The most surprising thing you've found on you

[+Opalblade]

I have very long curly hair and regularly discover large twigs sticking out of my hair, sometimes hours after caching (woops). Curious what kind of surprises people have found on themselves or their clothes Twigs, leaves, mud, bugs...?

Edited January 31, 2010 by Opalblade

[+bittsen]

Blood.

 

That's about it.

[+t4e]

ooh come on twigs in your hair are pretty

 

what about twigs falling off your body when you go shower?

nothing surprises me anymore, especially since we have a habit of going in straight line and thus bushwack, or even resort to butt sliding

 

one thing i hope i never find on myself is ticks, i've seen one attached to someone and if i never see another one will be too soon, those things are absolutely disgusting lol

give me mud but keep the ticks off me

[+t4e]

aaaaaaaaargh dadgum double post

 

why can't we delete our own posts?

Edited February 1, 2010 by t4e

[+catsnfish]

blood, ticks, mosquito bites, caterpillars, ladybugs, box elder bugs. little teeny red spiders, bigger spiders, sand burrs, cockle burrs most once you find them are quickly dealt with. My worst was when I went bushwhacking along a creekbank and came up with the pile lining of a corduroy jacket covered in little burrs of some type. It took fifteen minutes to pick them from my jeans before getting back in the car and the jacket went into a cito bag to get picked over at home. That took 4 hours.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Stopped by the suprmarket on the way home from geocaching. The check-out clerk asked: Did you know that you have twigs on your hat? Me: Wouldn't surprise me.

[+cycler48]

Poison oak ... very recent and I'm still suffering.

[+brslk]

Funny you should ask. About a week ago during lunch I took a female co-worker geocaching for her first time. It was close to an Arbys but about a mile into the bush.

We found it easy enough after lunch and then went back to the office.

Everyone was staring at us oddly and kind of whispering for awhile.

I finally asked what was up?

turns out we both had leaves in our hair and she had grass stains on the butt of her pants.

People thought we were doing something other than geocaching during our lunch break.

[oakenwood]

A dog tick. It wasn't dug in very far, and I was able to pull it out before it got to the blood. Usually, my DEET layer keeps them away.

 

That was just last year. I hadn't found one of those since I was a little kid.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

After a typical day of caching, crawling and pawing through the spruce trees and the like, I usually take a fair handful to twigs and needles out of my T-shirt. Dadgum if I can figure out how those needles get down into my shorts though!

[ThomasFamily102]

DARN BURRS!!!

[+Opalblade]

I remembered a couple more, though I hadn't quite gotten home.

 

I was walking away from a cache towards another one when I felt a squirmy feeling on my forehead. Brushed at my forehead and a gross see-through caterpillar type thing plopped onto the sidewalk - ewwww!!!

 

Another time I'd been doing some intense bushwhacking up and down a tree covered hill. On the way back down mini ninja #2 informed me that I had a branch sticking out of my jeans. I said, "Yeah thanks I can feel it". So I pulled it out and it broke into a billion little twigs which of course went sliding down into my jeans. At the bottom of a hill was a park restroom building thing with a stone wall by it and the guys headed in there while I waited outside. The twigs were quite uncomfortably so I looked ALL around to make sure noone was nearby, put my back to the stone wall and quickly retrieved the two or three twigs. Of course, as I pulled the last one out, a couple appeared out of the shadows nearby walking their dog I commented very loudly to a nearby mini ninja about the darn twigs.

 

People thought we were doing something other than geocaching during our lunch break.

 

Oh no!

[+bluesprucejr]

 

one thing i hope i never find on myself is ticks, i've seen one attached to someone and if i never see another one will be too soon, those things are absolutely disgusting lol

give me mud but keep the ticks off me

 

Ticks are a common problem to deal with when caching here in Mississippi. If you hunt for anything except LPC's you are liable to pick up a tick - and don't rule it out if there is a bush nearby. I have picked off at least a half dozen deer ticks and probably a dozen or more of what we call "seed ticks" (they are smaller than the head of a pin) after a few hours of caching in the woods around here. I would say my total tick count runs into the hundreds. Fortunately, I have only had one case of Lyme Disease from a tick bite - and that was from a tick that had only landed on my arm for about 10 seconds before I noticed him. But he had already sunk in and got a grip on me.

[+beejay&esskay]

A tick. Already burrowing for blood. Discovered when taking a shower.

 

Poison ivy, burrs and twigs in my hair are distant also-rans in things I don't want to find.

[+power69]

Lizard

[+Triskeles]

Got some sort of bite (I think from a spider) on my wrist Saturday. Now it's red and has rings around it. I've also gotten many cholla spines in my hands. Yesterday young'un (age 11) got a big thorn stuck in his back. Good thing we carry tweezers in our pack!

[+DavidMac]

I have picked off at least a half dozen deer ticks and probably a dozen or more of what we call "seed ticks" (they are smaller than the head of a pin) after a few hours of caching in the woods around here. I would say my total tick count runs into the hundreds.

 

I'll second the part about hundreds of ticks! In some areas you just have to brush up against a plant, then you may happen to glance down at your pants and spot what at first looks like a muddy streak... but when you look closer you'll see that it's made up of hundreds of tiny ticks the size of a pin head. Deet doesn't seem to deter them unless you spray every inch of your clothing, as they just cling to whatever piece of fabric or skin happens to brush against their areal perch. In fact, after it happened to me twice in the same area, I never went caching there again in the summer months.

Edited February 1, 2010 by DavidMac

[+JJTally]

Mainly twigs, but in the oddest places. Got home once, went to the restroom to discover a couple of twigs in my underwear. My wife has informed me that bras are excellent nets for twigs also.

[+2X2L]

Got some sort of bite (I think from a spider) on my wrist Saturday. Now it's red and has rings around it. I've also gotten many cholla spines in my hands. Yesterday young'un (age 11) got a big thorn stuck in his back. Good thing we carry tweezers in our pack!

Might want to pay attention to that bite. What you described sounds exactly like what a deer tick bite looks like!!

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

Got some sort of bite (I think from a spider) on my wrist Saturday. Now it's red and has rings around it. I've also gotten many cholla spines in my hands. Yesterday young'un (age 11) got a big thorn stuck in his back. Good thing we carry tweezers in our pack!

Might want to pay attention to that bite. What you described sounds exactly like what a deer tick bite looks like!!

 

Was waiting to see if others saw what I did in Triskeles' posting.

 

It would be advisable to have a medical professional have a look at that bite (with rings around it). Though it doesn't necessarly equate to Lyme Disease, it is one of the things to look for.

 

EDIT: context

Edited February 1, 2010 by Gitchee-Gummee

[+briansnat]

A few years ago I was caching and it was a beautiful day. I found a cache at a lovely overlook and laid down to take a nap.

 

I woke up with a tickling feeling in my throat and found that a squid was burrowing its way into my mouth.

 

Very strange. Here is a photo

[+Triskeles]

Got some sort of bite (I think from a spider) on my wrist Saturday. Now it's red and has rings around it. I've also gotten many cholla spines in my hands. Yesterday young'un (age 11) got a big thorn stuck in his back. Good thing we carry tweezers in our pack!

Might want to pay attention to that bite. What you described sounds exactly like what a deer tick bite looks like!!

 

Was waiting to see if others saw what I did in Triskeles' posting.

 

It would be advisable to have a medical professional have a look at that bite (with rings around it). Though it doesn't necessarly equate to Lyme Disease, it is one of the things to look for.

 

EDIT: context

 

Seriously? In Tucson in January? wow. I'll get it looked at. Thanks everyone!!

[+briansnat]

Got some sort of bite (I think from a spider) on my wrist Saturday. Now it's red and has rings around it. I've also gotten many cholla spines in my hands. Yesterday young'un (age 11) got a big thorn stuck in his back. Good thing we carry tweezers in our pack!

Might want to pay attention to that bite. What you described sounds exactly like what a deer tick bite looks like!!

 

Was waiting to see if others saw what I did in Triskeles' posting.

 

It would be advisable to have a medical professional have a look at that bite (with rings around it). Though it doesn't necessarly equate to Lyme Disease, it is one of the things to look for.

 

EDIT: context

 

Seriously? In Tucson in January? wow. I'll get it looked at. Thanks everyone!!

 

Doesn't look like a major risk for you, but it can't hurt to have it checked out.

 

[+Moss Troopers]

I always laugh when I find pinecones in the hood of my hoodie. One time, I found a dinky car in my hood. My son had traded for it and then missplaced it. No idea how it ended up in my hood.

[+popokiiti]

A few years ago I was caching and it was a beautiful day. I found a cache at a lovely overlook and laid down to take a nap.

 

I woke up with a tickling feeling in my throat and found that a squid was burrowing its way into my mouth.

 

Very strange. Here is a photo

 

Yuk!! The thought of that made me want to decorate the computer screen with the mouthful of tea I had!! And when I clicked on the link - - - - yuk again!!

We were replacing a cache and the seed pods of this bush were damp.....my arms were stained brown as was my jacket and front of my T-Shirt. Looked like I had spilled coffee over myself....received a few "does she have a problem" looks.............

[+rtyrie]

Caterpillars.

 

We were hiking at a local conservation area that we had been to many times before. This one time the entire forest was coated with caterpillars. I've never seen this before. Every tree had hundreds of them. They were falling from the trees into our hair. We "discovered" many of them on the drive home. One of them even ended up falling into our computer keyboard after arriving home.

[+narcissa]

I found a treefrog on me once, when I was undressing in a tent after coming in from the rain. Thankfully, the little guy was unharmed and I let it go.

[+minew]

I've only been at this for a month but it's been burrs, burrs and more burrs! My dog gets covered with them too... Since it's winter time, I've started putting a little dog jacket on her which is great because now she only gets them on her legs and face! Much easier to clean!

[+Printess Caroline]

The most surprising was finding the pencil sharpener from a cache in my cache bag. I honestly don't know how that happened, but there it was and there we were too many miles away to return it. I still feel a little guilt, though it is almost gone now that 3 years have passed. It could have been worse. I've heard the story of a cacher accidentally packing the logbook away and discovering it later.

[+briansnat]

The most surprising was finding the pencil sharpener from a cache in my cache bag. I honestly don't know how that happened, but there it was and there we were too many miles away to return it. I still feel a little guilt, though it is almost gone now that 3 years have passed. It could have been worse. I've heard the story of a cacher accidentally packing the logbook away and discovering it later.

 

Worse than that was finding the logbook in my pocket when I got back to the car. It wasn't a short hike either.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Worse than that was finding the logbook in my pocket when I got back to the car. It wasn't a short hike either.

 

Bette than finding the cache in your pocket.

[+Fox_Trot]

I havent cached for long but when i got back in the car today my girlfriend was laughing as i looked as saw a couple big twigs in my hair and didnt even know it, also another time i had a caterpillar on my shoulder when checking out at the liqour store one day after caching..

[+briansnat]

Worse than that was finding the logbook in my pocket when I got back to the car. It wasn't a short hike either.

 

Bette than finding the cache in your pocket.

 

Did that too. Luckily it was only a short walk back to the site.