What's your excuse?

[+dorqie]

I'm starting to get pretty creative to subvert the suspicions of muggles while caching.

I find myself pretending to send text messages on my e-trex legend hcx (not the most convincing up close...)

and if caught perring into some tall grass or shrubs, I find I blurt out something like "I'm looking for snakes/spiders etc."

 

So now that I've put my lack of creativity out there, what sorts of things do you say, or do to explain your strange actions.

 

(should add that when caught with my pants down, so to speak, while obviously doing something strange to a muggle, I just explain about geocaching)

[+thedeadpirate]

I tell 'em I lost my leg and ask if they can help me find it.

[+Gitchee-Gummee]

You could carry a hardhat with you, and tell people that you are looking for a leaky gas main (probably not a good idea, in the long run, though).

 

Have found it best to go about your business looking as though you know what you are doing. They usually do not ask.

 

If it is an LEO, we provide them with a printed brochure: http://www.geocaching.com/articles/Brochur...nline_color.pdf, that we carry a pile of in the backpack.

[+dorqie]

ha ha!

That reminds me that I was once caching in a seedy area of town, and a rather scruffy looking muggle asked me if I was looking for the gas metre! (a frequent target for vandals 'round here)

[+AuntieWeasel]

I was so absorbed examining a rock wall for a micro once, I didn't notice the young couple had walked up the trail and were staring at me. Lord knows how long they'd been watching. Quite without thinking, I blurted out "lookin' for chipmunks!" cheerfully.

 

Like that was any help AT ALL.

 

What're you going to do when you find them, lady -- bite their heads off?

[+Isonzo Karst]

bite they little heads off

nibble on they tiny feet ....

[+StarBrand]

My wife and I were caching once by crawling around in a small thicket of dense bushes near a walkway with our crying 2 year old. I found the cache and was signing the log while telling my son that everything was ok and we would go soon. Suddenly a couple outside bushes asked if everything was ok in there. My wife hastily called out that we were changing a nasty diaper that nobody needed to see. The couple called out "we understand", laughed and moved on. Good thing she was with me or I am quite certain the police would have been summoned.

[+Borst68]

Recently I was attempting to find a cache in a newspaper box for a free, local publication. The cache had been muggled and tossed in the bottom of the paper box. In retrieving it, I dumped all the newspapers. Since I made the mess,l reorganized the papers. A muggle approached thought I was the guy that stocks the papers. He was happy to be my first customer. I played along and thanked him for his patronage and support.

[+ADTCacheur]

I haven't yet had the opportunity, but I have found a good excuse in the CITO forum: pick up trash. If there's trash there, nobody will even ask what you're doing, and if there's not then they'll probably call an asylum (if they still even have them)

[+J the Goat]

Recently I was attempting to find a cache in a newspaper box for a free, local publication. The cache had been muggled and tossed in the bottom of the paper box. In retrieving it, I dumped all the newspapers. Since I made the mess,l reorganized the papers. A muggle approached thought I was the guy that stocks the papers. He was happy to be my first customer. I played along and thanked him for his patronage and support.

 

this is awesome.

[+USMCGecko]

I just kinda start talking to myself, ya know, ask yourself a question, then answer yourself. Then if they are looking at you concerned. YELL something like "THERE ARE NOOOO SPOONS IN THIS TREE!!!!!" Then walk away while trying to bite your nose........

[GOF and Bacall]

Hasn't anyone just said "Geocaching."?

[+ngrrfan]

Hasn't anyone just said "Geocaching."?

Yep.... That's exactly what I and my partner do.

 

Honestly...... most muggles don't give a hoot what you're doing. They're too busy with their own lives.

[+Chokecherry]

I'm just straight up and honest if anyone asks. It's best if I don't try to spin a big story where I live. I already attract attention with my tattoos and such and it's best if I don't have that going on, looking suspicious and then caught in a lie on top of it.

[+niraD]

I haven't yet had the opportunity, but I have found a good excuse in the CITO forum: pick up trash.

That works great. I carry bags to pick up trash. When I find the cache, I just toss it in the bag. Then after picking up a bit more trash, I take a break to sign the log. Then I replace the cache while picking up more trash. There doesn't even need to be much trash to pick up. People just need a mental box to put you in, so they can go on with their business and ignore you.

[+roziecakes]

I'm just straight up and honest if anyone asks. It's best if I don't try to spin a big story where I live. I already attract attention with my tattoos and such and it's best if I don't have that going on, looking suspicious and then caught in a lie on top of it.

 

Heh... my husband always says "I'm a big long-haired tattooed biker, I don't do stealth." It's true, he really does stand out.

 

Although I also have several tattoos, I can disguise myself pretty well when I'm out caching by myself. I usually just tell people that I'm geocaching though. Sometimes they stop to help!

[+AuntieWeasel]

Hasn't anyone just said "Geocaching."?

 

I did that on my very first day out, second find. I was real excited, and I showed the cache to the only other person in the small park (who'd been giving me the hairy eyeball) and explained the game to her. She seemed pretty sure it was a way for knuckleheads to exchange drugs or something (that's right, lady -- the drug trade runs totally on the honor system). Cache went missing not long after.

 

I have occasionally explained what I was really up to since then, but never again when I thought it might put the cache at risk.

[jholly]

I still like the looking for chipmunks so I can bite their heads off. I'm sure it brings an end to the questions and conversation rather quickly.

Edited May 8, 2010 by jholly

[+cachensfun]

Just get a shirt made that says " I have amnesia"

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

I usually don't tell people that I'm looking for geocaches. That is partly because I feel that part of the game is not letting people know you are looking for geocaches and partly because if I can't find it, I look real stupid. However, if caught red-handed, I explain.

 

I much prefer a good yarn and I go prepared.

 

I carry "exemplar" subpoenas in my bag. If the situation supports it, e.g. a neighborhood or near businesses, I explain I'm looking for "Red Harris" so I can serve him with a subpoena. I often ask if the muggle knows of him. Sometimes, while going through my stack of subpoenas, I ask their name and look for one for them.

 

I carry some empty shell casings. As I "find" one, I ask if the person heard gunshots about 2 hours ago. I then take out my notepad and ask for their names, phone numbers and drivers' licenses. Note: I never say I am a LEO.

 

I carry around a woman's ring. I explain that my friend's fiance got pissed at him, and threw her engagement ring back at him and that I'm looking for it. I always find it within 2 or 3 seconds so that they do not have any reason to look for the ring ... I don't want them to find the cache while looking for the ring.

 

I have explained that I am looking for evidence relative to either a car crash, slip-and-fall, or some other accident. I will then take photos and make notes. Once, when I spotted a LEO watching me, I went up to him, explained I was looking for evidence and asked if he had taken a report on the incident. He said "no" but radioed his office to find out who did. He then set up some yellow tape so I would not be disturbed. Note: I never said there *was* an accident, only that I was looking for evidence of one.

 

I once had to explain I was checking on the condition of a sick tree and was trying to determine what damage termites was doing to it. Despite knowing nothing at all about termites, I gave the muggle quite a lecture about them. I deserved an award.

[+roziecakes]

We've often thought of buying bright orange vests and hard hats. No one will question us we think...

[+BlueDeuce]

Hasn't anyone just said "Geocaching."?

 

It depends on the vibe I get from the person. Sometimes I think it might peak their interest and I don't always have the energy to give them the full tour.

[+popokiiti]

I sat with the cache (a lock and lock) on my lap, and returned the greeting from muggles, pretending my mouth was full - a kind of grunt. Made with the chewing motion also for a short while. They didn't stay around, just let me "eat" in peace.

[dementedtribe]

Depending on the situation.. a) tell the truth, start picking up trash, or c) be looking through our bird ID book.

[+BigAl437]

On several occasions I have used my GPSr as a camera and the muggles usually walk on by. Sometimes we pretend that one of the kids lost something and then we immediately find it so they don't have to help look. Twice I found out that who I thought were muggles turned out to be Geocachers trying to be sly, and once I talked to a man and his son thinking they were Geocaching and found out they were just goofing off. The guy had no idea what Geocaching really was, but he did think it sounded neat when I told him.

[knowschad]

She seemed pretty sure it was a way for knuckleheads to exchange drugs or something (that's right, lady -- the drug trade runs totally on the honor system).

Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou for putting that so well. Every time I hear "they thought it was a 'drug drop'" my brain hurts just a little more. A "what"? "I'll just leave your $400 worth of cocaine here in the woods, OK. When you pick it up, please leave the $400 in small bills in the same stump. OKThx."

[knowschad]

Probably wasn't the best idea, but we told a young kid once that we were "looking for the body". Could hardly believe how quickly he ran away! In hindsight, though, he was probably running to get his buddies to come and watch. If so, we were gone by then, though.

[+geodarts]

If people are curious enough so that I need an excuse I always tell them I am caching or on a high tech treasure hunt or words to that effect. Particularly if they are in uniform. Of course it's easier to roll out the yellow tape and put up a sign saying "Geocache Search In Progress. Do Not Disturb."

 

Sometimes I have to wonder what is their excuse for loitering around a cache location.

Edited May 9, 2010 by Erickson

[+simpjkee]

I used to just say geocaching, but that was only an invitation for them to ask: "What's that?"

 

I got tired of explaining it over and over and over so I now I say I'm on a scavenger hunt for my church and then they think "well if it's for church it must be a good thing" and they leave me alone. It works all the time except once when a guy asked me what church I went to. I thought fast and said something like: "I'm not sure what it's called, I just went once or twice with my friend and I told him I'd help out with the scavenger hunt". Then he left me alone.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

She seemed pretty sure it was a way for knuckleheads to exchange drugs or something (that's right, lady -- the drug trade runs totally on the honor system).

Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou for putting that so well. Every time I hear "they thought it was a 'drug drop'" my brain hurts just a little more. A "what"? "I'll just leave your $400 worth of cocaine here in the woods, OK. When you pick it up, please leave the $400 in small bills in the same stump. OKThx."

 

I was parked in a small park about 50' from a cache and had just replaced the container when a LEO rolled in. He stopped, rolled down his window, and asked, "What did you just hide over there?" After explaining geocaching and offering to show him the container, he said, "That's okay, I just wanted to make sure you weren't hiding drugs for someone else to pick up"

 

While making my way toward a cache along a jogging trail in California my GPS was telling me that it was about 300' directly ahead. About 300' away there was a guy in the middle of the trail jumping rope. After passing him by I turned around and walked up to him and said, "I'm playing a game called geocaching. It involves finding containers that others have hidden and I think it's right over there in that stump (about 15' away). I found it, showed him how I signed the log, the talked with him a bit more. He said, "that sounds like a good way to get some exercise. I might have to try it".

[+Borst68]

Somewhat OT... I was at a playground with my two daughters. There was older gentleman with a metal detector scavenging coins at the playground. I asked him if he ever found anything really interesting. He told me he was in a park one and found a buried coffee can filled with cocaine! He said dug a larger hole, dumped the coke and re buried. He calmly walked back to his car and never returned to that park.

[+Dread_Pirate_Bruce]

She seemed pretty sure it was a way for knuckleheads to exchange drugs or something (that's right, lady -- the drug trade runs totally on the honor system).

Oh, thankyouthankyouthankyou for putting that so well. Every time I hear "they thought it was a 'drug drop'" my brain hurts just a little more. A "what"? "I'll just leave your $400 worth of cocaine here in the woods, OK. When you pick it up, please leave the $400 in small bills in the same stump. OKThx."

 

Wow!!! Is that what TFTC really stands for?

[+Chokecherry]

I'm always a little worried here that I'm going to be caching close to one of those out in the woods meth labs or pot farms. Which is also why I'm honest. That way if the owners of said lab or farm find me snooping around I can honestly say I wasn't (not that they'd believe me but it sounds better than a made up excuse) or if law enforcement saw me in the area I'm not looking shady making up excuses. It's self preservation. Muggle or not I'm not going to get hunted down by drug dealers or arrested by the police for this. lol

[+Trucker Lee]

I've lost my mind and am trying to find it. I thought I saw that BB roll in here.

[GOF and Bacall]

Hasn't anyone just said "Geocaching."?

 

It depends on the vibe I get from the person. Sometimes I think it might peak their interest and I don't always have the energy to give them the full tour.

 

Yes, I agree. It does depend on the "vibe" I get from the asker. But it hadn't been mentioned yet and most of the time the truth is what I tell.

[GOF and Bacall]

I've lost my mind and am trying to find it. I thought I saw that BB roll in here.

 

Are you STILL looking for that? That's what I call perseverance.

[+Intemperance Society]

Just today a friend and I located a cache hidden under a large gazebo in a public park. You had to crawl under it on hands and knees. I have no idea what I could have possibly said if there was someone there to witness us crawling back out from under it.

 

I like one of the earlier suggestions...

 

'THERE ARE NOOOO SPOONS UNDER THIS GAZEBO!'

[+Morgan's Marauders]

I was so absorbed examining a rock wall for a micro once, I didn't notice the young couple had walked up the trail and were staring at me. Lord knows how long they'd been watching. Quite without thinking, I blurted out "lookin' for chipmunks!" cheerfully.

 

Like that was any help AT ALL.

 

What're you going to do when you find them, lady -- bite their heads off?

 

AuntieWeasel!!!???

 

Hi there!

[+freespirit444]

I'm starting to get pretty creative to subvert the suspicions of muggles while caching.

I find myself pretending to send text messages on my e-trex legend hcx (not the most convincing up close...)

and if caught perring into some tall grass or shrubs, I find I blurt out something like "I'm looking for snakes/spiders etc."

 

So now that I've put my lack of creativity out there, what sorts of things do you say, or do to explain your strange actions.

 

(should add that when caught with my pants down, so to speak, while obviously doing something strange to a muggle, I just explain about geocaching)

 

It helps when I have geoson or geodog with me because then I can just say we needed to get out of the car, or when you gotta go, you gotta go. I have used I lost my keys, son dropped his toy, etc. And yes, yes. When getting caught in the act, which happened once and I almost go escorted away by campus security, I explained geocaching. :-)