RhinoInAToga
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Posts posted by RhinoInAToga
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If curious: Yes, we will still be caching in the state we move to. So it would be no problem to take them with us and place them there if there are any walls we would run into with adopting them out.
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We have recently begun putting out caches, so we only have a handful. We are moving soon, probably in another month or so, and we would like to leave the caches where they are instead of taking them with us, and therefore away from the local caching community.
We have heard of others adopting some caches, and in some instances maintaining them, although we don't know what the difference is between the two. If anyone would like to adopt/maintain these caches, they are more than welcome to.
They're not bad caches- there was only one that we already archived that was put in a bad area. (you live and learn)
They are located in the Fletcher, NC and Hendersonville, NC areas if anyone is interested.
If not, that's ok. We can take them with us, as we don't want them to go without regular maintenance.
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You could also get them involved with travel bugs. The tags aren't that expensive, and they can attach whatever they would like to them and "set them free". Then they can log on and enjoy seeing how many miles they have traveled, and where they have been. I know my stepson really enjoys that aspect of the game.
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Happy Trails
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The way I think about it, and this may not be a thought process applicable everywhere, is that there are certain risks every cacher should be aware of and on the look out for every time they search for a cache.
A quick list:
It's not the smartest thing to cache alone
When looking for an LPC, wasps and other nasty insects may be there
When looking for a cache in the woods look out for bear, coyote, people, etc (my region)
A cache in a bush may stir up bees
Any holes or dark, dry undisturbed places may contain spiders
When in woods or near water, you may stumble upon a snake
There's more, but you get the idea. So, unless the cache is in an area that would put you at risk more than usual for a dangerous animal, area, or insect, it should be understood to look out for any of these things. If the cache is in an area where you're more at risk, note it on the cache page.
For example, I have a cache near a stream. When placing this cache, I noticed that there were a lot of snakes around. Will they be around in the winter? No. But the first sentence on the cache page was "Look out for snakes: Not only on the ground, but also above your head!" But I didn't elect to use the "dangerous animal" attribute, as there are usually snakes near water and rocks.
I hope this was helpful
Edited for spelling
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Welcome we were not successful our first few.. Or handful You're doing well!
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OH! I see it! Wow! That was pretty good
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How bad is it that I can't see the cache in that picture? Lol I've been staring at it for a few minutes now. This may be why we rack up so many DNFs..
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Congratulations Sgt Mikal! Such a great post with such great replies!
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I'm very glad your effort & patience paid off so well. Enjoy the geocoinfest, we'll be attending the U.S. Event, & hopefully maybe even volunteering during it. This was a really enjoyable post, I've had many chuckles & even some deep thought because of it. So, thank you.
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We would usually find micro caches that had been there for some time, & they would contain things like run-of-the-mill rocks, a dead flower probably picked nearby probably two months before, a fish bowl glass rock, and change. (not interesting coins, just..change.)
However, we were recently FTF on a micro cache: Film canister. (We don't usually go for FTFs unless we're already out, so we don't have many. Perhaps that, & the fact that we're still new, is why I haven't seen this before.) There were all kinds of cool, tiny things in there! Tiny erasers, a bracelet, little tiny plastic animals. I was impressed with the care they took in their hide, and that they found so many micro goodies to include in it. I didn't realize there was such tiny swag to be found. I had seen a random tiny rabbit here, a minuscule mermaid here.. Not that much swag in one, though. It has me planning to go out & buy some for our micro hides.
If you plan on doing the same, I say go for it. It shows you take pride in your hides, & when trading, you trade quality swag even though it is tiny. That's what I learned about/from the person who hid that cache, anyways. I have a feeling I'm going to consider us "noobs" for quite a long, long time. I keep discovering new aspects to this game that could make us better cachers.
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Ok, if this contest were about votes, I'd vote for keewee. Just for the laughs.
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We use our first names followed by 2Jeeps2Jacks, if they don't see out trackable event nametags first.
"I have something coveted!" *holds up caribiner*
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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned battery-anxiety...
GPS Batteries dying (and replacement batteries dead too) when in the middle of nowhere
Flashlight batteries dying during a night cache
DNFs (especially when someone with 3 finds just found it easily)
Stingling Nettles
Poisonous Spiders
Creepy people hiding in the bushes
Urban caches
Cougars
Falling off a cliff (and worse yet, surviving)
The creepy people hiding in bushes and the bear being 10 feet away from me are definitely on the list. And, funny you should mention it, but our flashlights died in the middle of the woods tonight while doing maintenance on a cache!
Good thing it was our cache & I knew where we were..
I just replied with what I seem to always worry over the most. Everything else is (more or less) in-the-moment kinds of things. Although I have been getting wiser about them.
I like your caching name, btw. In your team, who's Jack-Jack?
Jack-Jack is our 3rd child which supposedly we will have in the future. Apparently, it had better be a boy also. LOL. Or maybe we could just change our guinea pig's name to Jack-Jack, that would be simpler and less painful.
Less painful isn't that the truth! 9+ months of hormonal hades..then birth, because 9 months & the sacrifice of a body just wasn't enough. Lol yeah, I'd stick to the guinea pig
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You know, I have no idea. Good topic.
I sometimes get micros for free. (Diabetes test strips containers) the others we purchase whenever we have the extra bucks. Then we slowly fill them with swag over time, while coming up with ideas for placement. We usually put swag in them here & there whenever we refill our swag bag. Then, when we have enough swag in some, we'll keep our eye out for an affordable FTF prize (which we do because we think it's nice)
That process takes a while, sometimes months, so I don't keep track. We just always have caches building since we started. But now I think I'll keep track, even though we only add to them when we have extra money so it doesn't effect the budget.
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IBTL
Or is it..IBTM(ove)?
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Ive had frequent sightings of bears in the NC area. I used to be able to walk up to them without any fear when I saw them in the Smokey Mountain area. Then there was one incident when I was hiking alone in the area of the Fontana dam. It was during a drought, and I wanted to try to see where the old towns had been before they flooded the area in the 1940s. I was on the top of a ridgeline on a game trail when I heard heavy bushwhacking without any voices along with it. At first I thought it was another lone hiker, but I crouched down low anyway to try to get a view without being noticed. When I saw the bear, he was just going about his business without any problem, but then he stopped suddenly and looked directly at me. I was about 300 feet away on the top of a different ridgeline, but still in his line of sight. All the other times I had seen bear, there was never any eye contact, but this time there was. He started to move towards me, but there was a small valley between us. I jumped up, screamed, and slid on my rump down a very steep slope on the opposite side from him and ran out onto the open area of where the lake had been. You are not supposed to move at all, but there wasn't any way that I could not. I made a bunch of noises, started whacking a tree with a log and ran off. I definitely had surprised him, and I appeared to him to be only a few feet tall also. I ran about a mile back to my jeep, nearly had a heart attack, and the entire time thought that I heard him bushwhacking in the woods following me. Since then I have been overly paranoid at the slightest inclination of a possible bear. Walking in the woods, being slightly nearsighted and seeing a large dark cave or stump in the slightest shape of a bear sets me into a small panic. Before that there was a time when I accidentally walked up to one on a trail in Cades Cove. He was only 20 feet away, and I just froze and watched him. He knew I was there but didn't even look at me. A few hikers came up the trail, saw me but not the bear, and I didn't say anything to them until they got nearly as close because I thought it was funny. The look on their faces was priceless. But now, it's a little different..
I'm in NC as well. Lotsa' black bear! I think we (well, anyone who's dealt with them for some time) all had that phase..that carefree attitude when it comes to black bear. They seem deceptively calm, almost cuddly. I, too, used to mess with them, but in a much more stupid way.
A bear used to frequent my neighborhood. I'd see him wander down the trail & I'd drop what I was doing & take off after him. Often in PJ's & bare feet. I would follow him (closely) to see where he went in the neighborhood, & what he did. There were several times that I lost him in the little wooded area, as he made his loop back to the trail. Sooo stupid!
One day he was trying to get to our garbage cans (they were locked in a box, which you know is common) & I didn't want him clawing his way through the wood. So I threw a rock at the box to make a loud noise. It scared him, & he took off at a run back up the trail. I stood there for a long time, thinking how stupid I was! If he had chosen to run at me instead of away, I wouldn't be here today. Once you see how fast & powerful they truly are for yourself..it makes you think!
Funny side story: after that happened. One morning I woke up late for work, & I was scrambling out the door. I was pulling my shirt over my head as I ran out the door to the car, (modesty always went out the window when I was running late) & while my shirt was stuck over my head (stupid buttons) my neighbor yelled, "BEAR!" I peeked out the top of the shirt & he was in my garden, which was next to the car. Staring at me. I screamed & turned around & ran with the shirt still stuck up around my head & arms. Bumped into the truck, the side of the house, and the porch post before I made it back inside. I was really late that day!
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This is a fascinating topic! "GeoAnxieties" would make a fantastic username. BTW, what kind of gloves do you all recommend...
Mechanic's gloves have been working wonderfully for us. Thick enough & hardy enough to flick a wasp nest, avoid spider bites, and grab briars..yet thin enough to handle anything you're trying to grasp.
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I'm surprised nobody's mentioned battery-anxiety...
GPS Batteries dying (and replacement batteries dead too) when in the middle of nowhere
Flashlight batteries dying during a night cache
DNFs (especially when someone with 3 finds just found it easily)
Stingling Nettles
Poisonous Spiders
Creepy people hiding in the bushes
Urban caches
Cougars
Falling off a cliff (and worse yet, surviving)
The creepy people hiding in bushes and the bear being 10 feet away from me are definitely on the list. And, funny you should mention it, but our flashlights died in the middle of the woods tonight while doing maintenance on a cache!
Good thing it was our cache & I knew where we were..
I just replied with what I seem to always worry over the most. Everything else is (more or less) in-the-moment kinds of things. Although I have been getting wiser about them.
I like your caching name, btw. In your team, who's Jack-Jack?
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GPSr
in How do I...?
I'm sorry.. The fact that there's a different forum for this type of post completely left my head. I'm taking this advice, & the reviews from the other forum to heart, & we think we're going with the 45XL, but we have another place we want to check out first. Thanks for the advice, NiraD. If this post needs to be closed, or moved, that's ok with me. Sorry again.
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GPSr
in How do I...?
I have one of the old yellow eTrex devices (before there were different models of eTrex). It is certainly functional, although (1) it doesn't have a high-sensitivity receiver, like modern handheld units do; and (2) it requires a serial cable to transfer data from a computer to the GPSr.
So, it's functional & might be alright for a tighter budget, but it's not recommended. that's ok. When we can afford better for a hobby we'll upgrade. Right now I don't want to blow the money for a top of the line one, in the near future that will change. It just has to get us through this year.
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GPSr
in How do I...?
We've been looking for an affordable GPSr for a while now, and today the other half of the RhinoInAToga team found three at a pawn shop for very reasonable prices. (I know, ebay, craigslist, etc.. We like to shop where we can handle the merchandise.)
The three are all Garmins: etrex (which I have seen are discontinued, why?), 45XL (which seems to be an older model), & 38 (which seems to be an older model as well) We don't mind older models, as we are always on such a tight budget, as long as they perform well.
Can anyone give me info on these, as well as recommendations for what you would get if on a shoestring budget as well? Thanks!
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I got my Geico TB a few weeks ago. Y'all take a look at what is traveling with the gecko. TB474DW
Enjoy
That is sweet! Classic.
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I consider myself to be a dog person, as I kinda understand where they are coming from, and treat them with the respect due any critter with sharp teeth. As a cop, approaching houses is something I do all the time. In the rural community I work in, the residents mostly ignore things like leash laws and vaccinations, choosing instead to deny ownership of any dog that becomes aggressive.
For the most part, this isn't a problem, as a calm, forthright manner will dispel any concerns felt by the average pooch, making them less likely to bite. But over the years, there have been some exceptions. It's become a fad amongst crack dealers to raise the most aggressive dogs possible, and when we show up at their door, they literally throw the dog at us, so they can effect an escape. That can get ugly real fast, as 60 pounds of snarling pit bull is flying at your face. Thankfully, I haven't had to utilize deadly force to deal with any of these airborne pooches, but many of my peers have. In each of these instances, the crack dealer's family criticized the deputy who shot their dog. Not a pleasant situation.
To date, (knock on wood), I've only had a dog of mine bite one person. He was installing cable at our house, and the dog in question was a rather large boxer/lab mix. Random had never displayed outright aggression toward anyone, but he was rather defensive about his castle, barking when folks came on the property. I figured "Better safe than sorry", and put Random in a harness, on a 2' lead, affixed to the rails of my garage door. This gave him shade, and just enough length to sit up or lay down. I told the cable dude to use the sidewalk if he needed to go from his truck to the front door, as I was concerned about him being bitten by Random. The suggested route would have kept him at least 30' from my dog. Random didn't display any aggressive tendencies during the cable guy's visit, but did show interest, as he would sit up and thump his tail whenever the cable guy walked by. I guess the cable guy interpreted this seemingly friendly demeanor to mean he could walk up to Random and pat him on the head. When he turned away from Random to continue inside, Random bit him right on the butt. Thankfully, he was wearing jeans, and the skin didn't get penetrated. Within a few minutes, I had Volusia County Sheriff's Office, Fire-Rescue and animal control over to treat any possible injuries and to document the bite, even though cable dude said he was fine and I shouldn't bother. I learned a valuable lesson that day; even a dog you own, have trained properly, and come to trust can bite when unprovoked.
I just had to say.. I love the fact that while explaining that your dog displayed behavior that he doesn't normally engage in, you included his name. Which happened to be Random.
adopt-a-cache
in South and Southeast
Posted
Thank you, Sword Fern.