Trespassing' sign on a fence near the road will actually probably invite visitors in," said longtime Hana resident Roy Eheleaku. "After all these years of saying it until our faces turned blue, we put our heads together and are in the midst of a testing period."

On Eheleaku's property, moderately sized signs with "DANGER" outlined in red and "VELOCIRAPTOR CONTAINMENT" in big letters beneath it are clearly visible from Hana Highway.

"We couldn't just go with one of those small signs, we thought, because they would probably just steal them as souvenirs," he said. "We had to make them big enough to cause problems getting onto a plane."

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Further south, near Oheo Gulch, Dan Spinster is placing his bets on Bigfoot ~ though he fears it may backfire.

"We ordered the signs thinking everyone is afraid of a giant hairy monster in the woods," Spinster said. "Then we realized, the more dangerous we make it sound, the bigger the likelihood that they'll ignore it, kind of like the Nakalele Blowhole. I bet fewer people would fall into that thing if we just didn't say anything about it."

Over in Wailua along the north coast, Jack Burberrry thinks more people are afraid of yetis than Bigfoots. "Yetis are portrayed more on TV and in movies," he said. "More people think yetis are less fake."

Even in Upcountry, some locals are experimenting with new ideas to keep people from illegally walking all over their properties.

"We had these signs that warned about Oprah's security team nearby," said Bryson Hoohenehene of Kula. "Everyone knows she has a house up here somewhere, but no one we know has ever seen it, or talks about it. Our theory is, those who get too close, get mysteriously lost."

So far, warning of monsters has not worked very well, the locals say, as they still find trespassers once or twice a week wandering their properties.

In Kula, however, Hoohenehene may be onto something.

"Can't say we've seen a trespasser since we put up those signs," he said.