Interesting, encounter experiences.

[+Team_Vod]

What interesting encounters/experiences have you had while geocaching? For example have you found anything as interesting, or more interesting than the cache that is not part of the cache? When or if this has happened did you find the cache? Did you keep the other interesting item you found?

 

Have you seen or encountered an experience with wildlife? If so, what type of wildlife?

 

Here are a couple of experiences I have had so far:

1. During the first day and the second geocache I tried to find I found a pair of toy Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle nunchucks. They are the soft rubber/vinyl type material and are bright orange. I never did find the cache though. I am going to keep the toy nunchucks and use them as swag either for trade if I find a geocache large enough or when I start creating geocaches for others to find.

 

2. The second time I went out geocaching I encountered a pair of mating/nesting Canadian Geese. Along the Sioux City River Front, between Interstate 29 and the Missouri River there is Larsen Park Rd. At the end of Larson Park Rd is the Hamilont Blvd/I-29 interchange. In this general area is the public boat ramp, a hotel, multi-use recreation trail, parking lot, trail head or access point, and a man made water feature. It is in this water feature where the geese are nesting. There is also a bench people can sit on and enjoy the view. I found the geocache, which is attached via magnet to the bench frame. But when I was approaching the area to locate the cache I was challenged by the geese. The one that was not sitting on the nest came up out of the water, hissing and walking toward me, putting itself between me and his mate on the nest. I had to keep focusing my attention from the goose to the geocache app on my phone to locate the cache. I found the cache and when I looked nad reached under the bench to grab it the goose charged. I had to stand up right away and make myself appear larger to get it to back off, which it quickly did. I have had experience with Canadian Geese before and learned if you face them they will not charge. Or if they do charge and you make yourself appear larger to them by raising your arms they will back off. I was never going to harm the geese or their unhatched eggs. I understand the goose was acting on instinct to protect his mate, next and their unhatched young. The goose and I never came into contact with one another. After I got him to bakc down he returned to his mate on the nest and let me go about my business of logging the geocache. It had a piece of swag in it for which I swapped/traded.

 

Has anyone ever had an encounter/experience like this?

 

Am I wrong in thinking this is part of what geocaching is all about?

Edited May 13, 2016 by SUX_VR_40_Rider

[knowschad]

I came across a log once that was signed in blood.

 

 

OK, I didn't really.

 

[Zombie Woof]

<snip>

 

2. The second time I went out geocaching I encountered a pair of mating/nesting Canadian Geese.

 

<snip>

 

Am I wrong in thinking this is part of what geocaching is all about?

 

How do you know the geese you saw were Canadian?

Did you see their passports?

 

Seriously though, experiences like that, are what Geo Caching is about.

Bringing you to a place you wouldn't have otherwise known about.

[+Touchstone]

Some my wildlife encounters:

 

Skunk: the skunk in our area are endemic with rabies, so aside from the obvious reasons to avoid a skunk, the thought of contracting rabies added an element of danger to the encounter.

 

Seals and dead Seals: Living in coastal area, it's not uncommon to encounter seals, as well as dead seals on the beach. Leptospirosis is not an uncommon cause of death amongst our seal population, so it's generally not a bad idea to keep your distance. The State Parks and volunteer animal resucue groups are pretty proactive in removing dead animals from the beach areas, due to the likelihood of person/animal encounters.

 

Western Diamondback rattlesnake: Not a terribly common site, but I have seen a few out caching. A few cachers have been bitten, generally sticking their hands into places they can't see, and ended up in the hospital. One cacher I know held the world record for anti-venom doses after his bite on his hand.

 

Mountain Lion: Only seen one, but it certainly got my attention. It was more interested in avoiding me, than I was of avoiding it.

 

Gopher snake: Although not a particularly lethal threat, gopher snakes look alot like rattlesnakes in color and size at first glance. They can bite, and reportedly like most reptiles, carry Salmonella.

 

Squirrels: Sure they're cute as all get out, but most parks in my area have warnings about handling/feeding them. Besides Yersinia pestis (carried in fleas on the squirrels), they also have a well earned reputation of transmitting Tularemia (carried in fleas and ticks).

[+Team_Vod]

The geese had been nesting at the man made water feature or pond before I started geocaching. I knew they were there from riding bike by that area every time I would commute to or from work. When I located the cache the eggs had not hatched. They have since and there are two or three goslings that I can see. Every time I ride by I can see the cute little goslings are getting larger and are starting to learn how to fly.

[+TheAuthorityFigures]

Hmm, lets see. Probably the most encountered wildlife in my neck of the woods is either rattlesnakes or Africanized bees (not counting the furry cute jack and cottontail rabbits). Especially starting now when its starting to get really hot. I've encountered both caching. But my job is one that has me outdoors in remote Arizona desert, so I've seen just about everything the Sonoran desert has to offer as far as toothy, stingy, spiny, pokey, scratchy, bitey. I've had close encounters with all manner of snakes, Gila Monsters, javelina, angry swarms of bees, flying ants, bats, coyotes, mountain lions, black widow spiders, scorpions and tarantulas... but by FAR the most feared creature in our neck of the woods isn't an animal at all, but a plant. The infamous Jumping Cholla. My heart rate shoots up when I see it. There are areas down here that are a literal ocean of it. You do not touch it. You do not approach it. You do not dare make eye contact with it. You live down here long enough and you will have an encounter with it. I swear it was developed in a secret military compound, some sort of cold war black military project to weaponize a plant. It escaped its developers and captors and now roams the desert extracting its revenge on unsuspecting cachers. Horrible, evil stuff Cholla is. :::::shiver::::

[+Team_Vod]

Hmm, lets see. Probably the most encountered wildlife in my neck of the woods is either rattlesnakes or Africanized bees (not counting the furry cute jack and cottontail rabbits). Especially starting now when its starting to get really hot. I've encountered both caching. But my job is one that has me outdoors in remote Arizona desert, so I've seen just about everything the Sonoran desert has to offer as far as toothy, stingy, spiny, pokey, scratchy, bitey. I've had close encounters with all manner of snakes, Gila Monsters, javelina, angry swarms of bees, flying ants, bats, coyotes, mountain lions, black widow spiders, scorpions and tarantulas... but by FAR the most feared creature in our neck of the woods isn't an animal at all, but a plant. The infamous Jumping Cholla. My heart rate shoots up when I see it. There are areas down here that are a literal ocean of it. You do not touch it. You do not approach it. You do not dare make eye contact with it. You live down here long enough and you will have an encounter with it. I swear it was developed in a secret military compound, some sort of cold war black military project to weaponize a plant. It escaped its developers and captors and now roams the desert extracting its revenge on unsuspecting cachers. Horrible, evil stuff Cholla is. :::::shiver::::

 

Has any cache owners purposely hidden a geocache in a patch of Jumping Cholla? Or actually on one of the plants itself? From the description I read about the Jumping Cholla one would have to be a sadistic, cruel and evil (insert vulgar expletive here) to do so but would do so because they think it funny or just simply because they can. The thing is I actually know people who would do such a thing. No these people are not my friends, I just know who they are. They would actually throw a piece of Jumping Cholla at another person as a means of playing a prank or joke on them. Yeah, I know of some pretty messed up people.

[+fizzymagic]

I've found two dead bodies.

 

Does that count?

[+Gill & Tony]

Mostly kangaroos and wallabies, a few skinks and larger lizards. The occasional red-bellied black snake. A few echidnas. And one absolutely enormous spider, which turned out to be plastic - and the cache container. My son did beat it to death with a stick before realising it wasn't actually alive.

 

No dead bodies

Edited May 14, 2016 by Gill & Tony

[knowschad]

I've found two dead bodies.

 

Does that count?

 

I hope you traded equal or better.

[+TheAuthorityFigures]

Hmm, lets see. Probably the most encountered wildlife in my neck of the woods is either rattlesnakes or Africanized bees (not counting the furry cute jack and cottontail rabbits). Especially starting now when its starting to get really hot. I've encountered both caching. But my job is one that has me outdoors in remote Arizona desert, so I've seen just about everything the Sonoran desert has to offer as far as toothy, stingy, spiny, pokey, scratchy, bitey. I've had close encounters with all manner of snakes, Gila Monsters, javelina, angry swarms of bees, flying ants, bats, coyotes, mountain lions, black widow spiders, scorpions and tarantulas... but by FAR the most feared creature in our neck of the woods isn't an animal at all, but a plant. The infamous Jumping Cholla. My heart rate shoots up when I see it. There are areas down here that are a literal ocean of it. You do not touch it. You do not approach it. You do not dare make eye contact with it. You live down here long enough and you will have an encounter with it. I swear it was developed in a secret military compound, some sort of cold war black military project to weaponize a plant. It escaped its developers and captors and now roams the desert extracting its revenge on unsuspecting cachers. Horrible, evil stuff Cholla is. :::::shiver::::

 

Has any cache owners purposely hidden a geocache in a patch of Jumping Cholla? Or actually on one of the plants itself? From the description I read about the Jumping Cholla one would have to be a sadistic, cruel and evil (insert vulgar expletive here) to do so but would do so because they think it funny or just simply because they can. The thing is I actually know people who would do such a thing. No these people are not my friends, I just know who they are. They would actually throw a piece of Jumping Cholla at another person as a means of playing a prank or joke on them. Yeah, I know of some pretty messed up people.

Not to my knowledge. I've been to a few caches that were uncomfortably close to cholla, but it was just incidental to being a open desert cache. If someone purposefully hid a cache in a cholla cactus, more than likely if someone were able to retrieve it without massive blood loss, it would surely be re-located by an angry cacher pretty quickly. And rightfully so.

[+GrateBear]

Hmm, lets see. Probably the most encountered wildlife in my neck of the woods is either rattlesnakes or Africanized bees (not counting the furry cute jack and cottontail rabbits). Especially starting now when its starting to get really hot. I've encountered both caching. But my job is one that has me outdoors in remote Arizona desert, so I've seen just about everything the Sonoran desert has to offer as far as toothy, stingy, spiny, pokey, scratchy, bitey. I've had close encounters with all manner of snakes, Gila Monsters, javelina, angry swarms of bees, flying ants, bats, coyotes, mountain lions, black widow spiders, scorpions and tarantulas... but by FAR the most feared creature in our neck of the woods isn't an animal at all, but a plant. The infamous Jumping Cholla. My heart rate shoots up when I see it. There are areas down here that are a literal ocean of it. You do not touch it. You do not approach it. You do not dare make eye contact with it. You live down here long enough and you will have an encounter with it. I swear it was developed in a secret military compound, some sort of cold war black military project to weaponize a plant. It escaped its developers and captors and now roams the desert extracting its revenge on unsuspecting cachers. Horrible, evil stuff Cholla is. :::::shiver::::

 

Has any cache owners purposely hidden a geocache in a patch of Jumping Cholla? Or actually on one of the plants itself? From the description I read about the Jumping Cholla one would have to be a sadistic, cruel and evil (insert vulgar expletive here) to do so but would do so because they think it funny or just simply because they can. The thing is I actually know people who would do such a thing. No these people are not my friends, I just know who they are. They would actually throw a piece of Jumping Cholla at another person as a means of playing a prank or joke on them. Yeah, I know of some pretty messed up people.

Not to my knowledge. I've been to a few caches that were uncomfortably close to cholla, but it was just incidental to being a open desert cache. If someone purposefully hid a cache in a cholla cactus, more than likely if someone were able to retrieve it without massive blood loss, it would surely be re-located by an angry cacher pretty quickly. And rightfully so.

Seems to me that if someone did try to place a cache in one, they would find out rather quickly that a better hiding place could be found

[+Harry Dolphin]

I live in North Jersey. We have black bears! Thousands of them. They love it here! I think I've met thirty bears. Some hiking the AT in Virginia and Maine. But mostly in North Jersey. Some sit and stare at you. Some go running. One (Amparo Oso) followed me for a while. I've met her a few times. She lives about three miles north of me. We also have a lot of turkeys. They're very noisy.

[+TheAuthorityFigures]

Hmm, lets see. Probably the most encountered wildlife in my neck of the woods is either rattlesnakes or Africanized bees (not counting the furry cute jack and cottontail rabbits). Especially starting now when its starting to get really hot. I've encountered both caching. But my job is one that has me outdoors in remote Arizona desert, so I've seen just about everything the Sonoran desert has to offer as far as toothy, stingy, spiny, pokey, scratchy, bitey. I've had close encounters with all manner of snakes, Gila Monsters, javelina, angry swarms of bees, flying ants, bats, coyotes, mountain lions, black widow spiders, scorpions and tarantulas... but by FAR the most feared creature in our neck of the woods isn't an animal at all, but a plant. The infamous Jumping Cholla. My heart rate shoots up when I see it. There are areas down here that are a literal ocean of it. You do not touch it. You do not approach it. You do not dare make eye contact with it. You live down here long enough and you will have an encounter with it. I swear it was developed in a secret military compound, some sort of cold war black military project to weaponize a plant. It escaped its developers and captors and now roams the desert extracting its revenge on unsuspecting cachers. Horrible, evil stuff Cholla is. :::::shiver::::

 

Has any cache owners purposely hidden a geocache in a patch of Jumping Cholla? Or actually on one of the plants itself? From the description I read about the Jumping Cholla one would have to be a sadistic, cruel and evil (insert vulgar expletive here) to do so but would do so because they think it funny or just simply because they can. The thing is I actually know people who would do such a thing. No these people are not my friends, I just know who they are. They would actually throw a piece of Jumping Cholla at another person as a means of playing a prank or joke on them. Yeah, I know of some pretty messed up people.

Not to my knowledge. I've been to a few caches that were uncomfortably close to cholla, but it was just incidental to being a open desert cache. If someone purposefully hid a cache in a cholla cactus, more than likely if someone were able to retrieve it without massive blood loss, it would surely be re-located by an angry cacher pretty quickly. And rightfully so.

Seems to me that if someone did try to place a cache in one, they would find out rather quickly that a better hiding place could be found

yes, they would. and very quickly. When I first moved down here many years ago, I was "warned" about the stuff. At the time, I was like "yeah, ok, whatever. It's cactus. BFD." Then one day on a mountain bike ride, I just happened to barely brush up against one with my leg as I went by. It brought me down hard. my entire leg from hip to ankle was a mass of cholla. I had to retrieve my leatherman and for the next 2 hours and tear the cholla buds from my bleeding flesh with pliers. It was one of if not the most painful experiences of my life. My leg for the next 2 weeks was a deep shade of purple, black and green.

What people don't know about it is that each needle is covered with microscopic fish hook like barbs. Each little bud of cholla has like 2 thousand needles. So cholla needles aren't just slipped out of the skin like regular cactus needles. They literally have to be ripped from the flesh, and they take some with it. Its not pretty. Now you know why this plant actually scares me. Believe it or not, I've actually seen folks down here landscape their yards with the stuff! Insane!

[+Qbar]

I've found two dead bodies.

 

Does that count?

 

Um, you're going to just leave it at that? Were they human bodies? Storytime please.

[+TheAuthorityFigures]

I've found two dead bodies.

 

Does that count?

 

Um, you're going to just leave it at that? Were they human bodies? Storytime please.

+1

[SicilianCyclops]

I live in North Jersey. We have black bears! Thousands of them. They love it here! I think I've met thirty bears. Some hiking the AT in Virginia and Maine. But mostly in North Jersey. Some sit and stare at you. Some go running. One (Amparo Oso) followed me for a while. I've met her a few times. She lives about three miles north of me. We also have a lot of turkeys. They're very noisy.

 

I'm also in Northern New Jersey, and even though I haven't seen a black bear geocaching (yet) I've seen a bunch in the past just being outside. As I'm sure you know, people get all up in arms about the bear hunt in NJ. I'm not a hunter myself, but don't these people realize that these animals are becoming overly abundant here?

[+Team_Vod]

I live in North Jersey. We have black bears! Thousands of them. They love it here! I think I've met thirty bears. Some hiking the AT in Virginia and Maine. But mostly in North Jersey. Some sit and stare at you. Some go running. One (Amparo Oso) followed me for a while. I've met her a few times. She lives about three miles north of me. We also have a lot of turkeys. They're very noisy.

 

I'm also in Northern New Jersey, and even though I haven't seen a black bear geocaching (yet) I've seen a bunch in the past just being outside. As I'm sure you know, people get all up in arms about the bear hunt in NJ. I'm not a hunter myself, but don't these people realize that these animals are becoming overly abundant here?

 

Is this a special controlled hunt? Or part of the regular bear hunting season? In Iowa and South Dakota the Iowa DNR or South Dakota Game Fish and Parks will sometimes allow/host a special hunting season for deer if/when they become over populated in certain areas. Depending on if the area is near an urban environment determines which type of weapon is allowed in the hunt. For example in or near a town or city they limit it to bow hunting only. Not because of the noise from firearms but the range and speed a bullet round can travel.

[+IOError]

Horrible, evil stuff Cholla is. :::::shiver::::

 

So that's how I got those needles stuck in my arm in Tucson last week. I swear I didn't touch anything but none the less tons (10 to 15) spines stuck in my arm. Luckily I noticed right away and it wasn't that bad, took about 5-7 minutes to get them all out.

Edited May 16, 2016 by IOError

[+Harry Dolphin]

I live in North Jersey. We have black bears! Thousands of them. They love it here! I think I've met thirty bears. Some hiking the AT in Virginia and Maine. But mostly in North Jersey. Some sit and stare at you. Some go running. One (Amparo Oso) followed me for a while. I've met her a few times. She lives about three miles north of me. We also have a lot of turkeys. They're very noisy.

 

I'm also in Northern New Jersey, and even though I haven't seen a black bear geocaching (yet) I've seen a bunch in the past just being outside. As I'm sure you know, people get all up in arms about the bear hunt in NJ. I'm not a hunter myself, but don't these people realize that these animals are becoming overly abundant here?

 

Is this a special controlled hunt? Or part of the regular bear hunting season? In Iowa and South Dakota the Iowa DNR or South Dakota Game Fish and Parks will sometimes allow/host a special hunting season for deer if/when they become over populated in certain areas. Depending on if the area is near an urban environment determines which type of weapon is allowed in the hunt. For example in or near a town or city they limit it to bow hunting only. Not because of the noise from firearms but the range and speed a bullet round can travel.

 

The population of black bear in New Jersey is about 3400. At one point, there were almost none, but they started migrating from Pennsylvania. This year there will be two weeks of hunting, with three days for archery only. There are anti-bear hunting activists who protest every year. The hunting is mostly in rural areas. State forests/parks, Newark Watershed...

 

 

This is Cindy Bear. I met her in the Newark Watershed.

 

 

This is Amparo Oso with her two cubs (not my photo). She live about three miles north of here. I have met her a few times.

 

Yesterday, I met a very large tom turkey! But he moved too fast for me to get a picture. But he ws handsome.

[+Team_Vod]

I live in North Jersey. We have black bears! Thousands of them. They love it here! I think I've met thirty bears. Some hiking the AT in Virginia and Maine. But mostly in North Jersey. Some sit and stare at you. Some go running. One (Amparo Oso) followed me for a while. I've met her a few times. She lives about three miles north of me. We also have a lot of turkeys. They're very noisy.

 

I'm also in Northern New Jersey, and even though I haven't seen a black bear geocaching (yet) I've seen a bunch in the past just being outside. As I'm sure you know, people get all up in arms about the bear hunt in NJ. I'm not a hunter myself, but don't these people realize that these animals are becoming overly abundant here?

 

Is this a special controlled hunt? Or part of the regular bear hunting season? In Iowa and South Dakota the Iowa DNR or South Dakota Game Fish and Parks will sometimes allow/host a special hunting season for deer if/when they become over populated in certain areas. Depending on if the area is near an urban environment determines which type of weapon is allowed in the hunt. For example in or near a town or city they limit it to bow hunting only. Not because of the noise from firearms but the range and speed a bullet round can travel.

 

The population of black bear in New Jersey is about 3400. At one point, there were almost none, but they started migrating from Pennsylvania. This year there will be two weeks of hunting, with three days for archery only. There are anti-bear hunting activists who protest every year. The hunting is mostly in rural areas. State forests/parks, Newark Watershed...

 

 

This is Cindy Bear. I met her in the Newark Watershed.

 

 

This is Amparo Oso with her two cubs (not my photo). She live about three miles north of here. I have met her a few times.

 

Yesterday, I met a very large tom turkey! But he moved too fast for me to get a picture. But he ws handsome.

 

Please tell me, but tell the truth, that people are not stupid enough to approach the bear to try and feed or pet them and if someone sees a cub they distance themselves from it, especially when the mother is not able to be seen at the moment. How many people are injured or even killed by bear because they were stupid enough to approach to pet or feed or tried to mess with a cub and did not notice the mother at first until it was too late?

[+Harry Dolphin]

Please tell me, but tell the truth, that people are not stupid enough to approach the bear to try and feed or pet them and if someone sees a cub they distance themselves from it, especially when the mother is not able to be seen at the moment. How many people are injured or even killed by bear because they were stupid enough to approach to pet or feed or tried to mess with a cub and did not notice the mother at first until it was too late?

 

There was one listed death by bear in New Jersey. That was in 2014. The story is sketchy as to why the bear attacked the hiker. More recently, a cub scout leader was showing his troop a cave, not realizing there was a bear inside. He was mauled by the bear, but the cub scouts lured the bear out of the cave, and called medical rescue on their cell phones. So, no. It is not common.

[+Team_Vod]

Please tell me, but tell the truth, that people are not stupid enough to approach the bear to try and feed or pet them and if someone sees a cub they distance themselves from it, especially when the mother is not able to be seen at the moment. How many people are injured or even killed by bear because they were stupid enough to approach to pet or feed or tried to mess with a cub and did not notice the mother at first until it was too late?

 

There was one listed death by bear in New Jersey. That was in 2014. The story is sketchy as to why the bear attacked the hiker. More recently, a cub scout leader was showing his troop a cave, not realizing there was a bear inside. He was mauled by the bear, but the cub scouts lured the bear out of the cave, and called medical rescue on their cell phones. So, no. It is not common.

 

Sorry to others for kind of going off on a tangent here with the bear discussion. To bring it back on point have you come across a cache that may have been messed with/affected by/chewed on/mauled by a bear?

 

For that matter has anyone come across a cache that has obviously been affected by an animal other than the one from the human species?

[97CMA]

Never get between a mama and baby anything, but especially a moose. They are large, protective, and dangerous. Trying to find a cache at a nearby natural area, I could see a baby knew mama must be near so I left. A few days later same area saw mama, couldn't see baby so I left, third time I could see both, I still left. Waited until after hunting season that fall to grab it.

 

Waterton Park the year we went there had half the trails closed due to feeding bears, great photo ops, but no smilies.

 

Mice chew plastic, just destroy caches, especially anything not brand new. I've encountered lots of that. Recently I found an ammo can in a stump, but when I pulled the can out about 30 mice followed it. Omg, I freaked, and I'm not even scared of mice.

[+Harry Dolphin]

 

This is what a bear chew toy looks like. I've found a few of them, including a few of mine.

[+redsox_mark]

 

For that matter has anyone come across a cache that has obviously been affected by an animal other than the one from the human species?

 

I've found quite a few cache containers (mainly plastic ones) which had been chewed by animals. Not sure what species is responsible, but not human. Small holes I expect are from rodents. My first hide was dragged into the open and the large box chewed by a larger animal; possibly a fox. Though could be a domestic dog. I blame my cat who may have scented the cache when it was at home before I placed it.

 

Also found caches in a place inhabited by cattle. They generally don't bother with the containers, apart from sometimes stepping on them and crushing them. But they can get in the way when trying to retrieve it. They also can cover them in manure.