Caches placed in a yard/lawn/driveway - IS IT CREEPY?

January 21, 2010

Does anyone else find it creepy to find that a cache is located in a persons driveway or yard. Not deep in acres of property...but a yard. I am talking about caches that are placed in a subdivision size lot, in a neighborhood. I just can't see neighbors liking it...and I am nto comfortable with my kids going there alone (not that they are old enough yet). I know my neighbors would be real unhappy if I placed a cache in my yard. who knows who would could pull up. There are some (to put it lightly) odd and irrational cachers out there, trust me, i know from experience. I avoid finding them at all times. I am just curious how other cachers feel about it.

Maybe I could drive by, throw one of those sig cards out the window and drive away.

Edited January 21, 2010 by WHO-DEY

4.2k · January 21, 2010

I've done two of these that were right in the front yard. The Alabama Rambler's and another in his local area. Both cache pages are very clear about where you are going to be so it's not a surprise going in. As long as all the facts are produced up front, I don't really have a problem with it. I did these two caches as more of a chance to meet two local cachers outside of an event than anything else.

Any other time that I find myself in a subdivision or residential area and the GPSr points to a bird-feeder in a yard and the cache page doesn't offer up full disclosure- I turn around and add the cache to my ignore list when I get home.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Castle Mischief

1.2k · January 21, 2010

Does anyone else find it creepy to find that a cache is located in a persons driveway or yard. Not deep in acres of property...but a yard. I am talking about caches that are placed in a subdivision size lot, in a neighborhood. I just can't see neighbors liking it...and I am nto comfortable with my kids going there alone (not that they are old enough yet). I know my neighbors would be real unhappy if I placed a cache in my yard. who knows who would could pull up. There are some (to put it lightly) odd and irrational cachers out there, trust me, i know from experience. I avoid finding them at all times. I am just curious how other cachers feel about it.

Maybe I could drive by, throw oen of those sig cards out the window and drive away.

We do not find that a cache placed in the owner's yard as being creepy. Actually it is kind of nice. Are you assuming it is some kind of child lure from a pedophile? Your assumption is kind of creepy. If you are worried, check the sex offenders list for the neighborhood.

My caching buddy has a cache exactly as you describe. It is very large and painted in pink and blue camo and is full of children's swag. He certainly isn't a pedophile, but loves kids and wanted to do something for kid cachers. We think it is a sweet idea and not a creepy thought!

Edited January 21, 2010 by Konnarock Kid & Marge

January 21, 2010

Konnarock - Perhaps I should have left off the bit on my kids caching...that was not the sole point. It many things. from neighborhood and neighbor considerations to safety of cachers etc. i just do not get the fascination, I suppose.

castle - I usually know it is in a home based on what I see on my Oregon or the cache listing. So it is not regarding "not knowing". Just the placement that is creepy.

8.6k · January 21, 2010

Did a "front yarder" couple of weeks ago. Cache page explained it fully and invited cachers to come in and chat. Alas, nobody was home at the time . But the big yellow lab and the cat sure enjoyed the company !

What better way is there to keep a cache from being muggled?

EDIT: Sorry, 'twas a golden lab.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee

19k · January 21, 2010

I have done a number of these, and even owned one once for a brief time during my first year of caching. Some of them have felt a bit "creepy", and some did not feel that way in the least. It seems to be a situational thing, but not one that I can readily define.

I will say that when I placed that one of mine, that I first talked to all of my neighbors to let them know what was going on. I will also say that I will never hide one there again... no matter how I feel about it, I do know that many cachers feel as you do about private property caches.

January 21, 2010

I have done a number of these, and even owned one once for a brief time during my first year of caching. Some of them have felt a bit "creepy", and some did not feel that way in the least. It seems to be a situational thing, but not one that I can readily define.

I will say that when I placed that one of mine, that I first talked to all of my neighbors to let them know what was going on. I will also say that I will never hide one there again... no matter how I feel about it, I do know that many cachers feel as you do about private property caches.

Maybe creepy was a bad poor choice of word...

If I can ask, why will you no longer palce on there again, as you did?

1.2k · January 21, 2010

I know my neighbors would be real unhappy if I placed a cache in my yard. who knows who would could pull up.

That's another totally different consideration and I don't disagree with your worry. Every neighborhood is different and only you can judge or know the written or unwritten rules of being a good neighbor.

Note: edited for spelling error. Thanks.

Edited January 21, 2010 by Konnarock Kid & Marge

1k · January 21, 2010

I don't do caches like that unless the cache owner has made it clear in the cache listing that everything is cool.

20.7k · January 21, 2010

Does anyone else find it creepy to find that a cache is located in a persons driveway or yard. Not deep in acres of property...but a yard. I am talking about caches that are placed in a subdivision size lot, in a neighborhood.

In almost all cases, I put those caches on my ignore list.

I just can't see neighbors liking it...and I am nto comfortable with my kids going there alone (not that they are old enough yet). I know my neighbors would be real unhappy if I placed a cache in my yard.

Placing such a cache in my front yard would not violate my HOA rules, so neighbors thoughts on the matter really wouldn't play into the decision.

who knows who would could pull up. There are some (to put it lightly) odd and irrational cachers out there, trust me, i know from experience.

The same could be said about a cache placed near a business.

I avoid finding them at all times. I am just curious how other cachers feel about it.
Maybe I could drive by, throw one of those sig cards out the window and drive away.

You could then log the cache as a note or a DNF. Perhaps you could even pay your littering fine online.

19k · January 21, 2010

I have done a number of these, and even owned one once for a brief time during my first year of caching. Some of them have felt a bit "creepy", and some did not feel that way in the least. It seems to be a situational thing, but not one that I can readily define.

I will say that when I placed that one of mine, that I first talked to all of my neighbors to let them know what was going on. I will also say that I will never hide one there again... no matter how I feel about it, I do know that many cachers feel as you do about private property caches.

Maybe creepy was a bad poor choice of word...

If I can ask, why will you no longer palce on there again, as you did?

I already did, but I bolded it this time.

18.9k · January 21, 2010

My neighbors all know about mine and are ok with it. It is behind my house next to the alley but on my property. It is fairly obvious once you get there.

Fortunetly - all such caches that I have ever found were easy to spot so i did not feel creepy.

January 21, 2010

I place one in a walkway. The walkway went between to houses from a subdivision through to a 4-lane road. I placed it about 40 yards past the back yards between to parking lots. I spent an hour to look for a good spot to hide the cache. I never encountered anyone.

The cache was published and the first two searchers were confronted by people from the subdivision. I disabled it immediatly.

The cache was GC20R7F.

January 21, 2010

I feel weird walking up in someone's yard to look in a bush or decorative bird house, but I have to think, they are cachers and they placed it there because they're not worried about it. A lot of the time i'll see "dont worry the neighbors all know about the cache" which makes me feel better too.

Now there was one time where my GPS put me in the wrong yard... (cache was close to the boundary line of the properties).

Couple weeks ago we did two that were in front yards (one could get from the sidewalk) and actually met both CO's as they were both in the front yard, we chatted for awhile and it was nice to actually meet them. So many times we're just signing the lot real fast and getting out of an area before we're spotted that it's nice to run into another cacher =)

January 21, 2010

I've never done a front yard or driveway cache but I wouldn't have any problems doing so.

If you live out in the country, I bet a geocache in the front yard could act as a security system, with the random coming-and-going of people in your yard.

4.8k · January 21, 2010

Some I seek and some I don't. It depends.

Since I'm usually caching in the middle of the night I look at the cache page to see what they say about looking for it at night.

If I get questioned by neighbors or the police, it's cool. I'm not breaking any laws and if they still feel weird about me after they meet me and know what I'm doing then it's their problem.

January 21, 2010

We have a cache placed in our yard. GC1WW3Q. We live in the middle of the city in a historic neighborhood. All of our neighbors know what we do and if they see people in our yard wondering around they know what they are there for. When you go to a yard for a cache chances are the neighbors know what you are doing. We like caches located on someones property because chances are that those caches are kept nice and if there is a problem its taken care of. We went to a cache on someones property and it was one of the biggest we have been to. Really nice cache!

3.6k · January 21, 2010

We've probably found a dozen in cache owner's yards.

It never bothered me until we did 2 different ones that were placed without permission in someone's yard and the homeowner knew nothing about it.

Definitely not fun to try to explain to someone yelling at you and threatening to call the police why you were looking at the tree in their front yard.

4.2k · January 21, 2010

We've probably found a dozen in cache owner's yards.

It never bothered me until we did 2 different ones that were placed without permission in someone's yard and the homeowner knew nothing about it.

Definitely not fun to try to explain to someone yelling at you and threatening to call the police why you were looking at the tree in their front yard.

That right there is why I only go for the ones were ownership and expectations are spelled out in tiny little words. THAT is the definition of "creepy" to me: placing a cache in someone else's front yard.

January 21, 2010

Now there was one time where my GPS put me in the wrong yard... (cache was close to the boundary line of the properties).

Did one like that. I wasn't willing to guess which person's yard held the cache, but after looking from the sidewalk along both sides of the fence we were able to spot it from common ground. Seemed like a note along the lines of "cache is on the right side of the fence if approaching from the sidewalk" would have been in order there...

January 21, 2010

My wife hates these kind of caches; she won't even get out of the car.

January 21, 2010

We ran across our first two fo these this weekend. When we saw where the first one was and then read the description a little more we passed. Even though it seems like the cache was in the CO's yard. We read the description on the other one and it seemed like it was real close to a house. We just moved on to the next cache.

Thanks for remining me to put these on our ignore list.

January 21, 2010

I completely understand how you feel! I have done a couple of these, and let’s face it, poking around a stranger’s front yard simply goes against most people’s gut instinct of right, and wrong.

One time I attempted to find a geocache that was located in front of the cache owner’s house, however, that person lived in a duplex. Without a good clue, and with a jumpy GPS signal, I decided to call off the search.

2.2k · January 21, 2010

I don't mind them if it is clearly described on the cache page and the cache is located close to the front of the yard and/or near a sidewalk. I don't like walking well into someone's yard or near their house, cache owner's place or not.

13.8k · January 21, 2010

If I can tell by the description that it's a "yard hide" I hit the ignore button.

I tried a few when I first started caching. Thought it'd be a good way to meet other cachers. Never met one. Two had coordinates directing me into another's yard.

- And NONE at that time had neighbors aware of their hide.

YOU want to explain to the neighbors (and maybe police) why a bearded guy in camo is walkin' behind your bushes ?

On my end, "Really, it's okay officer ! (insert name here) said I could stop over without them home. No, I don't know their REAL name. I'm looking for an ammo can..." - you get the picture.

CJ on the other hand, doesn't mind and folks seem to be calmer with a woman looking. Maybe it's like the "guy / girl in a playground" thing, where it's okay for a woman to walk a playground, but a guy's looked on as a perv.

Most in this area seem to be owned by kids. Shame there's not a "approved by mom and dad" attribute. One new one out states "the dog may bite" - oh yeah, I'd be hitting THAT one soon.

Two in our area are owned by cachers with no finds. One hasn't logged in since Nov '09.

Edited January 21, 2010 by cerberus1

January 21, 2010

My wife hates these kind of caches; she won't even get out of the car.

MY WIFE WOULD DO THE SAME EXACT THING...BUT SHE MAY DUCK DOWN.

Edited January 22, 2010 by WHO-DEY

January 21, 2010

Not a big deal for us as long as we are certain about the location and yard. We have one that kids love. The best part is no one has to interact with us if they don't want to. Aside from that the container can also be seen from the street as well as the bottom of our driveway.

January 21, 2010

I've done them and probably will continue to do them, but they always give me the creeps.

The part that bothers me most about them is what if the coords are off? Happens all the time. I could be wandering around the neighbor's yard who doesn't like strangers but likes guns. I would prefer that if someone has one in their yard that they leave some kind of notice that, yeah, you're in the right place. One I did in Seattle had a caching logo in the window of the house. Although I didn't feel creepy with that one as I had been out trying to go fishing with the CO and he told me that I should at least get a find out of the trip (didn't have the coords programmed in or that part of the city).

January 21, 2010

I stopped to grab a cache that was a mailbox in the roses bushes next to the property owner's driveway. It took me several months to work up enough courage to pull in, even though it's the cache owner's house and the description clearly says cachers are always welcome. It made me uncomfortable to stop at a stranger's house, rummage around for a few minutes, and then leave. Maybe the next one will be easier now that I've done this one.

Having said that, I wish I had a yard of my own to place a cache in. It would be a bright colorful ammo can with big signs above it saying, "This way to the geocache! Step right up geocachers! Here it is!"

Edited January 21, 2010 by atmospherium

9.3k · January 21, 2010

I won't do a front yard cache, unless I know the person who hid it. It just feels weird. I pulled up to one a few years ago, and even though this one spelled out exactly which yard it was in, (GC logo on the mailbox), and advised that the neighbors were all aware of the cache, I just couldn't bring myself to get out of my truck. Perhaps I'm too introverted for front yard hides?

Note The exception for me would be TAR's front yard cache. He's someone I would love to meet.

January 22, 2010

I don't like it one bit.....but I still do them....

2k · January 22, 2010

Absolutely not creepy at all to me. I enjoy caches in peoples yards for it provides a good oppurtunity to knock on the door and say "hi" to fellow cachers.

I do however, ask that the cache page make it clear that it's in a yard/porch/etc. and even the address # in the hint or something so cachers don't mistakenly walk up to the neighbors house.

10.1k · January 22, 2010

Did one in suburban New Jersey. Either the coords were off, or the signals were bouncing. Explored the neighbor's yard for twenty minutes! Pretty much swore off them after that.

Did one in Maine, where it was very clear which yard it was in. (Large wooded lots!)

19k · January 22, 2010

Now there was one time where my GPS put me in the wrong yard... (cache was close to the boundary line of the properties).

Did one like that. I wasn't willing to guess which person's yard held the cache, but after looking from the sidewalk along both sides of the fence we were able to spot it from common ground. Seemed like a note along the lines of "cache is on the right side of the fence if approaching from the sidewalk" would have been in order there...

These days, my reviewer, at least, requires an address if there is *any* chance of that sort of mistake.

January 22, 2010

There is only one of those in my town. The coords were dead on though and the hint made it known where it was. It is also mentioned that all the neighbors know about it. I probably wouldn't do it if it was in another town/city though.

January 22, 2010

My wife hates these kind of caches; she won't even get out of the car.

MY WIFE WOULD DO THE SAME EXACT THING...BUT SHE MAY DUCK DOWN.

We did one, years ago, wouldn't touch em now with a ten foot pole.

January 22, 2010

I have done 2 in one yard. At first I felt a little sketchy about it because I was new to it but I went for it. It was a good one too. The one that was off to the side of the house had a motion activated sprinkler head waiting on you if you walked across the grass up close to the house.

2.9k · January 22, 2010

If you do my cache GCXHTQ "Get The Signal" you will be greeted by this 4' Travel Bug next to the Ammo Can In the listing I clearly state my Address and of course I live in the country with a .1 mile long driveway.

No Muggles in sight. Driveway is always plowed and winter friendly.

January 22, 2010

Please place GC12RBX on your IL.

January 22, 2010

This is what is guarding our cache in our front yard!

http://i605.photobucket.com/albums/tt131/thom102/007-1.jpg

January 22, 2010

Does anyone else find it creepy to find that a cache is located in a persons driveway or yard.

Let's see, I've done three of those in the immediate area, plus another couple here or there. The first one....I felt a little weird wandering around in someone's yard looking for a cache. Until I spotted the trebuchet....with a travel bug hanging off it. Then I got a little bolder....I mean, anyone with a trebuchet clearly visible in their front yard has pretty good odds of having folks come over to see it. I could hear someone in the garage, but didn't want to disturb them. Then a couple kids came outta the house, and nonchalantly said, "Hi." Didn't phase them in the slightest to find a fat forty year old woman wandering around their front yard with a GPS unit. Found out later this is one of our better-known locals who holds events at his house! Awesome guy.

Another one was another well-known locals....he'd gone so far as to post the "G" logo with an *arrow* on it pointing around the side of his house, so I traipsed across his lawn and spent the next half an hour browsing the ammo can behind his fence. Got to meet him later, too, and he left me a geocoin in the can, and I left him nummy goodies in his mailbox. Also got to meet his FABULOUS neighbor with a GORGEOUS old restored Ford, and spent an hour talking to his neighbor about robots!

Yet a third one is in front of *another* well known cacher's house, and he's invited people to stop over if his car is in the drive. I never do, but I like to drop stuff off in his travelbug hotel.

As a good person, I see properly placed yard caches as a gesture of good will towards others....the kind of thing we might do if our population density and a**hole density was substantially lower. I'd like to place a clever and VERY LARGE cache on my own property when that time comes around. By the time I get around to the cache the neighbors ought to have come to terms with having an odd but fun-loving neighbor who builds robots in the garage, drives them in the yard, plays bagpipes occasionally in the house, and has a geocache in the yard.

I'm betting the bagpipes receive more ire than the cache.

5.7k · January 22, 2010

Does anyone else find it creepy to find that a cache is located in a persons driveway or yard. Not deep in acres of property...but a yard. I am talking about caches that are placed in a subdivision size lot, in a neighborhood. I just can't see neighbors liking it...and I am nto comfortable with my kids going there alone (not that they are old enough yet). I know my neighbors would be real unhappy if I placed a cache in my yard. who knows who would could pull up. There are some (to put it lightly) odd and irrational cachers out there, trust me, i know from experience. I avoid finding them at all times. I am just curious how other cachers feel about it.

Maybe I could drive by, throw one of those sig cards out the window and drive away.

Yet another source of embarrassment for the game and its participants.

January 22, 2010

Just remember when you go to a cache in someone's front yard....they are geocachers too!

11.5k · January 22, 2010

Very creepy, which is why I put those on my ignore list.

January 22, 2010

Just remember when you go to a cache in someone's front yard....they are geocachers too!

And hopefully you are not rummaging through the crack heads yard next door.

6.1k · January 22, 2010

They are definitely creepy if you don't knock on the door first and introduce yourself before you go to look.

If you do that, then I would think it is fine. If they weren't home, I would just walk away.

1.5k · January 22, 2010

We were caching a couple of summers ago in Michigan (we're from Canada) and came across a cache that was in someon's back yard. The description described the house as having a paved drive with a side fence with a gate in it, and a gate in the fence at the back of the yard through which we had to go to find the cache. Well, we decided which house the cache was behind from the arrow direction, and parked in front. Then we noticed that the next house could match the description exactly! Both houses were buttoned up and appeared that no one was home at either place.

What if the coords were off!!? Getting questioned by police in a "foriegn" country isn't my idea of a good time! We did it anyway, and found the cache, but the experience left us really jittery, and it will probably be the last "yard" cache that we will ever do!

Edited January 22, 2010 by BC & MsKitty

20.7k · January 22, 2010

My wife hates these kind of caches; she won't even get out of the car.

My wife feels the same way, about all caches.

January 22, 2010

I can see how it can be a little uncomfortable doing these caches. I have a cache in my front yard and my neighbors know about it. It's called "Weasel's Wishing Well--Coin Exchange". Yes it's a BIG wishing well in the yard so it's an easy find.

My first cache like this I did I was using my OLD GPS that took me to the wrong house. I like the caches like that that at least give the house number either in the listing or hint.

January 22, 2010

They are definitely creepy if you don't knock on the door first and introduce yourself before you go to look.

If you do that, then I would think it is fine. If they weren't home, I would just walk away.

but I am there for the cache...not for a meet and greet. :rolleyes:

Caches placed in a yard/lawn/driveway - IS IT CREEPY?

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