A pet peeve

[+TotemLake]

I have the opposite problem. One of my caches is very easy to find if you stand in the right spot and look. Finders keep hiding it better than I left it.

Really.. you too. Worst part is when you disable a cache, drive 50 Miles to maintain it, and then find it right there... perfectly hidden. Ohh and this happened after 5 DNFs...

 

The Steaks

 

Fortunately, that particular cache is close to me.

[+Royalott]

I have been an outdoors man all my life and I guess I don't have to be a feller that finds 30 or 40 finds a day to know the difference between a coon messing with my cashe and the thing being moved 10 ft and hidden under a log. I don't need to be a seasoned veteran to go out the day after the thing is found and be able to see the dang thing from the trail.

 

This problem is not about my skill looking for a dang cashe. It is also not about my ability to tell the difference between an animal dragging the thing from a hide and some inconsiderate person not taking the time to re-hide the thing.

 

I may not have the experience you or others have but I really don't care. I can use my GPS and that is good enough for me. I try to support the hobby that I like to enjoy when I feel like it and I like my cashes to be hidden in a careful manner.

That sounds perfectly reasonable, and I agree with you.

 

You are obviously VERY frustrated with the problem of cachers not putting your caches back the way you intended. I understand, and I sympathize.

 

... which is why I was sort of hoping to hear what you thought of my idea. Have you considered it?

 

Here it is again:

 

I think a better solution to minimize the problem of "hide drift" would be to:

(1)

Decide

exactly

how you want your cache to be hidden;

 

(2)

Write up a

very

detailed description of the hide – location, camouflage, orientation, maybe even a few photos –

everything

a person would need to know to re-create the hide

exactly

as you originally placed it; and

 

(3)

Print the description on bright yellow paper or something, laminate it, and place it in a conspicuous location

inside the cache container

.

Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed.

Do you think that would work for you, Royalott?

 

I think it might be a good idea to make sure in my description that I would like it returned to the spot and hidden..Actually I am not all that bent out of shape over this but I thought it is a topic that should be addressed. There have been 50 posts so far so I guess it has been addressed. People have to be made aware that this is a bit of a problem and just cooperate.

 

Like I said, I metal detect and there are people in that hobby that make it bad for all of us. People that trespass and don't refill their holes etc. Not many are like that but the few that are make it bad for all of us. Many parks are off limits to metal detectorist and it is our own fault.

 

We must do all we can to protect this hobby too and make it fun for all of us.

 

Thanks for all the helpful responses

[+russellvt]

It's one of my pet peeves also. However, since there are "ghost" cachers out there who don't sign the logbook or log online, you can never be sure who did it.

There are also stories of "griefers," who fall outside all of the above categories... I'll leave that one up to your imagination, where they fit in, though. I've also seen areas where there would appear to be a couple of folks (hiders) that would often appear "targeted," too (could just be terrible hides, but I'm not necessarily inclined to think that way).

[+Vinny & Sue Team]

I just started geocaching yesterday. Got my first logged cache yesterday. I ordered some nano's and got some of the sealed containers the wife has tucked away to use for caches. The first thing my wife said was that they would get stollen. I replied that if properly hidden in the right place those involved in geocaching would respect what others have done. I guess there are always people that don't care. I would also assume that the last person to sign a log was not the person that left a cache uncared for. I might be wrong but I'll give someone that put their name on the log the benefit. At least until I put out a few.

Me too! Yummy! In fact, I got stollen today! Specifically, it was a freshly-baked fruit and butter stollen, a gift from Lynn, CCCooperAgency! Sue had a geocaching date with Lynn today to hunt about eight new caches in a state park near our home, and when she met Lynn in the parking lot to start their cache hunting outing, she discovered that Lynn -- as she has done several times in the past, since she knows about my very serious stollen addiction -- had brought along a gift for me, a fresh fruit and butter stollen from a German specialty bakery located near her home in Eastern PA, a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here! I ate three slices of the stollen about a half-hour ago, within one minute of the moment that Sue had walked in the door and announced that she bore the gift from Lynn. Thanks, Lynn!

[+chuckwagon101]

I have 11 cashes I have placed and something that I find really irritating is when a person finds them some people seem to think it is too much bother to take an extra three or four seconds to re-hide them. In the last few weeks I have found three of my cashes totally exposed after they had been found the day before. Are people letting their kids re-hide these things or what?

 

I had one that was totally exposed the day after it was found, I was in the area and thought I would check on it and had to re-hide the thing. Recently I checked it again and it was gone. I had to replace it today.

 

It seems that these few clowns that are too lazy to put in the effort to re-hide a cashe should find another hobby, something that they can do by themselves.

 

There I have vented It takes the owner a heck of a lot longer to purchase the things in the cashe and to hide it than it takes someone to re-hide the cashe

 

It's NOT me Roy!!!

 

If it is a BIG PILE OF STICKS when I find it.......

 

then it's a BIG PILE OF STICKS when I leave it!

 

The key for me is.........well, you can figure it out!

[+gof1]

Keep you pet peeves on a leash!

[Skippermark]

I have the opposite problem. One of my caches is very easy to find if you stand in the right spot and look. Finders keep hiding it better than I left it.

If we find a really exposed cache, we'll make a judgment call and then email the owner or make a comment about it in our log. If the cache is in the base of a tree totally exposed and there's a pile of sticks in the hole not covering the cache, you can be pretty sure the sticks were cover for the cache.

 

On most other caches, though, we leave them as found, even if the hide seems kind of whacky. If something seems weird, we'll email the owner to let him know how we found it.

[+Star*Hopper]

I'v also considered stating in all my caches: "On any cache found not replaced properly, the last log WILL be deleted - no question, no appeal!" While I know I can't check after every logging, and can't ascertain the last logger didn't actually repeat the MIS-placement of the previous finder, I'd hope any & all cachers would take the extra precautions, fearing THEIRS might be the one deleted....since they never know when I'll come to check on it. My thinking is if I can inspire EaCH one to replace it correctly, there'll be fewer problems. Worth a shot?

So you will delete my online log, and then refuse to respond to my emails, even though I re-hid the container exactly the way I found it?

 

Thanks for the heads-up.

 

Now I will know to look for that warning in all cache descriptions in the future. When I see it I will know to ignore ALL caches placed by that hider.

 

That kind of peer pressure might work on recruits at a military boot camp, but it is illogical and unworkable in this hobby. If you start pulling that stuff on your fellow cachers you are asking for trouble. I want no part of it.

 

Thanx, hoss. Keepin' you away from me & mine is one of my highest goals in life. Mission accomplished. Now, you go follow your logic - I'll follow mine.

 

Apparently many of you are missing the 'subtle sledgehammer'. SAYING I'd do it (in the description) doesn't mean I'll DO it. But if each & every one goes to the hide knowing he'll need to take extra care to note where & how he found it, it lessens somewhat the liklihood of him not replacing it properly. AND if everybody replaces it properly, the situation of log deletion shouldn't arise.

 

~*

[+Snow Birds]

 

I'v also considered stating in all my caches: "On any cache found not replaced properly, the last log WILL be deleted - no question, no appeal!" While I know I can't check after every logging, and can't ascertain the last logger didn't actually repeat the MIS-placement of the previous finder, I'd hope any & all cachers would take the extra precautions, fearing THEIRS might be the one deleted....since they never know when I'll come to check on it. My thinking is if I can inspire EaCH one to replace it correctly, there'll be fewer problems. Worth a shot?

Did I mention I do luv a dreamer?

 

~*

 

I don't think that's very nice, but I certainly understand your logic/reasoning here. But for me, if I were to find a cache and hide it back exactly as I found it, yet the way I found it was not correct because Joe Cacher a few hours before me re-hid it wrong, and you deleted MY log because of it, I'd be one mad cacher!

I agree. I would be severely pissed at being punished for something I didn't do...and no appeal?? Besides, if I was going to do something bad to a cache, I certainly wouldn't sign the log or log it online.

 

Royalott, have you considered transferring them to someone else rather than archiving them? Is there a "Cache in need of an owner" thread? Or "Help Wanted"? I have had a couple of caches that I intended to get to, but the owner got mad or had personal problems and archived them!! They were cool caches, but now they are toast! One of the caches, I had attempted and left a note about taking the wrong road and having to climb a mountain. That note pissed him off, and he archived ALL of his caches because he perceived that I was running down his cache! Sheesh! I was simply warning people not to get on the wrong road as I did. I think there were other previous problems, but rather than give the responsibility to someone else, he ruined it for everybody by archiving them all.

 

I remember a time when I went to look for something in my yard and it was missing. I later discovered it some distance away covered with sticks and twigs. I put it back where it belonged. The next day it was back and covered again. I did this for about a week until I discovered the squirrel that was trying to hide it for himself!

 

One of the caches in Arizona was a rubber chicken, with a film canister stuffed up it's...uh...lower end! It was finally destroyed (repeatedly) apparently by coyotes! It smelled like rubber, but it did <look> like coyote food. Quirky #3 - Bird on a Wire. It is now archived out of frustration.

 

I have heard that sprinkling cayenne pepper in a garden will keep the deer away. Maybe this would help with caches that are suspected of wildlife interference.

 

As a side note, I also have heard that putting moth balls in a garden will keep dogs out. Well...I had a dog that picked up each and every moth ball and piled them all up in a corner!!

 

Downy sheets are supposed to keep cats from pooping on your lawn. Our stray cats moved the sheets, did their thing, then covered it with the Downy sheets!!!

[+gof1]

Don't forget, if your pet peeve makes a mess you are expected to clean up after it.

[+infiniteMPG]

I'v also considered stating in all my caches: "On any cache found not replaced properly, the last log WILL be deleted - no question, no appeal!" While I know I can't check after every logging, and can't ascertain the last logger didn't actually repeat the MIS-placement of the previous finder, I'd hope any & all cachers would take the extra precautions, fearing THEIRS might be the one deleted....since they never know when I'll come to check on it. My thinking is if I can inspire EaCH one to replace it correctly, there'll be fewer problems. Worth a shot?

I think what would be inspired is someone purposefully running out to one of these caches and mis-hiding it without signing the log just to sit back and watch the fun <jk>

 

We've had caches knocked out of holes in trees by squirells, carted off by dogs, pushed around by cattle, washed out of hiding spots by gulley washing rains or strong winds during tropical storms, handled and replaced by muggles who stumbled across the hide and didn't know what they were handling, all kinds of factors besides not being re-hidden properly that put them out of place. I do agree 110% that people don't seem to take the time to re-hide properly lately but I don't think threats in the cache would be worth a hill o' beans...

[+Guinness70]

I think a better solution to minimize the problem of "hide drift" would be to:

(1)

Decide

exactly

how you want your cache to be hidden;

 

(2)

Write up a

very

detailed description of the hide – location, camouflage, orientation, maybe even a few photos –

everything

a person would need to know to re-create the hide

exactly

as you originally placed it; and

 

(3)

Print the description on bright yellow paper or something, laminate it, and place it in a conspicuous location

inside the cache container

.

Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed.

i know : older post, but ive been caching for only a month now, so reading up and some posts are so spot on I feel obliged to pay my respects".

excellent idea !

i was thinking "spoilers" but "in the cache" ... why didnt i think of that.

 

 

-//-

That is the thing I like about Geocashing. It has taken me to some mighty interesting spots withing a few miles of my home that I was not aware of.

-//-

thats exactly the reason i got into caching :-) Edited August 11, 2008 by Guinness70

[+TotemLake]

I think a better solution to minimize the problem of "hide drift" would be to:

(1)

Decide

exactly

how you want your cache to be hidden;

 

(2)

Write up a

very

detailed description of the hide – location, camouflage, orientation, maybe even a few photos –

everything

a person would need to know to re-create the hide

exactly

as you originally placed it; and

 

(3)

Print the description on bright yellow paper or something, laminate it, and place it in a conspicuous location

inside the cache container

.

Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed.

i know : older post, but ive been caching for only a month now, so reading up and some posts are so spot on I feel obliged to pay my respects".

excellent idea !

i was thinking "spoilers" but "in the cache" ... why didnt i think of that.

 

 

-//-

That is the thing I like about Geocashing. It has taken me to some mighty interesting spots withing a few miles of my home that I was not aware of.

-//-

thats exactly the reason i got into caching :-)

Folks can barely get some people to read the cache page before the hunt and now you want them to read a detailed how to hide me message inside the cache?

[AZcachemeister]

I think a better solution to minimize the problem of "hide drift" would be to:

(1)

Decide

exactly

how you want your cache to be hidden;

 

(2)

Write up a

very

detailed description of the hide – location, camouflage, orientation, maybe even a few photos –

everything

a person would need to know to re-create the hide

exactly

as you originally placed it; and

 

(3)

Print the description on bright yellow paper or something, laminate it, and place it in a conspicuous location

inside the cache container

.

Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed.

i know : older post, but ive been caching for only a month now, so reading up and some posts are so spot on I feel obliged to pay my respects".

excellent idea !

i was thinking "spoilers" but "in the cache" ... why didnt i think of that.

 

 

-//-

That is the thing I like about Geocashing. It has taken me to some mighty interesting spots withing a few miles of my home that I was not aware of.

-//-

thats exactly the reason i got into caching :-)

Folks can barely get some people to read the cache page before the hunt and now you want them to read a detailed how to hide me message inside the cache?

 

And before too long, the laminated instructions will be traded out as the best available swag in the cache.

[+gof1]

Make sure your pet peeve has access to fresh clean water at all time.

It is especially important in hot weather.

[+SixDogTeam]

And don't leave them locked in the car...

[+gof1]

Spend quality time with your pet peeve. Many times when a pet peeve gets into trouble it is because they want attention.

[+KBI]

I think a better solution to minimize the problem of "hide drift" would be to:

(1)

Decide

exactly

how you want your cache to be hidden;

 

(2)

Write up a

very

detailed description of the hide – location, camouflage, orientation, maybe even a few photos –

everything

a person would need to know to re-create the hide

exactly

as you originally placed it; and

 

(3)

Print the description on bright yellow paper or something, laminate it, and place it in a conspicuous location

inside the cache container

.

Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed.

Folks can barely get some people to read the cache page before the hunt and now you want them to read a detailed how to hide me message inside the cache?

Please note that I didn’t claim anything about the odds of hiders actually complying with the printed instructions – or that they would even read the instructions.

 

What I said is this: "Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed."

[+KBI]

And before too long, the laminated instructions will be traded out as the best available swag in the cache.

Not if you epoxy-glue the laminated instructions to the lid of the cache.

 

(Do I have to think of everything?)

 

[+Team DragonMoon]

I've had 19 caches out, mostly urban. Like the other posters I've noticed about 1 in 4 finders can't be bothered to rehide/recamo my cache; I have a couple of caches which I can watch without being seen. In my experience, muggles problems arise after a poor rehide - not before. Also had 2 "dropped" - one a ground level cache! - (and broken) with the bland assumption that I will recover the bits and mend - no offer to contribute. Have a feeling that Night cachers and Speed cachers also cause cache casualties. Standards are dropping...as caching becomes more popular. In fact it's got so bad that I am considering making all of my caches Premium member only.

 

Premium won't help much. see my other post on destructive cachers... that was a "Members Only" and it seems premium members can be just as bad if not worse...

[+TotemLake]

I think a better solution to minimize the problem of "hide drift" would be to:

(1)

Decide

exactly

how you want your cache to be hidden;

 

(2)

Write up a

very

detailed description of the hide – location, camouflage, orientation, maybe even a few photos –

everything

a person would need to know to re-create the hide

exactly

as you originally placed it; and

 

(3)

Print the description on bright yellow paper or something, laminate it, and place it in a conspicuous location

inside the cache container

.

Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed.

Folks can barely get some people to read the cache page before the hunt and now you want them to read a detailed how to hide me message inside the cache?

Please note that I didn’t claim anything about the odds of hiders actually complying with the printed instructions – or that they would even read the instructions.

 

What I said is this: "Nobody will ever again be able to claim they didn’t know where or how the container was originally supposed to be placed."

As legitimate an argument as this is we both know human nature well enough.

[+KBI]

As legitimate an argument as this is we both know human nature well enough.

If you’re saying “never underestimate the ability of human idiocy to overwhelm even the best stupid-proof design,” then I agree with you.

 

All I’m saying is that you would be protected from anyone’s claim not to know how the cache was originally hidden – at least until someone walks off with the container without ever opening it, that is.

 

Yes, every anti-moron countermeasure can be defeated -- and if it can be, it probably will be. I've even conquered a few myself. The power of my idiocy is not to be taken lightly.

[Clan Riffster]

Don't forget to have your pet peeve spayed or neutered.

[+BoggyWoggy]

You are assuming it is cachers leaving the caches exposed. There are at least two other possibilities

1) It could be muggles who happen upo it by chance, don't know what it is or what to do with it, and just drop it. (Better than taking it.)

2) If you've got animals around, (deer, squirrels, dogs} they will sometimes drag unusual things out in the open and then lose interest.

3)Further out in the woods... time, gravity, rain can wear down a cache's cover and leave it exposed.

(I know, that's three)

Yeah, those deer and squirrels using their secret opposable thumbs to drag caches about are REALLY making it tough for us hiders! I've been removing their thumbs whenever I catch them. You might have noticed. I'm still working on it, though, and have about a billion to go. If other geocachers could help me out, it'd make it so much better for all of us!

[+Ed56]

I hide a lot of pill bottles at historic markers and ghost towns--trying to bring folks to interesting spots. One thing I have found that works is to tie the cache in place (a branch, fence wire, fence post, etc.) with twine leaving just enough extra twine to allow cachers to get to the cache, open it, remove log, sign, and return log to container. Cache doesn't get to move from correct location. Twine usually blends in fairly well with environment that the cache is in.

 

That's good idea which I will use (with your permission). I recently archived one of my caches because people kept re-hiding it so poorly that I had to spend hours hunting for it to do maintenance. I'd considered putting a leash on it but though it might bug people... but now I think I'll do it. Angry Physics Gods department: The clue for one of my multi caches was written on a thin strip of plastic and wedged between 2 heavy timbers. Cachers kept reporting finding it on the ground and I figured it was due to careless re-hiding. However one evening I really jammed it into place then went back early next day to check... it was on the ground again. Apparently the plastic contracted just enough in the nighttime temps so that it fell out. Mystery solved. I replaced it with a magnetic clue. My only real peeve is with a extremely tiny minority of ungrateful cachers who complain about some of my homemade cache containers then don't even post a TFTC. I guess their mommas didn't teach them to say please and thank you. Another of my caches disappeared for a week then miraculously turned up again 6 feet away? One of my most recent hides was reported "missing" by a newbie with 3 or 4 finds when he couldn't find it. It wasn't. Oh well, it's all good. Happy hunting, Ed56