MountainMudbug

The big difference is that most (if not all) people are familiar with golf and fishing and similar activies, and there are 'designated areas' where those things are done. Geocaching is largely obscure since most people have no clue about it. Additionaly, caching can be done just about anywhere, anytime, and it can also look extremely suspicious to those not 'in the know'. I mean, I know I look weird when walking in circles, poking around in bushes. And I get the feeling that some folks' eye just glaze over when you try to explain GPS and geocaching to them. "Uh, techno stuff.... whatever."

Wow, the article was surprisingly positive and well-researched. Interesting to see who the cache belonged to, as well. I dare say that as a searcher I'd most likely have waited until the funeral was over if I was so visible....... And I'm getting really sick of taking my shoes off in the airport, too. Even flipflops....

I collect all old/full logbooks from my caches and keep them in a huge ziplock bag at home. It is very nice to flip through them while I'm curled up on my sofa and watching tv. I find that most logs these days are simply cachers' names and the date of the find. The older logs from years ago usually had much more written. I must admit I myself used to write more in the logbooks but don't really do that anymore, but then again when I started caching most I found were in areas that weren't so exposed to the public and I had time to casually sift thru and enjoy the cache. Today so many caches are micros with little room for comments, or ones that involve a higher degree of urban exposure and I just want to get out of there quick without jeopardizing the hiding spot. Guess I've gotten out of the habit of sharing my thoughts on paper, so I do try to write a little more in my online logs than "TNLNSL, TFTC" Maybe I'll try to get back in the habit of writing more in the physical logbooks.... edit to add: referring to the physical logs is handy when trying to determine what happened to travel bugs that are MIA from my caches. I wish more people would write down what they took and left, it'd sure make it easier to figure out..... wishful thinking

If I can't get out into the woods and soak up some nature at least once a week, I get VERY cranky. It is not a pretty picture

Interesting..... we stumbled across one of these hides today while looking for a cache. We thought somebody had swiped the ammo can and replaced it with a tupperware, or that it might be a letterbox, until we opened the box and read the info. Checked out the website and weren't really "into" it..... And to top it off, we didn't find the cache

I just wonder about how much DEET and sunscreen he must go through

I did this during the White Jeep TB contest last time. Since I had already found most of the larger-sized caches around me, I had to revisit a cache (we'll call it 'cache A') that I had previously found in order to have a chance at grabbing a WJTB. After getting the Jeep and taking my contest photo, I attempted to leave it in a cache that I hadn't yet found ('cache B'). But while searching for cache B, I was "attacked" by a thorn bush , so I gave up on that thorny cache and decided to drop the WJTB into another larger cache that I'd found before ('cache C'). It wasn't exactly the best/most fun way to do it (searching for and finding new caches is usually much more fun than revisiting old ones and logging notes), but it was all legitimately done and I got to participate in the Jeep adventure.

I, too, feel the pain of opening a cache and seeing a bunch of garbage in it. It isn't like I'm 'shopping' for stuff that I can easily buy myself..... it is more the principle of the whole trading thing. At least people could make the effort to not just throw what really amounts to trash into a cache. Go ahead, leave toys and playthings if you want, but at least wipe the drool and encrusted crud off before you jam it in the cache. Leaving broken, used stuff is just disrespectful, in my opinion. To both the cache owner, and the cachers who follow you. For instance: I have lately been making more of an effort to keep the contents of my own caches in a decent state since I don't have the opportunity go caching much lately (and also have no desire to hunt down vast numbers of micros - whole 'nother story). I try to put a variety of items that will appeal to kids and adults, males and females. Whilst re-stocking one of my caches that gets a lot of finds from out-of-town cachers, I'm am usually somewhat annoyed (if not outright disgusted) by the items I find. Last restock visit, I found a large pocket knife (I confiscated it and replaced it with several smaller items. And somebody left an open, used container of dental floss. With the floss hanging out by 6-7 inches, and with red blotches on the floss. Now that is just flat out gross. What kind of trade is that, could it be a joke? If so, it could really use an explanation label They couldn't find anything better to leave than that? Frankly I'd rather see a handful of loose change than contaminated dental products. It makes my cache look bad, and I don't appreciate stuff being in there that I don't even want to touch. Unfortunately, I don't really see a solution to this sort of problem other than: 1) make all caches small/micros (an even then people manage to mash stupid stuff in, I've seen it done) 2) make regular-sized caches theme caches, ie: theme related trades (much better chance of trades being 'fair' in this case, but somebody somewhere won't read about the cache before hunting it and will still manage to 'mess up') 3) do the best you can yourself to 'clean up' after other cachers who leave garbage and try not to get bent out of shape too badly when you find said garbage I've done #2, and I'm working on adapting to #3 right now. I ain't easy, but I'm trying real hard. (whew, long-winded rant today)

Hey, that's not a seagull nest, buddy!

A little kingfisher was using the nest as an observation tower this morning:

Sounds like a good idea to me, I know quite a few virtuals that would be great places for such a bug to visit and gather some super photos. I would help a TB like this if I found it in a cache.

Two are in the nest right now, eating fish and making a bloody mess!

Thanks for all the stories and pics, I had fun watching the action on the webcam. It was neat to see the kayakers glide into view - I kept waiting for the dive-bombing but it never occured I will look forward to watching the Spirit of Ozzy travel around I made a goofy animation from the few webshots I took that day

I saw a boat go from right to left on the ospreycam in the background one day, it seemed pretty fast like a speedboat or jetski (I was manually hitting reload on the single-image link at that time, so it was pretty choppy visually)

Good luck, have fun, be safe! If I wasn't 689 miles away (as-the-osprey-flies) I'd show up and help I'm looking forward to reading the adventure stories here and maybe seeing some photos, too. I'll also try to be watching tomorrow on the webcam, hopefully we won't end up seeing a few muddy swampmonsters wading through low tide muck, but that would make a good webshot..... BTW, do ya'll plan on wearing beak & claw proof helmets? My dad has a Stetson-shaped hardhat that would be perfect

Nicely done!

Been raining steadily for about 5 hours I think, water is really rising, Ozzy must be long gone??? I haven't seen any osprey activity since around 13:00:00

Status report: There appears to be a new piece of driftwood in the nest, perhaps to compensate for the loss of Ozzy.....? I watched one osprey standing in the nest in the same spot for 25 minutes with no fish. Looks like it must be drizzling a little there, hope he wasn't crying 'cause Ozzy's gone! Sure wish I'd been watching when Ozzy left

ALERT! ALERT! I don't want to start a panic, but it looks like Ozzy has flown the nest!

Update! Ozzy's been shifted in the nest. I missed it happen (of course!) but there has been lots of activity there today, much fish-eating. Several times I saw two birds in the nest at once, naturally with some fussing and jockeying for position.

9-1-06..... Lunch! Uh-oh, all is fine until a power struggle breaks out.... "Won't hand it over, eh??" "Whatever, I'm outta here!" (yesterday) 8-31-06.... "Excuse me, waiter. There seems to be a tad of splood on my sushi....." Ozzy's silent patience is amazing. I'm sure he smells really amazing now, too

I was watching around 10:50 and turned away for just a couple minutes, and when I came back the fish1/2 was gone! I've gotten addicted to watching zoo cams, there are some nice ones at: Monterey Bay Aquarium in CA, and at the National Zoo in DC.

Wazzup?!

There was quite a bit of activity when I peeked in on the nest before I headed out today.

"No, its not that I mind cuddling with you, but you could really use a pedicure!" "Hey, YOU need the pedicure, not me!" "Whoooo that tickles!!" "Keep laughing, you're next!"