New idea for a cache

[+jasondulac]

I have an Idea for a cache Iwant to build a bird house with a roof that is on hinges so you can open it up and inside would be a regualer sized cache. I would plan to hang the bird house in a tree. So I like to here what others think any feed back would be great

[+Turtle_Sask]

Not one word of a lie, I was going to do the EXACT same thing with the bird house, but then I thought that maybe a bird would try to nest in it or something?

[+markandsandy]

Not a new idea, they are out there.

 

Just block the hole where the bird would normally enter, then you don't have the poblem of birds trying to nest in it. This also makes it obvious to the finder that they aren't messing with a real birdhouse.

[+wkmccall]

I have an Idea for a cache Iwant to build a bird house with a roof that is on hinges so you can open it up and inside would be a regualer sized cache. I would plan to hang the bird house in a tree. So I like to here what others think any feed back would be great

 

There are a lot around here in Georgia like that. They seem to do pretty good.

[+Star*Hopper]

Yup....got one in the works. I just painted on a big black 'dot' for a fake entrance.

Course, if ya start gettin' logs about lots of dead or unconscious birds layin' about on the ground under it...............

 

~*

[+The Jester]

The best I saw had the hole blocked from inside, with a little straw glued at the bottom of the hole (looking like the edge of the nest). I finally saw the the faint GC logo on the bottom.

[Keystone]

I've been finding birdhouse caches since 2002. They're usually quite fun, unless there's a risk of disturbing real birdhouses.

 

As a reviewer, I've noticed that lots of birdhouse caches are hidden with permission from the park, nature preserve, etc. They're a good solution for muggle-rich locations like paved walking trails. I'm betting they find the idea of a fake birdhouse to be familiar, and less threatening than the "buried box" stereotype. Tip: Offer to donate a few real birdhouses in exchange for the right to place a cache in your fake one.

[+WatchDog2020]

I have one where the front opens and inside is a 1970's one cent gumball machine. You put the penny in and when you turn it the song Rockin Robin plays and a 1 inch marble comes out with the next set of coords. written on it. The machine has about 50 marbles in it and a please return here hole. The penny is returned at the actual cache.

Edited March 13, 2009 by WatchDog2020

[+Taoiseach]

If you're ever up Ottawa way, model12 has a nice series of them

[+Bubbles&Bonkers]

I have one where the front opens and inside is a 1970's one cent gumball machine. You put the penny in and when you turn it the song Rockin Robin plays and a 1 inch marble comes out with the next set of coords. written on it. The machine has about 50 marbles in it and a please return here hole. The penny is returned at the actual cache.

 

Aaaaawesome!! I wonder how long a drive it is to NY so I can do that cache??

[+kraushad]

I have one where the front opens and inside is a 1970's one cent gumball machine. You put the penny in and when you turn it the song Rockin Robin plays and a 1 inch marble comes out with the next set of coords. written on it. The machine has about 50 marbles in it and a please return here hole. The penny is returned at the actual cache.

 

That is awesome!!!

 

I have even found birdhouse and birdfeeder caches made from plastic feeders. with areas hollowed to hold the 35mm film canister. It took me forever on that one as I thought it was a real bird feeder.

[+Alien Shore]

I have an Idea for a cache Iwant to build a bird house with a roof that is on hinges so you can open it up and inside would be a regualer sized cache. I would plan to hang the bird house in a tree. So I like to here what others think any feed back would be great

 

There are a lot around here in Georgia like that. They seem to do pretty good.

 

Like this one (now archived)

[Mushtang]

I have an Idea for a cache Iwant to build a bird house with a roof that is on hinges so you can open it up and inside would be a regualer sized cache. I would plan to hang the bird house in a tree. So I like to here what others think any feed back would be great

There are a lot around here in Georgia like that. They seem to do pretty good.

Like this one (now archived)

The last log on that cache is sure to get a lot of boxers in a bunch around here.

[+BadAndy]

You don't need a hole, just paint a black circle. One of the first caches I found was a faux birdhouse.

[+cachensfun]

This is a good idea for a cache. We already thought of doing one but it would be harder to get into.

[+TrailGators]

One of my favorite caches is a birdhouse. It was a multi that led you to a stick with a hook. After scrathcing my head I noticed coords to the final were in tiny numbers on the stick. When you got to the tree there was a birdhouse on a pulley system. It was counter-weighted so that when you pulled it down it would go right back up when you were done signing the log. It was all legal because nothing was permanently anchored to the tree. It was very cool!

[GOF and Bacall]

Everything old is new again.

Go for it.

[+Bamboogirl]

I have an Idea for a cache Iwant to build a bird house with a roof that is on hinges so you can open it up and inside would be a regualer sized cache. I would plan to hang the bird house in a tree. So I like to here what others think any feed back would be great

 

Completely cool idea. And from the feedback, you can see that there are a lot of good variations and ideas already in use. My favorite was a micro that was placed in what looked like a hummingbird house. The "hole" was actually a black mag capsule that held the log. (fwiw, hummingbirds don't nest in houses)

 

From the bird watcher's perspective: please be sure that you don't place it in an area where there are several other bird houses placed as part of a habitat enhancement. You'd be amazed at the number of ah, well.....idiots, that see a bird house and run up to see if there is a nest in it and if they can see the baby birds.

[Moosman]

I just realised this idea. Got many good replys.

Look for pictures on the cache page GC1D4CZ

The "door" is fixed with a magnet. The only bad thing is, that most cachers cant log up there. They throw the box down. Not very healthy for my container.

Mabey I have to add an carabiner to connect the box to the waistbelt.

[+gelfling6]

You don't need a hole, just paint a black circle. One of the first caches I found was a faux birdhouse.

 

All well & fine, til the 1st bird that decides it wants to move in, crashes into the fake opening.....

[+crimona]

This idea is not new, I actually know of an active site in Eureka, California that has it. But I wouldn't think any birdied would wanna set up in there, not in the one I found anyway.... Still a cool idea.

[+Knight2000]

We have done a cache that actually was a large birdhouse. Part was faux and part was real. Very neatly put together.

[+WRITE SHOP ROBERT]

I have one where the front opens and inside is a 1970's one cent gumball machine. You put the penny in and when you turn it the song Rockin Robin plays and a 1 inch marble comes out with the next set of coords. written on it. The machine has about 50 marbles in it and a please return here hole. The penny is returned at the actual cache.

This sounds like a great way to do a Multi Cache I've had in mind, where the first one will lead you to many different Final Caches. Instead if following a trail of stages, you go from "A" to any one of several different final spots. Each final you sign can be another find. In yours, maybe the "Gumballs" could be labeled with different sets of coordinates, and you just go to whatever one comes out on your turn.

[+scuba dude]

You don't need a hole, just paint a black circle. One of the first caches I found was a faux birdhouse.

 

All well & fine, til the 1st bird that decides it wants to move in, crashes into the fake opening.....

 

Yes, becuase we all know that birds fly straight into thoer holes at full speed.

[+Renegade Knight]

Not one word of a lie, I was going to do the EXACT same thing with the bird house, but then I thought that maybe a bird would try to nest in it or something?

 

Mine was bird house where a bird could live in it while the cache is accessed via a slide out bottom that worked like a secret compartment (obvious to a cacher though).

 

Not sure why a bird would want to lvie in it but based on the number of finders it's entirly possible they could with very little disturbance.

[+Star*Hopper]

ABOUT PICKING THE WRONG BIRDHOUSE - Dedicated to bahama97 & "Thanks For Thinking Of Me!"

I remember the first cache I ever tried to find - I didn't have my GPSr yet but figured I could find it from the cache's description, logs & map image. I saw all kinds of comments about the 'unique container', and also about various signs on trees, etc. (it was on a Nature Trail in a county park).

 

Found one VERY obvious sign that'd been prominently mentioned - it was nearly torn off the tree from people looking behind it - and near it, a bird house. Obviously real, since there were several other identical ones (construction, age of wood etc) along the trail. Of COURSE I had to check it out since I knew it was the closest one to the cache GZ! Got up on tiptoe & reached up to the flat top....felt something and GRABBED IT!! Not the cache it turned out.....but a big handful of bird dook!

The birds' revenge!

~*