When are Muggles not Muggles?

[+Guripper and DGT]

Hi, new to caching and I was out and about this weekend in fairly remote (ish) places. In a couple of places I had to wait for the muggles to leave before I could start looking.

What I was wondering, what if these people are like me?

Example: I drove to a lookout and there was only one guy there, he was standing over to the side and it looked like he was on his phone. I had a look at the view, then got back in the car and got my book out. Guy could see that I was reading, he got back into his car and sat there for about 10mins before leaving.

Was he waiting for me to leave?

 

When is a Muggle not a Muggle??

How can you tell?

[+briansnat]

You can always ask if he's a geocacher.

[+Arrow42]

Hi, new to caching and I was out and about this weekend in fairly remote (ish) places. In a couple of places I had to wait for the muggles to leave before I could start looking.

What I was wondering, what if these people are like me?

Example: I drove to a lookout and there was only one guy there, he was standing over to the side and it looked like he was on his phone. I had a look at the view, then got back in the car and got my book out. Guy could see that I was reading, he got back into his car and sat there for about 10mins before leaving.

Was he waiting for me to leave?

 

When is a Muggle not a Muggle??

How can you tell?

 

I've run across that once. I basically left for 5 min and came back... just in case they were waiting on me to leave so they could find the cache.

 

They weren't. I have no idea what they were doing.

[+GIDEON-X]

 

Use The "Secret-Sign"

Edited June 7, 2009 by GIDEON-X

[+undertree]

It depends on the vibe I get. Sometimes I will try to hunt for the cache while they are there. I have on occasion shown the cache to someone near by. Most people will leave the cache alone and will leave you alone. I have seen logs on my caches where the finder showed it to a muggle. The cache is still there and is actually not a bad hide with nice swag.

 

If it is anyone under the age of 21 then I would leave and not bother. Teenagers and kids have a tendency to steal the caches or at least the items in them.

[+simpjkee]

I would just go for the cache. If he is a cacher he'll say so. If he isn't then you say "Hi, I'm so and so" and do this thing called "chatting". I've never really worried about "muggles" and only twice out of 2000 some caches has a person taken a cache after I left and even those times it can't be proven that it was my search that caused the disappearance.

[+simpjkee]

double post

Edited June 8, 2009 by simpjkee

[+simpjkee]

triple post

Edited June 8, 2009 by simpjkee

[+simpjkee]

If it is anyone under the age of 21 then I would leave and not bother. Teenagers and kids have a tendency to steal the caches or at least the items in them.

 

I think that is a false and unfair stereotype.

[+undertree]

If it is anyone under the age of 21 then I would leave and not bother. Teenagers and kids have a tendency to steal the caches or at least the items in them.

 

I think that is a false and unfair stereotype.

 

Well I would say that many cache thiefs have been shown the booty box by someone they know. I took some cousins along on a cache trip in their home town and latter learned that they returned to take items from the cache. I had a cache thief in my neighborhood who was shown my cache by their older brother. It took several call to the mother to get the activity to stop. I did manage to get the several TB's back.

 

I seen another cache that ended up missing immediately following a scout troop visiting it. Although it can not be proven, my experience says that one or more scouts returned with out their leader.

 

Another cache here that went missing was near a park. When the last few people to hunt it were there the kids from the skate park would yell "You won't find it".

 

So my experience says mums the word around kids you do not have absolute control over.

[+simpjkee]

If it is anyone under the age of 21 then I would leave and not bother. Teenagers and kids have a tendency to steal the caches or at least the items in them.

 

I think that is a false and unfair stereotype.

 

Well I would say that many cache thiefs have been shown the booty box by someone they know. I took some cousins along on a cache trip in their home town and latter learned that they returned to take items from the cache. I had a cache thief in my neighborhood who was shown my cache by their older brother. It took several call to the mother to get the activity to stop. I did manage to get the several TB's back.

 

I seen another cache that ended up missing immediately following a scout troop visiting it. Although it can not be proven, my experience says that one or more scouts returned with out their leader.

 

Another cache here that went missing was near a park. When the last few people to hunt it were there the kids from the skate park would yell "You won't find it".

 

So my experience says mums the word around kids you do not have absolute control over.

 

Ignoring the fact that caches go missing all the time, your 1st example seems pretty sound. The other two look like assumptions padding your false and unfair stereotype.

[+RonnieGeo]

 

Use The "Secret-Sign"

 

 

Hey Gideon - we miss your caches and Yuma area - good to see you still have the best JPEG's !!

 

BTW - that's Jeremy, isn't it?

 

Ken (RonnieGeo)

[+JU5TU5]

I hunt with my BB Storm and BlackStar. If I see muggles approaching, I put it up to my ear and pretend that I'm talking to someone. If the muggle has a legitimate question for me, they'll stop and wait for me to say "okay I'll be there, bye" and pretend to hang up. If not, they just smile and walk on by.

 

Devious.

Edited June 9, 2009 by JU5TU5

[+cbsr]

this same question popped up in my head. i got a decal for each of my cars. so if im in my car waiting on someone to leave and they are doing the same and see the decal, theyll know im there for the same reason as them. of course, if they are shy, it wont work.

 

i also think saying teenagers and kids have a tendency to steal caches or items is unfair. i think anyone, regardless of age, sees another person lifting a lightpole skirt or what have you is going to be curious enough to go over after the cacher leaves.

[+bluedoberman]

I was curious what to do when encountering non-geocachers (I am somewhat hesitant to using a term from a book for adolescents). I just searched a cache in a residential area. There was nobody out there when I started, but as I was leaving, the resident across the street was watching me closely. His interest was beyond the wave and go on your way. My thought was to be straight up with him because I will probably not be the only one there. So, I explained what I am doing and to check the site if he is concerned. I stopped short of telling him where the item was stashed, but this one is easy to find. I attempted to alleviate any concerns of destruction or ill will. Not sure how well it went. I am waiting to see if he removes the item. So, if you have had good interaction with locals, what worked for you?

[+jjome]

Hi, new to caching and I was out and about this weekend in fairly remote (ish) places. In a couple of places I had to wait for the muggles to leave before I could start looking.

What I was wondering, what if these people are like me?

Example: I drove to a lookout and there was only one guy there, he was standing over to the side and it looked like he was on his phone. I had a look at the view, then got back in the car and got my book out. Guy could see that I was reading, he got back into his car and sat there for about 10mins before leaving.

Was he waiting for me to leave?

 

When is a Muggle not a Muggle??

How can you tell?

 

I've run across that once. I basically left for 5 min and came back... just in case they were waiting on me to leave so they could find the cache.

 

They weren't. I have no idea what they were doing.

 

I am on a local moms forum and we said that we needed some way of knowing if someone at the park was a fellow member. I suggested that we use the hand jive as a signal but they wouldn't go for it, lol. Guess they didn't think sitting on a park bench doing the hand jive looked real sane or something like that.

[+WRASTRO]

I have pretty much always gone with the honesty policy when questioned about what I was doing. After all it isn't illegal so why try to lie about it?

 

OT, after five plus years I can usually identify another cacher on sight even if I do not know them. Our behavior is pretty obvious if you are tuned in. Lots of times it is pretty obvious even if you are not tuned in. When I encounter someone I deem to be a muggle (I like those books so I have no issue with the term) I bide my time or I leave and return later. If I identify the person as another cacher I march up and introduce myself after confirming they are in fact cachers. I have never been wrong when I have identified someone as a cacher. I am sure I have seen cachers who I thought were muggles but that would be rare.

[knowschad]

When I encounter someone I deem to be a muggle Wrastro (I like those books so I have no issue with the term) I bide my time or I leave and return later.

 

I prefer "Wrastro"

 

I have no problem not only supporting the "under 21" muggle stereotype, but I will even add the word "male" to it. Not that there aren't adult muggles or adolescent female muggles, but odds are it is going to be a young man. I was one once myself, so I can say that.

 

I have very few qualms about telling anyone else about what I am doing, and to the best of my knowledge, that policy has never caused any problems.

[+Guripper and DGT]

Thanks For All That Guys! Will keep my eyes open and talk to anyone I think will be ok with what Im doing! BTW having a great time doing this!

[+Colonial Cats]

This greeting was invented by briansnat some time ago.

 

When you see someone you think might be a geocacher you yell (very loudly) "Ho! Are ye a geocacher?"

 

If the person is indeed a geocacher, his response will be "Yay, a geocacher am I". Llisten very carefully to the response because there are some phony geocachers out there who will respond "Yay, a geocacher I am" If you hear that, RUN! because he is a fraud and might be an evil doer.

 

Once you've established that you are both geocachers you approach each other until you are facing each other at arms length. You each then put your right arm on the other's left shoulder and start dancing and skipping in a circle while repeatedly singing (very loudly) "Geocachers are we! Runy muny mee! Yaba daba baba. He, he, he!". This should continue for no less than 3 minutes.

[+mr.mudd]

I read this thread to find out what a muggle is. Yes, I'm a noob