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Cache Critters


Polgara

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What kind of critters or odd things have you encountered in searching for a cache?

 

So far nature has never failed to make its mark with me from hooting owls, moths in the middle of january to a frozen and nicely preserved pile of deer guts packed snuggly in the snow.

 

I wonder what will come next!

 

True-North icon_cool.gif

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How about a small frog (peeper actually) found in the middle of December on top of at least two feet of snow! I carried him for the better part of a mile in my inside shirt pocket and gave him to a Naturalist at the nature center, they've been keeping him in one of the display aquariums and I hear that he is the star attraction when the local schoolchildren come on fieldtrips.

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I found an adorable little bunny nesting practically right on top of the cache.

 

Other than that, when I was placing this cache, as I was giving the area a once-over, I saw someone had tossed a frozen turkey into the gorge, and it was lying in one of the run-offs. I didn't take a picture or even mention it.

 

Finally, one day as I was searching for a cache, I was tromping down the trail, and had paused for one reason or another. A great hub-bub startled me as I saw a hawk unfurl itself from a tree and take off, about 25 feet away from. It was probably a red-tail, tho I didn't get a true ID.

 

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Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you be also be like him.

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Many times at my cache (Mullen's View) I have seen some awesome animals. I once was sitting at the top of a ridge and a hawk landed in a dead tree not 20 feet in front of me. When I looked up, it took off. The sight was awesome.

I also saw a buck, had to be at least 14 points, about 10 feet in front of me and my daughter, who was in a sling on my chest. She said, "Wow!" and he bounded off into the woods.

Lizards and snakes abound in many of the caches I've visited. I actually had a 7-8ft long black snake chase me. OK, I pulled it's tail, so I'm sure it had good reason. I'm not the croc hunter!!

The one animal I'm dying to see is a bear. I've visited a few caches after a bear sighting and still haven't seen one out on a cache hunt. Guess that'll have to wait til spring now.

Well, that's my tail...err tale.

 

Until next time...

 

Trusty

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While geocaching? Mice. Ticks. Some butterflies.

 

Not geocaching? Saw a black bear walking down the road towards me. Maybe I wouldn't have been so panicked if it wasn't for the truck that was herding her towards me! She finally ran off the road and up into the woods where I followed her a while at a safe distance.

 

And there was a tiny white owl on my driveway a couple months ago. Hope I didn't scare her prey away...

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Mostly deer. There were wild turkeys, tons of them, at this cache And one time near my house, before geocaching, we were hiking and saw a mountain lion draped over a rock, sunning himself. He was a tad perturbed at being disturbed, and got up and loped off. Very unusual for my neck of the woods. We've got coyotes too, but I haven't seen one while out caching, yet.

Rabbits, squirrels, birds, hawks, eagles, chipmunks too. Haven't met a snake while out caching yet, but I'm sure I will. I'm pretty sure I'll run, too.

 

Cache you later,

Planet

 

"You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will

give you a look that says, 'My God, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'" - Dave Barry

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quote:
Originally posted by marty621:

Where did you encounter that snake? Am I mistaken, or is that a Timber rattler?


looks like it was in Harriman, and yea, sure looks like a Timber Rattler to me too.

 

Tae-Kwon-Leap is not a path to a door, but a road leading forever towards the horizon.

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Saw 2 snakes while caching in Delaware, one was teeny, and gray, the other was a watersnake and it was bigger and tan colored. I don't know my snakes, so I can't share what kind they were. Also saw alot of turtle shells at the "Trussum Pond" cache...who is eating the turtles?!? Saw a vulture too, yuck.

 

True-North icon_cool.gif

 

"The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator."

- Louis Pasteur

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On Topic.

 

The only critter we have run across was a black bear on our first day caching, was walked right up on him in the dark. When we were about 10 yards away he noticed us and ran away. We didn't see him untill he started to run.

 

OT-

I have never seen a ringneck snake in the wild, but I have caught two fo them in the die shop I work at two years ago when we had a problem with crickets in the shop. I took the snakes out back of the shop and released them in the woods. i didn't think a concrete floor was a good place for a cold blooded critter to be crawling. I did notice that ringneck snakes do leave a terrible scent on yoru hands that takeas few washigns to get rid of.

 

Eeyore

 

I'm one sat short of triangulation.

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Well sort of off topic, but pertinent. We have two bird feeders on a small gauge (to keep the squirrels off) wire hung between a tree and our house. We've always enjoyed watching birds feeding thru our dining room's picture window. I've heard bear love bird seed, but the feeders were hanging 20 feet above the ground, so I never gave them a thought as far as being a bear attractant.

 

Last night, I was laying on the couch reading and I heard a noise outside. I ignored it at first, but then I heard a louder one and it sounded like something hitting our house. I went to the window and saw a huge black bear in the tree (which is about 15 feet from the house).

He had climbed the tree and pulled out the wire that held the bird feeders, knocking them to the ground. How he even knew about the wires is beyond me. They were barely noticible.

 

I ran to get my wife and a flashlight came back and opened the window. We could hear the bear nearby, but he was no longer in the tree...or so we thought.

 

After shining the flashlight around, we saw him maybe 30 feet up in the tree, level with our 3rd story window. I guess I must have spooked it. We went up to the next floor and there was the guy, right in front of us, hanging out. Amazing how something that big could climb that tree so fast. As soon as he saw us at the window, he climbed back down and hauled butt out of there. He never even came back for the bird feeders he knocked down.

 

"An appeaser is one who keeps feeding a crocodile-hoping it will eat him last" -Winston Churchill

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Diamond back rattler--in CA, my daughter almost stepped on it.

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Gopher snake--in CA, I almost stepped on it.

 

Red tailed hawk--flew out of a bush about 15 feet from me and if I wasn't so startled I could have reached out my arm and touched it as it flew by.

 

Vulture--sat on a telephone pole above the cache.

 

11 inch lizard--on the same hike as the rattler.

 

Deer--a few times

 

Wild turkey--on the way back home.

 

Grouse--startled me as they flew out of the shrubs in front of me.

 

Horse--wearing a bridle and leg wraps, wandering around on the trail as my kids and I hiked back to our car. We cought him and eventually found the owner, who had lost him while switching saddles. Lucky for my daughter, she got to ride around on his back while we combed the neighborhood looking for the owner.

 

[This message was edited by Tomebug on April 16, 2003 at 10:25 AM.]

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Last weekend, I placed a multicache called "The Elves Tree a Raccoon" in a park called Raccoon Creek State Park. About three miles into the hike, what animal do I see, walking down the middle of the trail in front of me? I thought I was hallucinating. I got the raccoon to pose for this picture.

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x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

.sdrawkcab dootsrednu tub sdrawrof devil si efiL

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Animals animals everywhere this week!!! Saw a tan colored snake, with what looked like a black checkerboard pattern on his back, about 18 inches long, basking in the sun after a nice meal, I don't know what kind of snake, and a newborn fawn! It was sooooo tiny! It darted out of the woods and at first i thought it was a raccoon or something, but i quickly noticed the spots on its back.

 

Then while fixing a cache I placed, I saw some frogs, a box turtle crossing the path, some water turtles basking in the short lived sun, some water snakes were basking nearby those turtles, another fawn wandering by a creek, and then, as I looked up from one of my caches, I saw 10 feet from me, a huge horned owl perched on a branch about 3 feet above the ground! His eyes were bright yellow, and he even spun his head around a couple times before taking flight!

 

"The more I study nature, the more I am amazed at the Creator."

- Louis Pasteur

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We were trying to find Misery in Lebanon for the second time.. both a year apart and finally found it. When I opened it.. everything was covered in MOLD.. eww.. white and green mold. Gross... we did a good deed though. Dried the cache container out and trwew everything away.. then replaced it with all kinds of neat things. Happy Geocaching!!

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Hit the Eagles Nest yesterday and while walking down to the carriage house was startled by a 5 point Buck that about 7 feet away behind some bushes. He and his girlfriend ran off before I could even reach for my camera. But we stared at each other (each in shock at how close we were) for a goo 30 sec.

 

By the way that Carriage house is CREEPY! Check my log for some pics.

 

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::::: That was ZEN, This is TAO. :::::

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