+traineediplomat Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 My caching buddy BundyB and I were caching here in Canberra....We tracked past a couple of taxi drivers having a barbie...they asked us what we were doing and BundyB tried to explain it to them... When he mentioned that the satellite system we were using was originally a US military system the taxi guys asked if we were on some kind of training (to which BundyB almost said "Yeah sure, don't we look like NavySeals?).... Quote Link to comment
+The Leprechauns Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 On July 4th after watching the fireworks with fellow geocachers Tonsil and Enfanta, I took them to see a spot I had scouted out for a microcache location. It is a large public fountain with cascading pools, and a bridge crossing over the largest pool. In looking for hiding spots, we got carried away, took our shoes off and started wading through the fountain pools. Mind you, we looked official-like with caching vests, GPS, cellphones, flashlights, headlamps and other gear hanging off us. The assembled crowd of July 4th celebrants noticed our poking around in crevices and behind rocks, and someone finally asked what we were doing. Enfanta explained that there had been a report of a bat in the area, and we were conducting a thorough inspection. "Yes, that's right," I told one concerned mother, "a rabid bat." Our GPS receivers instantly transformed into bat radar wave detectors. "Are you folks with the Fish and Game Commission?" we were asked. "No, we're from Animal Control... Fish and Game doesn't have jurisdiction here." When some parents started telling their kids to stop splashing around in the fountains, we announced that there was nothing to worry about, as no bats had been detected. The guano was pretty deep in that fountain pool. x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x Some mornings, it just doesn't pay to chew through the leather straps. - Emo Phillips Quote Link to comment
enfanta Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 I don't care if it's 11:30 pm on a holiday. Public safety comes first. Animal Control. It's not always cute and fuzzy. (Actually, I told the first folks who looked at me strangely* that I was looking for crawfish. I think I had them looking by the time I wandered off.) *yes, yes: I get that a lot. Care the Deception of Imitative Administrator Quote Link to comment
auntyweasel Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 ROFL! I love it! I really do work for animal control, and we have seriously thought about wearing our AC t-shirts while out. We once told a guy who's kid wouldn't stop bugging us that we were on "rattlesnake duty". Made perfect sense to him why two women were poking around the rocks on the hill! When we came down, we told him it seemed ok, but gave him a stern warning to be careful. Never invoke anything bigger than your head. Quote Link to comment
+GatoRx Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 I'd taken an out-of-town friend to a cache last week, and stood on a bridge going over a small creek while he looked around for the container. A couple walked over the bridge behind me, saw GPS units, pens, a clipboard, and 'official' looking papers, and asked, "are you testing the water?" It was tempting to say we were, as other creeks in the area have high bacteria levels, but I just said that we weren't. I guess we looked rather strange though - they didn't ask any more questions after that. ---- When in doubt, poke it with a stick. Quote Link to comment
+Team GeoCan Posted July 7, 2003 Share Posted July 7, 2003 Today the normally secluded spot I was going to drop a cache on was covered with scads of RVers. The whole caboodle of us were walking back and forth looking for a drop spot. Whenever one of the RVers looked my way I whipped the GPS up to my ear like a cellphone. No problem instant "ignore". Trash-out, EVERYtime Quote Link to comment
+joefrog Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 I was strolling along a path in Leeds, AL approaching a cache site. I was walking slowly, because two kids were up ahead pushing a third in a stroller and I was trying to let them get out of sight. My wife and our baby were a distance behind me. The kid finally turned around and screamed "Stop following us!" LOL... apparently they've never seen someone walk a path before. I can just imagine what they told their parents! Joel (joefrog) "Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for ye are crunchy and taste good with ketchup!" Quote Link to comment
+WeightMan Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 Check out the June 24 logs for Cape Blanco from the Headlands Two of us ran into an inmate work crew from Oregon Department of Corrections. When I was there they were working right in the area of the cache. By the time Zzzoey got there they were around the corner and out of sight of the cache. Just imagine my standing there with a Tupperware box between my arm and my chest with a balled up trash bag in my hand and trying to look like all I am doing is watching the seals on the rocks below. Not that looking at the seals was hard work, but I was there a very long time. I grabbed the cache while they were all briefly out of sight, but they returned with more wood chips before I had a chance to re-hide the box. The one who was spreading the chips was very talkative and we chatted for some time. He was very polite and I wondered what he was doing time for, but chose not to ask. I might add that the others were hauling wheelbarrow loads of chips about a half mile to the location. Not the easiest job, but better than the gray bar hotel. Weight Man Quote Link to comment
+Dave_W6DPS Posted July 21, 2003 Share Posted July 21, 2003 I work at a nuclear power plant, and when I am looking for urban and suburban caches I tend to wear my company ID badge. It tends to help me blend in just about anywhere... I was looking for a benchmark, just after finding a cache, in a nearby town, when I was asked by some passers-by if I was checking for escaped radiation. I explained that I was looking for a surveyor's benchmark, which was about 100 feet up the block from where they stopped to watch me. They became visibly less interested when I put the benchmark page and my GPSr next to the benchmark and took a photo. As I walked back past them, toward my car, they commented on how they supposed I wasn't really chasing escaped radiation after all. I assured them that we didn't let any of our radiation escape. Just following a portable navigation device.... Dave_W6DPS My two cents worth, refunds available on request. (US funds only) Quote Link to comment
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