The Most Beautiful Log Ever

[GOF and Bacall]

I was reminded of this thread by this story in the news today.

[ao318]

I am in agreement with those that say, "You should never feed, pet, or mess with wild animals." I take my daughters ages 13 and 10 with me on many hikes along the foothills and rivers of the Sacramento area. We have seen many animals in the wild and I always remind them to watch them from a distance because we do not know what might frighten them or set them off.

 

There are many stories of domesticated wild animals attacking their handlers and or guests. These are wild animals that have been trained to interact with the general public that have turned, for some unknown reason, and attacked someone.

 

It was nice that the girl "saw" the raccoons, but she should have never touched them. There are places people can go to do this, just not out in the animals environment.

[+DENelson83]

Oh my goodness... I'd consider that geocaching heaven!

[Andronicus]

Nice post. When I saw the pic, my first thought was "OMG I hope that girl doesn't get bitten". That said, I am from a region that does not have racoons, so I don't know the first thing about them. I will not enter the argument about if it was smart/safe/responsible etc. I just hope the parent was familiar with racoons in that area.

[+Nature Kids]

Its a great log...... It sounds as tho the raccoons might of been hand raised & returned to the wild. I raised a couple of orphan baby raccoons a few years ago. When they were small they were a lot like baby kittens. When they were grown, I let them loose & they wandered off. I live in a rural area. They would return every few weeks to beg for food & head pats. After they hibernated a winter, one came back once the next spring & said hi, but left shortly, never to be seen again.

[+busterbabes]

I love Shanka's log. Sometimes the universe aligns and gives someone something special.

Ordinarily I would not condone wild animal/human contact..

but clearly this was meant to be, and make a family smile.

Things happen daily that were not meant to be understood, they just happen.

[IslandAdventure4]

Wow awesome. Made my heart smile

[+Keith Watson]

For those interested, the logger's blog about the visit with the raccoons can be found here.

 

Raccoon Friends

 

A follow up was posted commenting about the negative feedback that was received over the first posting.

 

Just for the record...

 

I would have liked to have seen what the feedback was. Unfortunately all negative non-supportive feedback seems to have been deleted.

 

The log does read like a very special moment. As others have replied to this thread, I tend to agree that this should not be expected from every geocache, and children playing with wild animals should not be encouraged. Being from out of town and not familiar with the location, a wiser choice may have been to watch from a distance.

[+Castle Mischief]

For those interested, the logger's blog about the visit with the raccoons can be found here.

 

Raccoon Friends

 

A follow up was posted commenting about the negative feedback that was received over the first posting.

 

Just for the record...

 

I would have liked to have seen what the feedback was. Unfortunately all negative non-supportive feedback seems to have been deleted.

 

The log does read like a very special moment. As others have replied to this thread, I tend to agree that this should not be expected from every geocache, and children playing with wild animals should not be encouraged. Being from out of town and not familiar with the location, a wiser choice may have been to watch from a distance.

 

I'm still undecided.

 

I'm not convinced that ignoring the basic tenet that you do not feed wild animals is somehow negated by her veterinary training. I'm not sure that having a talk about the dangers of feeding wild animals somehow negates the feeding of wild animals. Rabies is not the only concern. Animals can display food aggression without disease.

 

It's a sweet log. I'm glad it didn't take a turn for the worse.

[Mr.Yuck]

For those interested, the logger's blog about the visit with the raccoons can be found here.

 

Raccoon Friends

 

A follow up was posted commenting about the negative feedback that was received over the first posting.

 

Just for the record...

 

I would have liked to have seen what the feedback was. Unfortunately all negative non-supportive feedback seems to have been deleted.

 

The log does read like a very special moment. As others have replied to this thread, I tend to agree that this should not be expected from every geocache, and children playing with wild animals should not be encouraged. Being from out of town and not familiar with the location, a wiser choice may have been to watch from a distance.

 

Aww man, I cannot resist not commenting any longer. Actually the follow-up blog makes me less likely to support her position. I agree with the above. An out of towner, not familar with the location, this was just a bad idea (but I'm very happy it turned out OK). Throwing food on the ground near your feet, maybe. But touching, no.

[+TheMayfieldFamily]

thanks for sharing that story!!! it really brings out what geocaching started out as..... less about the competition of being the FTF more about the love of outdoors and bringing smilies to people's faces

[+MI_CO]

Apologies for double posting but after posting to the Canada forum, I decided this log needs to be shared with everyone.

 

After spending the morning repairing a cache that had been vandalized (not muggled), I returned to my vehicle to find the following log on my iPhone email. In almost 9 years of caching it, IMO, ranks as the best log ever.

 

I hope everyone else appreciates it as much as this cache owner did.

 

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LU...b4-ea648889ffbd

 

What a beautiful story - really made me tear up. Your simple act of hiding a cache has made such an impact in a stranger's life, the most beautiful gift of all!