Tooeygeotrashed Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I have recently been reminded of the 'real' treasures we find when out Geocaching. Those brief, breath taking moments when you encounter nature at her best. My recent 'finds' include a gloriously orange coloured Coral Fungi, a very rare nest of ants, the narrow-headed ant is a rare formicine ant that has a deeply excised head. Their nests are smaller than the normal Wood Ants seen in these parts, made up of much finer material and usually no bigger than a foot high. Then only this morning, a Red Squirell ran right up to my feet, sat down and looked up at me for a few seconds before bounding away into the woods. So share with us your close encounters with nature, pictures would be good but not required. To give everyone a chance of entering, the winning entry will be decided next Sunday. Oh, and here is a peek of what you might win Link to comment
+Geo.Error Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Tooey, how many time may i place a photo??? Thanks for the cointest Link to comment
+Geo-Gophers Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Then only this morning, a Red Squirell ran right up to my feet, sat down and looked up at me for a few seconds before bounding away into the woods. That must have been a lovely moment Tooey......I love red squirrels, but then who doesn't or couldn't. Looking forward to reading all the entries here...... Link to comment
Tooeygeotrashed Posted October 25, 2008 Author Share Posted October 25, 2008 Tooey, how many time may i place a photo??? Thanks for the cointest As long as they are your photos, no limits Link to comment
+Geo.Error Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I think they are art as you see them but they give you a lot of diseases.[ infections] infomation about the Processionary Link to comment
+zazth Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I'll limit myself to pictures that I have taken while caching. Link to comment
+zazth Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) That was a monarch and three red spotted purples on the trail to a cache in Virginia. Edited October 25, 2008 by zazth Link to comment
+zazth Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Small waterfall on the way to Makrinitsa View in Greece. Link to comment
+zazth Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 One of twin fawns on the way to a cache in Newport News Park in Virginia. The mother had three legs. I have pictures of her too but they aren's so great. Link to comment
+zazth Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Crane on the water in the Newport News Park. Link to comment
+zazth Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I have many more of different butterflies, flowers, scenery, deer, crabs, turtles, a hawk, frogs and lizards from all over the Med. and back on the east coast of the US. I'll stop posting now. Link to comment
+Geo.Error Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 we were caching and we set at the same time a edelweiss coin free for a coiner who loves flowers. So our mission for that day was looking for flowers and then you see a lot flowers who you other wise missed. Link to comment
+Geo.Error Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 a old tree with very old mushrooms Link to comment
+Geo.Error Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 The famous Bell towers [ hope it is the right word] from Asten the Nederlands. Bell tower museum from asten Link to comment
+LadyBee4T Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Here is my cache log for GCVQ4W New2U2? This cache is located in a city park that runs along a river there. Imagine our surprise and delight!! September 16, 2007 by LadyBee4T (1344 found) Out caching this evening with my good caching buddy Nurse Nanna. There were some caches in this area she wanted to do and I wanted a buddy with me when I attempted this one because of the terrain rating. We picked our approach gabbing and making a bit of a racket and suddenly she said "Look right in front of you." I turned and there was a doe calmly eating and looking at us about 25 feet away. I then saw another and she handed me my camera. I took a few shots but the light was fading a bit. The deer walked off and we continued towards the cache. About 100 feet away we again saw them and the fawn then looked at us and turned to its mother and starting nursing!! Anne made a noise and that little fawn looked at her as if to say "What, haven't you seen a deer nursing before?" The answer for me was no! This was a definite kodak moment but I of course had put my camera away. On we went towards the cache and the deer never got more than about 60 feet away from us walking in circles and calmly eating. When we got near the cache site my gpsr was having a bit of trouble settling down. We watched the deer and looked for the cache, looked for the cache and watched the deer. The light was fading but I finally located the cache container. It is very well hidden!! Very nice hide for sure. When I opened the container I got the surprise of my life!! I found a Pot O'Gold geocoin!!! I couldn't believe my eyes! That Leprechaun did sneak into town for the Notre Dame/Michigan game and left his gold!! I grabbed that coin and left appropiate swag in return. Thanks for the great cache! We had fun finding it and watching the deer was a great bonus. Watching that fawn nurse in the wild = PRICELESS!!! Because of the fading light most of the pictures didn't turn out so this is the best one. Link to comment
+DJ.J.ROCK Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Well,, Once Again were still pretty new but weve had 2 close encounters, one was just the other night!!I was night caching and sat down on a bench neer the cache. After about 10 min, a huge winged bird flew over me,, at first I thought it was an eagle, but it landed in a big tree behind me,, and started hoooing!! I have never seen an owl before!!! Its alot biger then I thought,, I put my flashlight on it to see how cool looking this bird is,, he was white with lots of shades of whites and greys,, and their face is flat looking!!! Fantastic bird!!! I stayed put till he decided to give me one more close up by flying right over my head with he's wings fully extended out,,I said to myself"thats a big bird" I was in awww..and couldent wait to get back home to tell the wife!! The other one,We were on a trip to Steamboat. We were caching on the way up there and back. We had already did the hike with the lil one and had found the cache, we were sitting on the trail and I had just got back down the hill from retriving it while my wife waited with the lil one and our belongings in the wagon, at the trail. So we were all sitting, talking quietly,signing the log and looking thru the stuff in the cache,, when all of a sudden a White tailed fox pops out from the hill I had just come down and walked down the hill about 15 ft from us on the trail. Course ,,I Grabbed the camera and turned it on, He looked at us over his shoulder very casually and walked off down the trail,,I was able to snap the photo as he was leaving about 25 ft from us. So after about 10 min we were done with the cache,,so I went to put it back just up the hill on the right of the photo, as I was re-hiding the cache I could hear my wife yelling "Go AWAY",, I knew right away that the fox had come back and was close, so I shot off like a bullet down the hill and the fox took off running. After thinking about it,I think we might have been mistaken for food for a bit there, and the fox was coming back but did not expect me to be up the hill so, when I Shot out of the brush and he saw I wasnt sitting down so I looked alot bigger and he wasent hungry anymore.,,hahaha,,,close call tho. It was a good thing the cache wasent very far away from them!!!! hope you enjoy our story,,and thx for the cointest. Link to comment
+DJ.J.ROCK Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) we were caching and we set at the same time a edelweiss coin free for a coiner who loves flowers. So our mission for that day was looking for flowers and then you see a lot flowers who you other wise missed. I also love flowers,, they are so pretty on camera!!! here are some of my prize photos of flowers also from our trip to steamboat, enjoy!!! Edited October 25, 2008 by DJ.J.ROCK Link to comment
+Vanelle Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Last month, on a long road trip with my dad, we stopped for a cache in Missouri. It was on an abandoned bridge, in the middle of a giant, peaceful cotton field. I had never seen cotton plants in person, and as luck would have it, they were in bloom while we were there. Fat, ruby buds bursting with immaculately white raw cotton. This cache is one of my favorite finds, simply because of the experience we had standing in the field. Link to comment
+Fiery Searcher Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Crane on the water in the Newport News Park. I think that looks more like a Great Blue Heron, but the picture is still lovely, whatever the species! Link to comment
+Vanelle Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I have a thing for plants - most of my happy discoveries on the trail for me are plant related. I was visiting a childhood friend in Seattle, and we went out together for a bike/hike to the APE and Iron Horse Caches. Along the way, the Indian Paintbrush was in bloom. This is a wildflower that does not grow where I live, and I was delighted to find it growing freely in the mountains. Not only that - it reminds me of a certain coin! Link to comment
+Fiery Searcher Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 While hiking on the Lost Valley Trail to find a virtual cache (GCG4QK) recently, we came across these two. (NOTE: This photo is rated PG-13. Parental Guidance suggested, particularly for those under 13.) Link to comment
+Chur Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I found this little guy while doing the "Schippstrother Runde", while I was searching for the micro with the next hint. He couldn't tell me where the next stage was, so I carefully replaced the piece of bark under which he was hiding... Normally I never get my camera out fast enough to take pictures of the animals I see, but this newt was patiently posing for me :-) I think it is an alpine newt, but I didn't look if it's belly was orange, didn't want to disturb it too much PS: Thanks for the Cointest! So many nice pictures! Link to comment
+Tschakko Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Many ducks on a very small pond Link to comment
+Tschakko Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Slimey keeper of the cache Link to comment
+Tschakko Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Not real nature, but a great picture A bugs wife Link to comment
+Tschakko Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Those stayed closer than I thought, unfortunately the cache does not exist anymore... Link to comment
+Vanelle Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 On a hike out with friends for our golden ammo can, we happen to hit a section of trail that was littered with these lovely little newts. The kids ran ahead of the group, carefully picking up every newt they found and gently moving it off the trail so they would not be hurt by our activities. Here is a picture of one inside a leaf. Link to comment
+GEO*Trailblazer 1 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Does Stonehenge really tell us something? My visit with the Nature of the Universe at UMR Stonehenge another aspect of nature. STONEHENGE I timed it so I was there at the Solstice. It is correct to within seconds. The Analemma It is truly amazing and can't wait to go to the real Stonehenge. Link to comment
avroair Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Finding a red squirrel is rare, I saw one last year in the Lake District we almost ran it over (no wonder they are going extinct!). Anyways, came across this orange Salamander while hiking: Link to comment
xboxcrazy33 Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 While I was out hunting for the cache Purple Micro (GC157PE) in one of Fort Collins, CO's wonderful wilderness areas, I had to stop and take a picture of the small lake nearby the cache. The picture doesn't do it justice. The water was so calm that it was basically a giant mirror. It was one of those moments when I remembered why I love to geocache. Thanks for the cointest Tooey! It's always fun to have a cointest where you get to see people's pictures! Link to comment
+Roaring_Fork Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) Here are some shots from this summers caching adventures: Edited October 25, 2008 by Roaring_Fork Link to comment
+GATOULIS Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Oh!!! Nature! I love nature! One of the things I like in geocaching is that you are actually comming close to nature, you can see beautiful places, forgoten small paradises that exist close to you without even know it!!! I will post some of the photos we took while we were geocaching, and some others taken when we were just out! Let the posts begin!!! Link to comment
+GATOULIS Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) Edited October 25, 2008 by GATOULIS Link to comment
+GATOULIS Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) Edited October 25, 2008 by GATOULIS Link to comment
+GATOULIS Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 finally...for now, a photo from a place near my house, ...and one of my favorite photos! A frozen flower that my dad is holdin! It is a rare photo just because we actually do not have snow in Rhodes!!! this photo was taken on the tallest mountain in Rhodes, and it was -16 C° !!! I had never experiensed something like that (frozen things, snow and very low temperatures!!!) Link to comment
+GATOULIS Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 I am so sorry for the size of the photos, but I do not know how to make them smaller! I am also so sorry for posting so many photos! My deepest apologies to PSTN users!!!! I will post now a photo I took accidently with my mobile! It is not very clear, but you can see.... It is taken from the balcony of my house! It is the exact moment the tunder hits the house or something close to it...I think! Link to comment
+GATOULIS Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 (edited) My last photo will have a story too! It is not a nice photo, and it shows the recent fire in Rhodes! Mother nature Needed our help! Now my story!!! As I said before I love nature! I can find peace by hearing birds singing, I can hear nature when the wind is playing with the trees! If you are careful enough, you can hear her too! you can understand when she is happy, when she is smilling, when she is ungry! Of course with a lot of imagination....right? When I was in the army, we were going to help in fires! Once, I saw the worse and the most beautiful thing in my life! Strange, but these things are so close.... We helped stop the fire, but the damage was big! Our next job was to enter in the burned areas to die out the remaining tiny fires, to drop water on burning trees... It was so horrible! my heart was in pain! I was feeling very bad! You know, when a tree is burning, you can hear it crying!!! It makes strange sounds that.... No I was seeing from close the desaster! dead trees still smoking...the earth was black and in some places had turned in something like glass, animals that were traped and died while they were trying to escape... the place was so hot that our army shoes started melting!!! Our feet were burning! after some time we left! We came next day to check! Some areas burned, some areas were safe, some were half burned! Some trees were half burned but they were still standing there with some branches still green and alive! the tree protected them like a mother protects her children! then I saw something unique!!! I saw an ant coming out of the ground holding a piece of a green leaf!!! WOW!!! Sometimes these tiny things are so unique, so beautiful!!! I was there when mother nature started healling her injuries! Yes! Life was still there! I have no idea how this ant survived! maybe it came from an other place... I do not know! I only know that I saw it!!! I was there!!! I wish I had a camera with me, but... I have this picture kept in my mind! I wish you could see throw my eyes, this unique event!!! Some months later, the army took us and replant the area! New baby trees were taking the place of the others! Of course everything was clean and small bushes had started growing there! Years have passed, and now I do not recognize the area! I know where it was generally, but things are like there was not fire at all! ...Almost! I do not know which are the trees I plant, I do not know where exactly I plant them! They all growed up and all the area looks the same, but I know that somewhere there, there are some trees that I carried them when they were babies and I helped them find a place to live! Sorry if I was too romantic! Sometimes when I write.... Edited October 25, 2008 by GATOULIS Link to comment
+grodan & fiabus Posted October 25, 2008 Share Posted October 25, 2008 Here is a photo from when we logged a cache in Gothenburg, called Beware of the trolls. It is a place out in the woods where people have made trolls out of grassformations. An old man is keeping the eyes on and make the place stay nice and ok. Here is a waterfall in Dalarna Sweden. It is called Rullbäcken and we have placed a cache there. In winter it freezes and makes wonderful iceformations. We used this photo for a locationless. I liked those caches. thanks for this fun idea. Love to see all beautiful photos from around the world. grodan Karin Link to comment
QuigleyJones Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 One of twin fawns on the way to a cache in Newport News Park in Virginia. The mother had three legs. I have pictures of her too but they aren's so great. That fawn is pure Evil. Link to comment
+LadyBee4T Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Belle Isle is located in the Detroit River betweeen Windsor, Ontario Canada and Detroit, Michigan. We had found a bunch of caches on the island and I took this picture of the Detroit skyline as we were leaving. Link to comment
+brewmeister Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 While I had thought of many beautiful natural places I had been to, when I asked my daughter about it, she said that she remembered one place in Germany. So I told her to write about it. The following is her story... We, my dad and I, went to Stuttgart Germany for a nice day-trip, and of course we had to catch a few geocaches there as well. So we decided to do a few in a forest in Stuttgart, only one of the numerous forests filled with caches all over Germany. It was a nice little walk, and I enjoyed the scenery, but at first it was only another forest expedition in spring-nice, but nothing truly special. But when we stopped to look for the cache, that was when I saw something truly extraordinary. Two of the roots of a tree, an oak perhaps, had curved around to form a bowl shape, filled with earth and covered in a layer of thick, brightly green moss. Seemingly spilling from within the tree was more moss, looking just like a tiny, faery waterfall, frozen with moss. Not only that, but a tree, just a tiny twig of a tree, with a few small, vivid spring-green leaves, sprouted from the moss close to the edge of the little basin. It was beautiful, as only nature can be, and how I wished one of us had a camera to take a picture. I could have spent ages there, staring at the ‘waterfall’ with its elfin tree in the root-bowl, trying to draw it, and any photographs definitely would have been framed and set on my bookshelf. That sight just made me stop and think about how gorgeous Earth’s phenomenon’s can be. There was only one bad part about the forest expedition: we never did find the cache. If this story is the lucky winner, I will give her the coin. the brewmeister and kid Link to comment
+Butterfly_lady Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Well, being in New Zealand, we have few creepy crawlies to contend with. Absolutely no snakes, poisonous spiders bar one, and no real skills to go with that. SO..... heading to Australia. First day caching. Walking to an Earthcache, striding out in front, passing another group coming the other way, something dark, dark brown caught my eye. I stopped very still, until hubby behind bumped into the back of me. Fortunately he then spied the slither of that snake as it left the sunny warm path back into the grass. It must have only been there a few seconds, due to us passing the other group. I found out later at the reptile centre that it was most likely the Taipan, one of Oz's most deadly snakes..... yikes! My first and only snake encounter out caching (to date - yes, I've been back to Oz, caching since) Link to comment
+fingers crossed Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 Here's a few pics of some wildlife we've come across while caching - usually the deer make a run for it before the camera is ready Link to comment
mlbcard Posted October 26, 2008 Share Posted October 26, 2008 (edited) Pika... after 4 hours of climbing in the Rockies their high pitched squeaking stopped us. We were wondering what was making the noise until we found this furry thing welcoming us with flowers . Edited October 26, 2008 by mlbcard Link to comment
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