hmmm.
“. . . ability to keep a lion at bay while awaiting its master to make the kill.”
I have been using FrontPoint security which works well, it has a 50$ per month monitoring charge.
The outdoor cams are not cheap at $400 , the indoor ones are $200. They have motion sensors and store clips of video off site in cloud, you can view live too.
The system has, fire and smoke detectors, glass breakage detectors, water and freeze detectors and of course windows and door, all wireless and self install, actually pretty easy but you need to talk to agent to do it over phone during initial setup.
I have had no false alarms, based on cell phone service so you have to have cell coverage. and internet access for cam video.
http://www.frontpointsecurity.com/choose
I choose it because of the great reviews
http://www.yelp.com/biz/frontpoint-security-washington?nb=1
It can text or email you any sensor data you want, ie freeze warning. but humans will call you if there is a significant sensor trip like fire or break in and then call police or fire.
You can take the system with you if you ever move...nice
great customer service.