Why do people put food in caches?

February 24, 2013

I visited Harris P&G in Deltona, Florida and plan on going back with bugspray and a grabber to do maintenance on the cache. I was pretty mad however as someone stuck candy in there..which attracted a hill of ants into the cache and the cache itself was in horrid shape. Have any of you came across someone leaving food in a cache? I know I've come across dog treats with the same consequences.

1.4k · February 24, 2013

I wonder if the same people who would put food in a cache, would also eat food they found in a box in the woods?

I haven't found people food in a cache yet, but have found dog treats. No way would I let my dogs eat something I found in a cache, let alone eat something found in a cache myself.

7.9k · February 24, 2013

Because they don't know any better.

Because they don't know how to say 'no' to their child who doesn't know any better.

And, no I'm not going to chew that gum or use that chapstick either.

3.6k · February 24, 2013

I also found a container that was totally jammed with candy and they put the container in a tree. Ants were all over the tree and you can see bite marks probably by squirrels. I emptied the cache of the goodies and threw them away. Cache owner replaced the candy and I contacted them explaining why it's not a good idea. They archived the cache and relisted under the other site.

February 24, 2013

Last month I myself made mistake - I left a small bottle of scented oil in a small size cache. Two days later I read again the cache's listing and other's comments and I found out to my horror that the cache was nibbled by some animal... Yeah, it taught me a lesson...

4.4k · February 24, 2013

I'd extend that complaint to include anything stinky - like the fish candle in the picture.

Note the well-chewed lid - probably due to a coyote - and how it even attracted the neighborhood cat when I opened it up back home.

February 24, 2013

For one geocache that I visited (in Siberia) the log was like a menu:

- Took a chewing gum, left some crisps.

... (other cachers exchanged different staff) ...

- Took crisps, left a candy.

...

- The candy melted. We removed it, added several teabags.

...

- No crisps or teabags found, left a chocolate bar.

An so on. For years. I thought that geocachers might be very hungry and were not able to think of anything else but food because the cache was a bit far from civilization.

I personally lost one of my caches because of a melted candy. The logbook was completely destroyed.

Another brilliant idea is to put a cigarette in a cache. When some water gets inside... I won't give any souvenir from such a cache to my kids. Although a decomposed cigarette probably add some protection from wild animals, I guess.

8.6k · February 24, 2013

Agreeing regarding candy and other foodstuff.

Also read one post regarding liquid.

FWIW, most any liquid is gonna leak out of its' container. One of the biggest offenders is toy soap bubbles.

As so many people feel it is necessary to leave toys for the kiddies, this seems to be a favorite. Bad choice.

You should see what a mess those 5-hr energy drinks do to a cache.

Another brilliant idea is to put a cigarette in a cache. When some water gets inside... I won't give any souvenir from such a cache to my kids. Although a decomposed cigarette probably add some protection from wild animals, I guess.

Funny you should say that... deer and other veggie-loving critters love cigarettes. Don't know what "protection" you think that would be. Their hooves open glad-ware awfully easy.

Edited February 24, 2013 by Gitchee-Gummee

13.7k · February 24, 2013

FWIW, most any liquid is gonna leak out of its' container. One of the biggest offenders is toy soap bubbles.

As so many people feel it is necessary to leave toys for the kiddies, this seems to be a favorite. Bad choice.

We're guilty of putting bubbles in when we first started.

We just thought kids would love 'em.

- Then one day we saw what a split cheap plastic bottle full does to a hide.

Working for the World's favorite crayon manufacturer, we assumed crayons and kids would make a perfect fit for this hobby. Wrong again.

Great in cooler weather, but kick the heat in and it's a molten mess.

We learned our lesson and now remove things like that when we spot 'em.

February 24, 2013

Funny you should say that... deer and other veggie-loving critters love cigarettes. Don't know what "protection" you think that would be. Their hooves open glad-ware awfully easy.

I haven't spent days in bushes near a cache to find what animals like/dislike in our containers. Just know that my dogs do not enjoy tobacco smell so I think dogs/wolves/foxes will avoid touching a cache flavoured with a decomposed cigarette. From experience of many tourists I know that they've used a mixture of tobacco and paper to protect stashes with food. This method worked for them (AFAIK) though I've never used it myself in my trips.

I'd like to know how did you find out that deers were attracted by cigarettes in containers?

13.7k · February 24, 2013

Funny you should say that... deer and other veggie-loving critters love cigarettes. Don't know what "protection" you think that would be. Their hooves open glad-ware awfully easy.

I haven't spent days in bushes near a cache to find what animals like/dislike in our containers. Just know that my dogs do not enjoy tobacco smell so I think dogs/wolves/foxes will avoid touching a cache flavoured with a decomposed cigarette. From experience of many tourists I know that they've used a mixture of tobacco and paper to protect stashes with food. This method worked for them (AFAIK) though I've never used it myself in my trips.

I'd like to know how did you find out that deers were attracted by cigarettes in containers?

My Father showed me and he even went so far to say they preferred menthol to regular tobacco.

He always smoked when hunting, something we were taught was a deer turn off. Bagged a buck every year.

A smoker, I always dump the tobacco on a rock and put the butt in my pocket, knowing that the deer will lick it up from the rock when they're near.

I had to show this to someone once (always have to prove it you know...) and left a head of a Cohiba (from the ring back) on the tip of a trailer in my back yard. Before evening, a doe came through and grabbed it.

edited so it didn't go to another thread. :laughing:

Edited February 24, 2013 by cerberus1

February 24, 2013

Isn't it against the Geocaching rules to place food or beverages in a cache?

8.6k · February 24, 2013

I'd like to know how did you find out that deers were attracted by cigarettes in containers?

To answer the Q...

I and a friend would raise orphan fawns from the DNR (years ago). Discovered all sorts of things about deer, including the cigarette thing.

Often, other friends would stop to see how the young'uns were doing and if not paying attention, the little buggers would go right into a shirt pocket and steal their cigarettes, usually ignoring the cracked corn being offered.

Maybe they prefer chew, eh?

February 25, 2013

I ended up spraying said cache with ant spray and banged it out before sticking it back, taking out the ruined items and the ruined label that it was a geochache. Its a cache who's owner hasn't been active since august. From what I heard from my local group they've had everything from unused tampons and diapers to matches and lighters. Only thing we can do is clean it up.

Also thanks for the stories they made my day

February 25, 2013

Not all cachers find caches, the really dumb stuff is most likely left by kids,, that being said I have found cigarettes and live rounds most likely left by hunters(even had hunters sign my log books and they didnt steal my ammo box's :grin: ) people who leave any type of food stuffs have never bothered to read the guidelines or creed

4.4k · February 25, 2013

I swapped out a can of pop (soda) from a cache before winter came. They freeze and bulge.

I found a can of beer underneath a cache in January, still unfrozen in the mild weather. Tasted wonderful.

And I traded out a bag of plantain chips from the Dominican Republic from a cache here in Canada. They were a year past due, and tasted a bit stale. (Interestingly enough I've had that brand before, but they tasted better when fresh and on a Caribbean beach...)

February 25, 2013

well, maybe the food goes along with the unwrapped dental floss I found in a cache recently.

February 25, 2013

Gitchee-Gummee, thanks for this great story about deer.

February 25, 2013

If ants are getting into the cache to get at the candy, then the cache has other issues. If ants can get in, surely water can get in.

February 25, 2013

I really don't know, mouldy lollipops and chewing gum are nasty to find, I think it's people just not thinking about the possibilities and who the heck takes food anyway, who knows how long t's been in there. Either kids, or an extremely dumb person who doesn't think about what could happen in the future. I really don't know, I have never done so.

February 25, 2013

I am finding food in caches more and more often. My guess is that someone that has been around for a while won't leave food, newer cachers will.

I removed an 18 rated DVD from a cache over the weekend. Children go caching too.

PP.

Edited February 25, 2013 by Pink Paisley

3.7k · February 25, 2013

I've never found anything edible in a cache before...can't imagine anyone not still riding in a car seat actually thinking it a good idea to consume any they found that way!

February 25, 2013

I've also heard not to use clean peanut butter jars as caches. The scent still lingers in the clean jars and attracts bears. Not such a problem in the city, but out in the woods . . .

14k · February 25, 2013

Isn't it against the Geocaching rules to place food or beverages in a cache?

It's not really a rule. It's more of a suggestion that is pretty much unenforceable. If some naive geocacher placed a snickers bar in every cache, eventually some helpful local cache would let that cacher know that we're not supposed to put food in caches, but if they continued to do so, there's really not much anyone could do about it. I just don't see a scenario where GS get involved and closes the account on someone because they're putting food in caches but I suppose it could happen.

3.8k · February 25, 2013

I've also heard not to use clean peanut butter jars as caches. The scent still lingers in the clean jars and attracts bears. Not such a problem in the city, but out in the woods . . .

Wrong. While it might not attract bears in the city, it could attract coyotes. You might be surprised how many are in the city. And speaking of coyotes, the problems of food in a cache are lasting even after the food is gone. The coyote(or even other animals) will find food just once in a cache. even if the cache is cleaned out and the container is replaced the animals can remember the location and remember there was food there before, and will come back. While not as likely to happen if there is food once, it could still happen. More likely it will happen with a cache that keeps getting stocked with food.

And it's not just food. It's scented things, bubbles, perfumes, flavored chapstick, even those tree airfresheners. There are a lot of curious animals out there as well.

4.4k · February 25, 2013

A smoker, I always dump the tobacco on a rock and put the butt in my pocket, knowing that the deer will lick it up from the rock when they're near.

Speaking of deer and what they're attracted to... They also like urine. From a log of mine last year:

I quickly figured out why the deer were so friendly. They were after my pee. Figure: two days times a lot of beer, spread over a variety of spots because there's absolutely nobody around so I can take care of business whenever I get the urge, it adds up to a lot of different spots where I added, I think, a bit of salt to the ecosystem each time. Those deer found every one of those spots and licked the dickens out of the ground each time! Once I figured this out, taking pictures of them was a snap. If I wanted a shot of a deer beside a certain tree in front of that mountain, I just had to take a leak in the right spot, then sit back and wait. I am not making this up. Seeing this even gave me an appetite for salt, so I cooked up a snack of ichiban noodles (for myself), which I think worked out well for everybody. Trickle-down economics.

1.4k · February 25, 2013

I've also heard not to use clean peanut butter jars as caches. The scent still lingers in the clean jars and attracts bears. Not such a problem in the city, but out in the woods . . .

Wrong. While it might not attract bears in the city, it could attract coyotes. You might be surprised how many are in the city. And speaking of coyotes, the problems of food in a cache are lasting even after the food is gone. The coyote(or even other animals) will find food just once in a cache. even if the cache is cleaned out and the container is replaced the animals can remember the location and remember there was food there before, and will come back. While not as likely to happen if there is food once, it could still happen. More likely it will happen with a cache that keeps getting stocked with food.

And it's not just food. It's scented things, bubbles, perfumes, flavored chapstick, even those tree airfresheners. There are a lot of curious animals out there as well.

I have found quite a few peanut butter jars used as a cache. I have yet to find one the appears to have been chewed by the local wildlife.

If someone takes the time to thoroughly clean them, they seem to make a reasonable good cache container.

14k · February 25, 2013

A smoker, I always dump the tobacco on a rock and put the butt in my pocket, knowing that the deer will lick it up from the rock when they're near.

Speaking of deer and what they're attracted to... They also like urine. ...

Depends on the type of urine. Wolf, Fox, and Coyote urine are also used as ingredients in deer repellents. Of course, if Coyote urine is used to repel deer it might attract real coyotes.

1.1k · February 25, 2013

Why not make a compleet list of good and bad items,

and add a simple one liner WHY.

then link to that page, every time you find and remove bad stuff.

I find bad stuff in caches all the time, even in the same caches alot of other people also found,

and they did not see the bad stuff, or put it there, or neglected to remove it,

all 3 are just as bad..

Some people dont realize they vandalize a cache indirectly, when they leave candy or food,

other items are also bad, like sharp or pointy, needles, badges, those funny looking clothes marks with one thick needle on the back,

the holder fall of and is lost, the needle will end up in a kids finger,

also glass items, BAD !!

Wood items are also a bad idea !! people even manufacture wooden signature coins with their name and such !!

they always suck up moisture, and bacteries from your fingers, and grow green and ugly when left in a cache,

balloons and anything made of rubber, is also a bad idea.

Leave : Ballpens, plastic toys with no batteries, TB's, Geocoins,

(or a new dry logbook if needed)

and that is actually it :-)

1.1k · February 25, 2013

some CO like the idea to put food in their caches..

see this cache text :

http://coord.info/GCYWVB

and see one of the pictures:

Edited February 25, 2013 by OZ2CPU

February 26, 2013

some CO like the idea to put food in their caches..

see this cache text :

http://coord.info/GCYWVB

and see one of the pictures:

I guess some places have less bugs then the US, that would never last in FL.

February 26, 2013

several years ago when i first started I had said in a log that i left a treat(a couple stickers and army guys), several people here scorned me for leaving candy in a cache. I never understood why until i had a few finds under my belt. I have found all sorts of candy as well as half smoked joints and every thing in between. never underestimate what people "think" would be good souvenirs for others.

3.3k · February 27, 2013

FWIW, most any liquid is gonna leak out of its' container. One of the biggest offenders is toy soap bubbles.

As so many people feel it is necessary to leave toys for the kiddies, this seems to be a favorite. Bad choice.

We're guilty of putting bubbles in when we first started.

We just thought kids would love 'em.

- Then one day we saw what a split cheap plastic bottle full does to a hide.

Working for the World's favorite crayon manufacturer, we assumed crayons and kids would make a perfect fit for this hobby. Wrong again.

Great in cooler weather, but kick the heat in and it's a molten mess.

We learned our lesson and now remove things like that when we spot 'em.

When I joined, I thought that most cachers were parents & kids caching together. Since then I've learned that that scenario is maybe 10-20 percent of local caching in my area.

February 27, 2013

I once opened a cache and found the log pages all sticky with melted jolly-rancher. Thanks a lot guys. :angry:

4.4k · February 27, 2013

My guess:

1. Muggles.

2. People with pre-loaded GPSs. (Is there anything on the back of a Magellan or Geomate Jr. box that says don't leave food in caches?)

February 27, 2013

New people to the game: http://www.geocaching.com/seek/log.aspx?LUID=3937cc92-a447-4b67-810b-de6f09948feb

April 29, 2013

It's kind of funny to find candy in caches. It's a very freshman sort of leave and makes me smile a little that there's possibly someone new in the field. How lovely it is to think back tot he first cache that I found with my daughter... Seems like a little note in the cache explaining the dangers of leaving food would be sufficient to educate those new to the hobby.

We came upon a cache about a week ago with a cello-wrapped mint in it. My kid immediately started flipping out... "WHY would ANYONE leave a MINT?!" I'm still ROFL'ing!! I guess I should be happy that she's got the common sense to know that it's a bad idea.

April 29, 2013

On a related note, above ~ As long as wooden items are sprayed with some kind of sealant then they neither swell nor rot.

Edited April 29, 2013 by MadFist_and_Midge

2k · April 29, 2013

There was a local cache that some neighbor (or was it the CO, I can't recall) would stock the cache with cookies perhaps ones they made. Why they thought this was a good idea is a different question. Was just a small lock n lock by a log or tree or something, not on their property or something.

April 29, 2013

I visited Harris P&G in Deltona, Florida and plan on going back with bugspray and a grabber to do maintenance on the cache. I was pretty mad however as someone stuck candy in there..which attracted a hill of ants into the cache and the cache itself was in horrid shape. Have any of you came across someone leaving food in a cache? I know I've come across dog treats with the same consequences.

Lighters and roaches and a joint was in one cache. But ya food is not a good idea seen that a few times wonder why maybe a kid sneaks it in there when the parents aren't looking

April 29, 2013

My guess:

1. Muggles.

2. People with pre-loaded GPSs. (Is there anything on the back of a Magellan or Geomate Jr. box that says don't leave food in caches?)

I have a Magellan and I don't leave candy why would that have anything to do with it

April 29, 2013

I've also heard not to use clean peanut butter jars as caches. The scent still lingers in the clean jars and attracts bears. Not such a problem in the city, but out in the woods . . .

Wrong. While it might not attract bears in the city, it could attract coyotes. You might be surprised how many are in the city. And speaking of coyotes, the problems of food in a cache are lasting even after the food is gone. The coyote(or even other animals) will find food just once in a cache. even if the cache is cleaned out and the container is replaced the animals can remember the location and remember there was food there before, and will come back. While not as likely to happen if there is food once, it could still happen. More likely it will happen with a cache that keeps getting stocked with food.

And it's not just food. It's scented things, bubbles, perfumes, flavored chapstick, even those tree airfresheners. There are a lot of curious animals out there as well.

I have found quite a few peanut butter jars used as a cache. I have yet to find one the appears to have been chewed by the local wildlife.

If someone takes the time to thoroughly clean them, they seem to make a reasonable good cache container.

I have found a few peanut butter ones chewed but also normal containers maybe the bears just hungry and anything looks good or he was waiting for a geocacher

6.1k · April 29, 2013

My guess:

1. Muggles.

2. People with pre-loaded GPSs. (Is there anything on the back of a Magellan or Geomate Jr. box that says don't leave food in caches?)

I have a Magellan and I don't leave candy why would that have anything to do with it

Some units come from the factory with Geocaches uploaded already. A few people will use them to find caches without ever visiting the website and learning what not to put inside.

April 29, 2013

My guess:

1. Muggles.

2. People with pre-loaded GPSs. (Is there anything on the back of a Magellan or Geomate Jr. box that says don't leave food in caches?)

I have a Magellan and I don't leave candy why would that have anything to do with it

Some units come from the factory with Geocaches uploaded already. A few people will use them to find caches without ever visiting the website and learning what not to put inside.

Ah yeah that's true but it only had one cache in there for my area

9.3k · April 29, 2013

We're guilty of putting bubbles in when we first started..

Vile stuff. I have a personal rule which dictates if I find something in a cache that I feel probably doesn't belong, (Chick tracts, porn, drugs, etc), rather than simply remove the offending item, I will trade for it. If I ever found bubble liquid in a cache, and did not have any swag, I would certainly consider violating that rule. I've had three ammo can hides ruined by that foul substance.

Side note on tobacco:

A website I visited some time back, (it's on the Internet, it must be true), suggested making a tea out of cigarette butts, along with a few other ingredients, and spraying this on anything I did not want bears gnawing on. I had no idea tobacco made a good deer attractant. Learn something new every day!

April 30, 2013

Found a small container in a LP that had been stuff with a packet of instant oatmeal.

3.7k · April 30, 2013

Some (OK, alot) of people haven't read the guidelines.

Some even think you are supposed to take the cache.

I found a chocolate bar in a cache once and I ate it. Yum yum.

3.3k · April 30, 2013

I really don't know, mouldy lollipops and chewing gum are nasty to find, I think it's people just not thinking about the possibilities and who the heck takes food anyway, who knows how long t's been in there. Either kids, or an extremely dumb person who doesn't think about what could happen in the future. I really don't know, I have never done so.

Who eats cache food? Perdido does. A couple of post back he lists the delicious cache food he's eaten!

May 2, 2013

Came across a cache a bit ago that had a pack of gummi bears in it. The pack was closed so no bugs were attracted to the cache, but still I doubt anyone would want to eat a pack of gummi bears that have been sitting in an ammo can under a log in the middle of the woods for lord knows how long, so I removed the pack of gummi bears and that was that. Just don't know what would motivate someone to put food into something thats going to be sitting outside in the elements for a while.

May 6, 2013

I found a (wet) lollypop in a cache once. :blink: I swapped it out immediately.

What about glowsticks?

I just found this log in Troll's Cache:

Took Coin, left glowstick

I've also found temporary tattoos (ruined ones).

Why do people put food in caches?

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