How many times have you been approached by a muggle while looking for a cache?

[+jrobinson817]

I wanted to start this topic because I was intrested in how many of us geocachers have been approached while we are hunting down a cache. I just started caching a month ago and have only 20 finds. I live in Southern California so lots of our caches are in the urban city setting. I have been approached twice so far while I was looking on the side of buildings for a cache. Both times the person asked " can I help you?" Both times I said oh I'm just looking for something. Each time the muggle said "Can I help you find it?" I then told them I'm doing this thing called geocaching and both times the person said "oh ok I know what that is. You can go ahead and look." So far they have been pleasant about it. Does anybody have any funny stories or horrible ones? I'm sure not everyone out there knows about geocaching and I'm curious to know what experiences the community has had out there avoiding the muggles. Post your horror or awesome stories below. Thanks!

[+wmpastor]

There have been threads on this before, but new stories are happening all the time, so let's hear 'em!

 

I've done mostly suburban and woodsy caches, so muggles have rarely been an issue. I have simply left if the area was too busy or there was a police car parked nearby.

[+T.D.M.22]

These is a log (not on my cache)

While on site there was a few young girl, very curious creators to say the least, who keep popping their heads over the fence trying to see what was happening. In short order they where wondering around the ally and on the side walk getting closer and trying to see what was happening. At one point one I heard one of the other caches say we are looking for something.... Well there is no way that I was going to let these girl get to close or for that matter understand what we where doing!!!!

So I came up with "Tree Spiders"....

I walked up the the girls and said have you ever seem a Tree Spider??? All said "No". I asked them to come will me and showed them a tree where most of the needles where missing from the inner branches and said "This tree is infected as the Tree Spider has eaten the needles and is working on the way out to the tips of the branches." They where all amazed... I then took them to another smaller tree a little ways away that was full of branches with needle all the way to the trunk and said "This tree has not been infected as you can see the needles are all here!!!" They all agreed!!! Then I said "The Tree Spider is black, hairy legs legged with a yellow strip and that there was white spots on it's body." I turned my hand upside down and said "It has been found the the Tree Spider has grown as big as a person's hand!!!" and then I wiggled my fingers lit a spider. Well that did not go over good as they started to look real worried. The problem that I told them was that the Tree Spider's net, when it hatches, will set 100 to 150 baby Tree Spider free!!! We where trying to catch a Tree Spider,as we where with the Collage and wanted to study it further and the impact to the environment/trees in Medicine Hat. With that one of the young girls said "We though you where looking for a cat. I said "Oh no. But could you imagine if the Tree Spider did get as BIG as. Cat???" The girls took off pretty fast after that and I got to sign the log. Nice hide, it took a while to locate and I checked, No "Tree Spiders" in the area!!! Not sure what was more fun solving the cache, locating it or just having fun with Muggles!!!! TFTH!!!

Edited May 22, 2013 by T.D.M.22

[+T.D.M.22]

And another one by the same person

Seeing that this was one of the last caches that we did not get in Redcliff we decided to give it a shot. Team TahoeGR00 set out to GZ just to find nothing… A few months later I notice that azraelsportal had logged that he had figured out what to do and had ordered a tool to help find the cache. So I decided to meet up with azraelsportal & fotowca to have another try at the cache. When the time was right the three of us started our search at GZ. It was a long hard search that was not getting us anywhere. At one point I had pulled my truck along the GZ so that I could stand on the side of the box just to get height to look for the cache.

 

It was about then when the home owner from across the street, the West side, came over to ask “What are you looking for?” Without missing a beat I said “Brick Bugs!!” He looked a little puzzled but continued to ask more questions. So I said “Do you see the little holes in the brick that we are looking at??? Well they were made by Brick Bugs that come out in the evening. They eat at the bricks and over time the bricks will weaken. We are from the Collage and are trying to catch a Brick Bug so that we would be able to study the life cycle and understand their effect on bricks.” Well this just set the guy off and he said “Do you know that just about every house in Redcliff is made of BRICKS!! The Brick Bugs could start to destroy the houses around town!!” I responded that “That is the reason that we are trying to get catch one!!” He then called his wife over and told her our Brick Bug story to her and that he hoped that we would be able to catch one to help save the town and stop the Brick Bugs…..

 

At the end of the day we did not find the cache or a Brick Bug but man I love talking to Muggles!!!

TahoeGR00

[+OZ2CPU]

most often people are just saying the truth :

I am geocaching !

if they dont know what that is, we explain it.

 

but if a cache is located close to where kids play,

and kids come and ask, it is common to play a few jokes,

and not say the truth.. they cant handle the truth,

they will seek it and make it vanish if they know a hidden treasure is there somewhere.

 

several good jokes (or call it lies) have been posted on this forum.

 

we try to make it short and simple and not pick up any extra attention or questions

if it is kids who ask.

 

LIKE :

 

We just check the fence quality.

 

We count the dog poo.

 

We check if sign is clean or needs to be cleaned.

 

Edited May 22, 2013 by OZ2CPU

[+sparklefingers]

I have had 2 run ins.

One was a man walking his dog. i didn't see him coming and he popped up behind me and ask if i was okay. i looked up from the log and into his eyes. i told him i was geocaching.

 

The other was an elderly man who walked up to me and told me i shouldn't be routing around in the trees. so i told him i was looking for my cat.

[+Don_J]

I've been approached by muggles five times, three in one day. All worked out okay but on one I was asked to notify the cache owner to remove the cache as the business owner was uncomfortable with strangers lurking around the side of his business. I have also been approached by law enforcement five times with one bad experience in that regard.

[+JKMonkey]

Once, but I made it like I dropped my phone just so I didnt have to explain the idea of geocaching to them in the short amount of time I had (I was trying to get one more cache done before sundown).

[+redsox_mark]

No real horror stories for me, but a couple of uncomfortable ones.

 

I can generally tell by the tone.. there are two different approaches:

A. The "what the heck do you think you are doing - get out of there" tone

B. The friendly and curious tone.

 

With the first type, I will try and be vague or make something up. With the second, most of the time I'll tell them Geocaching.

 

Two examples of "type A":

 

1. Was just off a footpath near a stream and about to grab the cache when a muggle used the bad tone and said "can I help you". I replied "no". He got more angry and said he was responsible for these grounds and I should not stray from the path and it was dangerous where I was standing etc etc.... so I just moved on (logged a DNF).

 

2. Was looking for a cache whilst on a public path, though the coordinates were pointing to a boundary wall of a private property. Owner pokes his head around and asks what I'm doing (in an aggressive way). I say the first thing that comes to mind - my wife just called me asking where I was. He then asks if I needed the GPS to tell her where I was. At this point I think he may know about the cache and is playing with me. I move on (another DNF).

[+Brooklyn51]

I can generally tell by the tone.. there are two different approaches:

A. The "what the heck do you think you are doing - get out of there" tone

B. The friendly and curious tone.

 

 

We've had encounters with muggles in both categories. Fortunately, the "B" type has been far more common.

 

An example of "A"

We were looking for a cache that was along a wooded trail that started in a cul-de-sac of a quiet neighborhood. We followed the trail and found the cache without much trouble but when we got back to our car, there were 2 tall rather angry looking guys standing there, arms folded, glaring at us next to our car. They demanded to know what we were dropping off. After a couple of tense moments while we nervously explained geocaching, they began to relax a bit. It seemed that the area was a popular place for people to drop off old furniture, appliances and the like and they were tired of cleaning it up. We showed them the GPSr and even offered to show them how to use it but they seemed satisfied that we were truly just playing a game and not dumping and we parted on much friendier terms. We did warn them that others may follow but they were ok with that as long as noone left anything behind.

 

And "B"

We were looking for a cache hidden on a bleacher of a neighborhood ballfield (not really one of our more favorite type of hides but it was a nice day). While we were looking intently, a polite voice came from behind us, asking us what we were doing. One of the neighbors from across the way had walked over to us and startled us as we didn't see her coming. I guess we were a little too focused. She had seen lots of people coming to this spot and doing what we were doing and had wondered what was going on. So much for stealth. We explained geocaching to her and showed her how to use the GPSr. We even let her search for the cache which we did find together. She seemed interested and happy about knowing what was going on and promised to shout out hints to future searchers.

 

What and how much you say to a muggle will certainly depend on the circumstances but generally the truth seems like the best way to go most of the time.

[+BAMBOOZLE]

Too many to recall .....quite a few by police. 10 years ago no one knew what geocaching was .....you either told a lie or spent an hour in explanations. I always just said I was learning to use a new GPS unit or we were looking for spiders or snakes.

These days I just say I'm geocaching and , if necessary, give a quickie geo-lesson.

[+J Grouchy]

My only "brush" with a muggle was along a walking path in a nearby office campus. I was hanging out near a tree by the pathway studying the area when a lady walking by (that I hadn't noticed until she was right there) asked if I was looking for something. All I said was "yep"...she never even slowed down. Other than that, I've gotten some curious looks from folks at a distance, but nobody ever questioning me showing any real interest. Maybe I don't look like the approachable kind.

[+Heli Leo]

Wife and I were looking for a cache located at a "T" intersection out in the country when a farmer on a tractor stopped and pointed across the road and said, " It's over there." and left. While I was signing the log and replacing the cache an older farmer stopped and questioned my wife about what I was up too. She tried to explain Geo caching to him. In the ensuing conversation we learned that the farmer on the tractor was the second farmers son. The thing I remember most about the conversation was when he said, " I'VE FARMED THIS LAND FOR 65 YEARS AND YOU WOULD THINK THAT MY OWN SON WOULD TELL ME ABOUT THIS." It did not appear that he was angry with us but with his son. We showed him our GPSr and explained how it worked and he was really interested. We left on friendly terms.

[+redsox_mark]

A friendly one which I just remembered which happened recently..

 

Was looking for a cache near a riverbank. It was in Prague (which is only relevant in that I don't speak Czech and I'm unsure if the muggle spoke English or not). I was struggling to find the cache. Along this river there were boats docked and muggles with them, some looking for customers to take on a river trip. I was avoiding eye contact with the muggles and focussed on finding the cache. One boat owning muggle seemed to be trying to get my attention; I assumed he wanted to sell me a boat trip so I ignored him. Finally I did make eye contact and he pointed at a location... he was trying to tell me where the cache was! I followed his point and soon found the cache.

[+PACSGUY]

I had an old guy on a scooter stop and ask if we had car trouble, then he said "Ohh I know you looking for hidden treasures" and pointed to the cache. He didn't know nothing about CG just had run into someone who told him before I guess.

Great old guy....there are good folks out there still.

[+ldyparadox99]

Had my first this week. I was doing an urban cache near my office and it was on the side of a business. I of course was looking at my phone and was trying to pinpoint what it was. So these two ladies were getting on their bikes and asked me if I was lost. I told them no, was just out for a walk. They told me I couldn't go there because it was a private area. I was like, oh, ok, I won't go too far back.

 

Then one of the ladies looks at me funny and points right at the geocache and asks if that was what I was looking for. At that point I just laughed and asked her if I was that obvious. She said she saw the compass on my phone. As the ladies rode off, the one was explaining geocaching to the other. ;-)

[+Buzzy204]

Before I had a GPS and was working from my phone (very poor GPS) I was walking circles in a local park when this kid playing basketball walked my way and said "it's in that tree over there dude". He was right.

[+onthegomom]

5. 2 security guards that saw us on their cameras and wanted to make sure we were okay, one by cops patrolling a trail. All 3 were super confused with geocaching when we explained it to them LOL One guy was fascinated and followed us to a few and one by a man who wanted to make sure I was okay as I was on the side of the road with my baby by the car

Oh wait, the owner of one came out to help me when apparently he felt sorry for me out there with 3 kids wandering in circles LOL

[+Themundies]

It's funny, we have never had much trouble with muggles and we are not particularly subtle. What seems to be becoming popular in pittsburgh are cache owners putting caches in their front yards. Last week we twice had cache owners watch us find their caches. One guy came out and swapped caching stories with us for 20min. The other sent us an email laughing about how much we confused their Verizon installer.

[AZcachemeister]

Usually only once, then they steer clear of me.