never eat shredded wheat Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hello Fellow Cachers Very new to Geocaching and this site, so please bear with me I have tried doing a search for this and I'm sure I came across the answer once when floating around these forums (but can I find it now I want it ...........Nope!) Anyway I was looking for a small card/leaflet that I can print off and carry with me in case any interested muggles ask what we are doing, can anyone help at all? It's probably somewhere I've already looked DOH! Many thanks Joy and Nik Quote Link to comment
+Dorsetgal & GeoDog Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Welcome to the forums! I was going to say somethng flip like, "ah but the trick is, not to get caught" but truth be told, everyone gets asked at some stage or another. Having a dog makes life much easier, I can either pretend to be looking for a lost ball or looking for a lost pile of you know what, usually by the time I produce a baggie they are on their way! Quote Link to comment
+Trucker Lee Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Real quick, put Alka-Seltzer tablets into your mouth so you start slobbering and foaming like there is no tomorrow, and start snarling at them. They will run like crazy from the rabid weirdo. Just kidding. You reaction needs to be varied by the circumstances. A uniformed muggle would need an honest, straightforward explaination, a bored teen woudl need something creative to protect the cache. And occasionally, you might need to tell some to "mind your own bidness". Quote Link to comment
+gingerbreadmen Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Usually I pretend to be either talking on my mobile (yes, that old one) or pretend to take photographs, if somebody is persistant I say it's a form of tresure hunting which usually satisfies their curiosity. If I judge them to be "a decent sort" I may well explain about geocaching without actually giving any nearby locations away. Twice I have been asked by the Police, never lie, just be truthful about why you are in the area and what you are up to, showing them the insides of your caching bag and a print-out or two helps, fibbing will only cause more tears in the long run. Quote Link to comment
+The Boat People Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 We usually say "Sorry can't tell you, its top secret and if we did, we would have to come back and kill you" It works everytime Quote Link to comment
+Team Sieni Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Hi NESW. Make sure you are big, ugly and unfriendly looking ... works for me. I also (bad leg permitting - which it doesn't at the moment) spend a lot of time grovelling around photographing fungi, so a pile of assorted tripods, cameras, reflectors, lenses etc while the other half of TS thumbs through fungus reference books makes a good disguise. Ah! it's a specimen of Cacheillaria Tupperwariensis I think. You can distinguish it from the related Ammoboxia variety by the translucent skin. I'm not sure whether being a pair of fungus nerds is any better than being GPS nerds. Love the name by the way. I still have to mutter it to myself on regular occasions. Quote Link to comment
+HazelS Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Oh I have a whole range of answers, depending on how mischevious I'm feeling. While Pengy and Tigger and I were out cachng in Oxfordshire recently, some kids asked what I was doing rooting around in a tree next to the canal, I told them that every Sunday I have to do a survey on tree snails and report the findings back to the Council... hee hee Sometimes I just say I'm taking part in a treasure hunt of sorts, but the best if deffo when I tell them I'm a location scout for the BBC looking for somewhere to film a new soap opera / drama / feature film... Quote Link to comment
+FollowMeChaps Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Real quick, put Alka-Seltzer tablets into your mouth so you start slobbering and foaming like there is no tomorrow, and start snarling at them. They will run like crazy from the rabid weirdo. I agree with Trucker Lee, works for me but I don't need the Alka-Seltzer's at my age! I've often found a perculiar look will put Muggles off asking questions - it's great to see how fast they can run Quote Link to comment
+rogerncook Posted July 17, 2007 Share Posted July 17, 2007 Usually I pretend to be either talking on my mobile (yes, that old one) or pretend to take photographs, if somebody is persistant I say it's a form of tresure hunting which usually satisfies their curiosity. If I judge them to be "a decent sort" I may well explain about geocaching without actually giving any nearby locations away. Twice I have been asked by the Police, never lie, just be truthful about why you are in the area and what you are up to, showing them the insides of your caching bag and a print-out or two helps, fibbing will only cause more tears in the long run. Yes but what DID the police catch you doing on that car park with Dave Mars in the dark? Quote Link to comment
never eat shredded wheat Posted July 18, 2007 Author Share Posted July 18, 2007 Thank you all for your warm welcome, highly amusing excuses and the link to the leaflet (think I might use the business card though) We have only been caching for about two months - picked a bad time with the weather! On our first caching trip we were casually walking down the road, Husband had GPS in hand, when we came across some young kids stating that we shouldn't go any further down the path as they had just seen a large cat and then when they saw the GPS they thought we were police officers. (I hasten to add that we were dressed quite casually, Husband had his shorts on lol!) I have to admit that we played along with this to avoid any questions I just wish that I had told them we were hunting the cat down! Saying that there has been some big cat sightings in Telford recently so there was every chance they were telling the truth! Quote Link to comment
+drsolly Posted July 19, 2007 Share Posted July 19, 2007 "What are you doing down there?" I''m inspecting the bridge." But sometimes I tell them "It's a sort of treasure hunt", and if they show any interest, I explain about geocaching. Quote Link to comment
+vw_k Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 I was stopped by an off duty police officer once whilst looking for a cache that was legitimately put on the property of the church he attended by another church member (the officer was unaware of geocaching) I was careful to explain to him that it was a harmless "treasure hunt" where you signed a logbook in a box, and that there was an official website that he could look up for more information. If I'm telling the truth to muggles I usually say something like "it's a sort of internet 'treasure hunt' for GPS enthusiasts where you find a logbook in a box and sign it to say you've found it". I always say it's just a logbook in a box with no real treasure to prevent people from wanting to find it themselves and plunder it, just to protect the cache. As soon as you mention GPS and signing a logbook most people dismiss it as a "geek" activity and something they're not interested in and leave you alone. The quick and easy option is "I lost my tennis ball here in the dark last night and I'm looking for it"! Quote Link to comment
+imajeep Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Depends on who it is. If a LEO, they are generally familiar with geocaching and interested in my GPSr. If an ordinary muggle, I'm sometimes looking for lost keys, and occasionally looking for a contact lens that fell out here yesterday. If the person appears trustworthy, I'll tell them its Internet hide and seek for GPS enthusiasts, and that the object of the game is to sign a log (well, it is for me ). Quote Link to comment
+gingerbreadmen Posted July 21, 2007 Share Posted July 21, 2007 Usually I pretend to be either talking on my mobile (yes, that old one) or pretend to take photographs, if somebody is persistant I say it's a form of tresure hunting which usually satisfies their curiosity. If I judge them to be "a decent sort" I may well explain about geocaching without actually giving any nearby locations away. Twice I have been asked by the Police, never lie, just be truthful about why you are in the area and what you are up to, showing them the insides of your caching bag and a print-out or two helps, fibbing will only cause more tears in the long run. Yes but what DID the police catch you doing on that car park with Dave Mars in the dark? Well, Your Honour, I was the only one to sit in t' car behaving myself whilst waiting for the other three weirdos (they know who they are, names will be provided for a bottle of Southern Comfort) to emerge from said park in the early hours of the morning. Anyway, it's society that's to blame, ahem. Can I go now before I start digging an even deeper hole? Quote Link to comment
+John Stead Posted July 22, 2007 Share Posted July 22, 2007 ... digging an even deeper hole? Naughty - you know very well that caches must not be buried or tools used to dig for them - oh no, I see now, it was yourself you wanted to bury to hide from Dave! Quote Link to comment
+Matt_Harpenden Posted July 23, 2007 Share Posted July 23, 2007 Muggle: What are you doing? Cacher: Oh, just using a multi billion dollar advanced satellite navagation system to hunt tupperware. Classic Quote Link to comment
+The Lavender Hill Mob Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Muggle: What are you doing? Cacher: Oh, just using a multi billion dollar advanced satellite navagation system to hunt tupperware. Classic LOL Very good...............and so true. Quote Link to comment
+pklong Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 Best questions I've been asked yet are "Is that a Geiger Counter" (the reply obviously was yes ). Another time I was searching just outside a graveyard when a kid approached me and asked the usual. The answer given was searching for ghosts, this detects electrical signals. Quote Link to comment
+walkergeoff and wife Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 My wife and I went out to a local multi cache, and, as we were getting the numbers for the final cache, a boy came up and said 'What are you doing?'. I gave him a simple explanation, as I always do to anyone who asks: 'We are doing a treasure hunt using a GPS. People often take you to places to get numbers, which you use to find the final cache.' His reply: 'I know. This is my sister's cache!' On the way home we wondered what he would have said had we adopted one of the stratagems offered in this thread, and whether they had a good laugh over those who invented a reason for being there! Quote Link to comment
+Paul G0TLG Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 I usually just say "I'm doing a treasure hunt, and the next clue's around here somewhere". If they think you're looking for "treasure" they'll stick around and see if you find it; if they think you're looking for a clue they'll probably get bored and wander off Quote Link to comment
+Team Sieni Posted August 20, 2007 Share Posted August 20, 2007 On the way home we wondered what he would have said had we adopted one of the stratagems offered in this thread, and whether they had a good laugh over those who invented a reason for being there! Love it! "We're taking radiation readings for the government, now run along little boy." "Oh, I thought you were geocaching." Quote Link to comment
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