Mennofemme Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 Hi, I am new to geocaching and love it. I go out as often as I can with my friends, my mum or just myself and my dogs. My question is regarding a cache I recently found in my neighborhood. It is located at a lawn bowling green at which my mum is a member. There is a cache located near the gate somewhere (my friends and I haven't been able to find it). It may be in a small garden right beside the entrance. I told my mum about the cache and she thought it was great and was surprised she hadn't noticed it before (being a geocacher herself). However, recently there were some cachers looking for it and they were prying up the sponshership signs located along the fence. There was some damage done to the signs and the small dahlia garden where I think the cache is located (although I haven't found it so I can't be certain, but that's where the coordinates lead). The club members were upset, about people rooting around their garden and potentially wrecking the signs, the only funding their club gets. My mum had to defend geocaching, explaining that most cachers are very mindful and not at all disruptive. I'm sure no one would mind a cache being on the property (considering it is in fact private) but I don't think it is in an ideal location, or perhaps a better description is needed to keep people from digging in the garden or behind the banners. What do you do in a situation like this? I feel bad being a geocaching-wet-blanket, but I also feel responsible for keeping geocaching in the good books with "muggles". Thanks for your help. Quote Link to comment
+seldon Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 A friendly email to the CO might be a good place to start. You could also raise your concerns by logging the cache with a note explaining the problems in the area. Quote Link to comment
+Bear and Ragged Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 In no special order... Find it, so you know for sure what you are talking about. (eg Confirm it IS there, and that the cachers were not looking in the wrong place!) Email the cache owner with your concerns. Contact your local reviewer. Quote Link to comment
+L0ne.R Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 (edited) My question is regarding a cache I recently found in my neighborhood. It is located at a lawn bowling green at which my mum is a member. There is a cache located near the gate somewhere (my friends and I haven't been able to find it). Are you sure there's a cache there? Can you give us the location of the bowling green, we might be able to let you know if there actually is a cache in the area. Edited December 4, 2011 by Lone R Quote Link to comment
+seldon Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 In no special order... Find it, so you know for sure what you are talking about. (eg Confirm it IS there, and that the cachers were not looking in the wrong place!) Email the cache owner with your concerns. Contact your local reviewer. Good thoughts, all. Even if the cache is not actually located there, however, it is a concern because some cachers are causing damage looking for it in that location. Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 In no special order... Find it, so you know for sure what you are talking about. (eg Confirm it IS there, and that the cachers were not looking in the wrong place!) I don't see how this addresses the issue, unless it's a cache with bad coordinates, and the coordinates are changed to prevent future searching in the garden. It looks to me that it's a cache hidden in a sensitive area (the dahlia garden), possibly without permission, in a manner that is hard enough to find that there are some that have resorted to pulling apart piece sign and causing damage to the garden. I'd go straight to the CO to express my concern, possibly suggesting a clarification that it's not in the garden on the listing, a better hint, and maybe even include a spoiler photo. If I didn't get a satisfactory response right away I'd go contact the local reviewer. Quote Link to comment
+Coldgears Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 in a manner that is hard enough to find That's the biggest issue. When cachers can't find a cache, they will do stupid things. Don't hide a cache that is hard, near something delicate. This is something the CO should start to do. Quote Link to comment
+NYPaddleCacher Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 in a manner that is hard enough to find That's the biggest issue. When cachers can't find a cache, they will do stupid things. I don't mean to hijack the thread but cachers will do stupid things when there are a lot of easy to find caches too. Quote Link to comment
Mr.Yuck Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 Lawn Bowling, and Mum? I'm going to go out on a limb and say this cache is not in America. Sorry, that was uncalled for. As far as one of the major points, "a better description is needed", that would be nice in theory, but in my opinion, it would have very little effect. People just load these things into their GPS, or look them up on their smartphones, and go for it. I read the cache pages, you Mennofemme, might read the cache pages, but I'd say most people don't. Quote Link to comment
+t4e Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 why does one have to assume that just because there is a cache in that area the geocachers caused the damage? Quote Link to comment
+L0ne.R Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) I'm guessing it's this cache: GC1NDND When I look at the street view in the dynamic map it looks like it's near the gate of a lawn bowling green. There's a photo in the gallery of someone holding the cache, it looks like perhaps a large magnetic key holder. One of the logs says it was 30 feet off. There is no hint. The owner is active (logged in today). I agree that writing to the owner would be a good first step. Edited December 5, 2011 by Lone R Quote Link to comment
Clan Riffster Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 (edited) why does one have to assume that just because there is a cache in that area the geocachers caused the damage? William d'Okham would suggest that such an assumption is perfectly valid. Edited December 5, 2011 by Clan Riffster Quote Link to comment
+captnemo Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I'm guessing it's this cache: GC1NDND When I look at the street view in the dynamic map it looks like it's near the gate of a lawn bowling green. There's a photo in the gallery of someone holding the cache, it looks like perhaps a large magnetic key holder. One of the logs says it was 30 feet off. There is no hint. The owner is active (logged in today). I agree that writing to the owner would be a good first step. This cache had a NM log on 8/29 and no log from the CO that the Maintence was done. I would email the CO and if no response log a NA! Quote Link to comment
+Manville Possum Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 why does one have to assume that just because there is a cache in that area the geocachers caused the damage? I would love to show you the before and after photos of a archived listing of mine. A wrecking crew, I mean a group of geocachers after a event left the side of a hill that had ferns, Trilliam, and Jack in the Pulpit plants growing in abundance looking like a flock of Turkeys and Wild Hogs had rooted up the area. The clue was very simple and the cache a easy find, but it was missing. Some of the seekers had over 6000 finds, not newbies. I hope they stick to urban caching. Quote Link to comment
+BBWolf+3Pigs Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 I'm guessing it's this cache: GC1NDND When I look at the street view in the dynamic map it looks like it's near the gate of a lawn bowling green. There's a photo in the gallery of someone holding the cache, it looks like perhaps a large magnetic key holder. One of the logs says it was 30 feet off. There is no hint. The owner is active (logged in today). I agree that writing to the owner would be a good first step. Based on the photo and street views, I suspect it's actually on the power meter on the building to the left of the gate. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.