What Else Have You Found??

[+archaeor]

I'm new to 'geocaching', but have spent over 20 years, hiking thousands of miles 'out and about', exploring my world and have stumbled across some pretty strange and bizarre things out there. I'm just wondering . . . what strange and bizarre things have YOU encountered during your wanderings?? For me (just to name a few):

 

1) Two marijuana patches (one already harvested w/booby traps . . . thankfully I'm observant, and one abandoned . . . enough said);

 

2) "Oh look . . . a decomposing dead deer" . . . "But why does it have a collar with tags??" . . . "Oh my, it's not a deer, it's somebody's pet llama!!" (We called the phone number on the tags but got no answer);

 

3) Eyeballs (not actually encountered during a hike, but during an archaeological excavation . . . I'll tell the story if anyone wants to hear it);

 

4) Found out in the field by my wife, who is a wildlife biologist: half-a-dozen plastic toy dolls with the arms and legs pulled off, stuck onto sharp sticks, sticking out of the ground in the middle of nowhere (pictures on request);

 

5) Homeless encampments are always a little strange . . .

 

Etc., etc., . . .

 

What have You found??

 

Rick

[+Sparky-Watts]

I've found tupperware containers full of broken McToys and dirty golfballs......

[+sept1c_tank]

I can't think of anything bizzare found while caching.

 

Tell us about the eyeballs!

[+Ambrosia]

Sadly, especially since our small town is relatively clean as most towns go, we've found a hypodermic needle. Fortunately, it was capped. But it was right next to a cache that was in a park planting bed, under a plant and a bunch of fallen leaves. You are forced to use your hands to rummage arround in the leaves...we've never really worried before, I guess we are naive.

 

Goes to show, you should always have a walking stick.

[+oneeyesquare]

I second the eyeballs....

[+Sparky-Watts]

I second the eyeballs....

Me too.....I've done the doll thing to a buddy of mine before.....in his yard in front of his trailer house.......out along a major highway......heheheheheheheheheh......

[+Team GPSaxophone]

I, uh... fourth(?) the eyeballs? Would that be "four-eyes"?

[+archaeor]

Okay . . . by popular demand, here's the 'Eyeball Story" (short version):

 

1994, Palace of the Legion of Honor, San Francisco, California . . .

 

During the seismic upgrade and renovation of this popular San Francisco landmark building (now a museum), they discovered a late 19th century cemetary on the property. This cemetary (circa. 1860-1890) was supposed to have been relocated before the Palace was built in 1915 for the Panama Exposition. It wasn't.

 

We uncovered over 700 coffin burials as a result of this project, and in one area, we discovered the remains from the (what was then) the University of San Francisco Medical School anatomical studies buried in the cemetary. These were the remains of cadavers used by medical students during their medical training, and consisted of boxes (coffins) consisting of legs, arms, torsos, and craniums (skulls). We also encountered an area that had a number of various glass jars, which contained the preserved organs which had been removed during the anatomical studies. One of these jars contained preserved eyeballs. They looked a little like 'freeze-dried' mushrooms, but were intact enough to make an instant identification.

 

And . . . they were blue eyes. Cool, Huh??!!??

 

Here's a pic of the excavation (notice the coffins all lined up):

 

 

Rick

[+Sparky-Watts]

Too cool.....man, the practical jokes I could play with a jar of eyeballs!

[+Kealia]

<music>

Noone knows what it's like,

To be the bad man,

To be the sad man

Behind Blue eyes!

</music>

 

HAHAHAHAHAHA

 

C'mon, I can't be the only one who had that song run through thier head!!

[+gallahad]

Too cool.....man, the practical jokes I could play with a jar of eyeballs!

Practical jokes? What a waste. Just imagine - a saute of shallots, a half dozen of them eyeballs, a little cumin.... The ayes have it.

 

In an effort to remain on topic, I have found a few hypodermic syringes at or near cache sites, but I understand that this doesn't necessarily indicate criminal activity. Some of our geocaching associates are diabetics and, inasmuch as the syringes I find are generally capped, it is possible that a diabetic dropped the syringe while digging through their back-pack for a trade item or other goodies.

 

(edit offered to remain on - or at least near - the center of the topic)

Edited February 3, 2004 by gallahad

[+Imajika]

Off topic: I'm not even going to go into details on what I have seen at cadaver labs and autopsies.

 

On topic: Luckily, I haven't found anything truly bizarre...yet.

 

Another on topic: I want to see the spiked doll pics!

 

Another on topic: Who got to keep the jars of stuff you found? You should put the eyeballs on your mantle, make people think before stealing from you.

[+CYBret]

I've posted this before, but it's been a while:

Meth Lab remnants

 

Also found a deer's ribcaged, totally skeletonized, but the head was attached and still covered with hair.

 

Oh..Aaand...on one of my first cache hunts, I found a guy in the middle of the woods, standing on a concrete platform and hitting trees with nun-chucks. Now THAT was weird!

 

Bret

[Bobthearch]

Hard to say what the oddest was. Here's some that jump into my mind:

 

Dead animals hanging in trees. Dead baby. Pile of gravestones dumped in a gully. Adult "toys." Balloons with Christmas wishes for Santa. Prayers for murdered women tied to balloon.

 

Other guys I know have found lots of odd things too, including bodies, bags of checks that fell off FedEx planes, and live munitions.

 

Those all seem mundane compared to glass jars of eyeballs!

 

-Bob

[+briansnat]

In NJ, nothing sticks out as strange, because finding strange things in the woods here is so commonplace.

Edited February 3, 2004 by briansnat

[+edscott]

While Orienteering, setting Orienteering courses, or making Orienteering maps...

 

Off the top of my head... A small fenced in planting of marijuana, a dead body partially buried in a hefty bag, a blow up doll, a complete campsite...tent, bedding, equipment which had been abandoned for months.

 

Geocaching... The only really exciting discovery has been a huge rattlesnake guarding the approach to a cache.

Edited February 3, 2004 by edscott

[+Life Journey]

Now ya'll are creeping me out! I've had the thought on a hunt or two in a somewhat isolated area (that was very trashed up with the remains people leave behind when they've been drunk and think they've been hidden) - that the area could be a dumping ground for a body. I've basically written it off to an overactive imagination - and the fact that I was caching alone (topic covered elsewhere) - but now, to think people have actually found bodies. Ewwwww.

Edited February 3, 2004 by Life Journey

[+SamLowrey]

I want to see the pic of the dolls - sounds spookey.

[+carleenp]

The dead thing (think it is a large dog):

 

[+Lazyboy & Mitey Mite]

that puppy was hidden in a black plastic bag, Klamath style.

[+The BeeGees]

In NJ, nothing sticks out as strange, because finding strange things in the woods here is so commonplace.

The strangest thing that I found caching in NJ was BrianSnat.

Edited February 3, 2004 by The BeeGees

[+aka Monkey]

Dead animals hanging in trees.  Dead baby.  Pile of gravestones dumped in a gully.  Adult "toys."  Balloons with Christmas wishes for Santa.  Prayers for murdered women tied to balloon.

Umm... what? You casually tossed this in with balloons and adult toys? What on earth were the circumstances in finding a dead baby? I sure as heck hope that wasn't someone's signature item.

Edited February 3, 2004 by Indiana Cojones

[+joefrog]

I found a dead Santa behind a gift shop. Right next to the handicap ramp. Seriously -- manequin was just laying there, in full costume, like someone had killed him gangland-style!

[+Sparky-Watts]

I found a dead Santa behind a gift shop. Right next to the handicap ramp. Seriously -- manequin was just laying there, in full costume, like someone had killed him gangland-style!

Probably a gang of renegade elves...you know, disgruntled North Pole workers that do all the work and the fat man takes all the glory.....

[+joefrog]

Probably a gang of renegade elves...you know, disgruntled North Pole workers that do all the work and the fat man takes all the glory.....

Teamster Elves.... I like it!

[+PSUPAUL]

Hard to say what the oddest was. Here's some that jump into my mind:

 

Dead animals hanging in trees. Dead baby. Pile of gravestones dumped in a gully. Adult "toys." Balloons with Christmas wishes for Santa. Prayers for murdered women tied to balloon.

 

Other guys I know have found lots of odd things too, including bodies, bags of checks that fell off FedEx planes, and live munitions.

 

Those all seem mundane compared to glass jars of eyeballs!

 

-Bob

Where do you people cache! This is spooky! The worst I ever found is a place where the state dumped deer carcasses. Boy, the smell!

[Radman Forever]

a couch, burned cross, leftovers of a satan worshiping party, a deer antler stuck in a tree, condoms, an animal skull that was tied to a branch of a big tree, a tree with hundreds of shoes tied to it.

 

kind of weird but nothing like dead babies...

[+Criminal]

Found this dude along the beach at the Narrows. Dog wanted to play with him but I wouldn't let him.

 

[+The Weasel]

Found this dude along the beach at the Narrows. Dog wanted to play with him but I wouldn't let him.

 

It's Andre!!!!!

[+Halden]

My finds seem so boring now.

[+dino_hunters]

I want to see the doll pictures !!!

[+radioscout]

I only found a dead bird and a cheap old spyglass. And of course a lot of fun and new friends.

Edited February 3, 2004 by radioscout

[+Team Fegel]

I used to be a whitewater guide, and once while on the river I spotted what appeared to be a wetsuit floating down the river. I had my raft paddle over to it, figuring I had a new wetsuit from the river gods. Well when I pulled it in, there was a ribcage and hips still in it. Freaky.

 

And I didn't even get to keep the wetsuit

 

I can't think of anything wierd that I have found while geocaching though.

[+TeamK-9]

I used to be a whitewater guide, and once while on the river I spotted what appeared to be a wetsuit floating down the river. I had my raft paddle over to it, figuring I had a new wetsuit from the river gods. Well when I pulled it in, there was a ribcage and hips still in it. Freaky.

 

And I didn't even get to keep the wetsuit

 

I can't think of anything wierd that I have found while geocaching though.

jfegel, was it a dead body, or just some really weird person floating down the river?

[+joefrog]

I used to be a whitewater guide, and once while on the river I spotted what appeared to be a wetsuit floating down the river. I had my raft paddle over to it, figuring I had a new wetsuit from the river gods. Well when I pulled it in, there was a ribcage and hips still in it. Freaky.

 

And I didn't even get to keep the wetsuit

 

I can't think of anything wierd that I have found while geocaching though.

Er... um... would you REALLY still want the wetsuit?

[chemfed]

We had a bizarre start to our 2003 Christmas morning. Sometime during the night my dog, a chow /lab mix, had found some discarded deer parts in the woods near our house. Apparently a hunter had butchered a deer somewhere near us this week and threw the offal into the local woodland. Of course my dog was the one who found them. My children, upon waking up, had blazed a trail to the living room to check out the loot. My eldest daughter peeked out the window and was greeted by the grizzly sight of a deer head attached to a spine and two legs splayed on the ground in front of my Tahoe. See first accused me of shooting one of Santa’s reindeer. When I told her that I did no such thing, she decided our dog, Gary had caught one of the offending deer and killed it, after which, Santa had made a hasty retreat. I had to go out in the cold and re-deposit the parts in the woods while my 8 and 3-year-old daughters cried in the background. Welcome to Christmas in rural Alabama. I also had nothing to do with Joefrog's Santa

[ghOzt]

No fair. How come I'm the only one who hasn't found a dead body!

[Bobthearch]

Let me put you at ease. Wouldn't want anyone to be afraid of walking in the forest after all.

 

I didn't actually find those things while Geocaching. I'm rather new at Geocaching in fact, as you can tell by my stats. But I've been hiking and surveying for years. I've never found ~anything~ unusual while geocaching...

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Once, while working in the mountains, several people including myself saw a large vertical shape floating in the air. Moving slowly, sort of hovering. It appeared to land and we could see it from the cabin. A few thought it was a UFO; some of the more logical thought a weather ballon. Determined to find out one way or the other, I took a compass bearing and started walking. After 45 minutes I came to it. It was a bunch of balloons tethered together with all kinds of religious paraphanalia attached - crosses, notes, cards, and plastic jewlery. There was even an addressed and stamped return envelope. Naturally I sent it off and in a few weeks received a reply. Some lady sends those things up every year and calls it a "Balloon Rosary."

 

-Bob

[+rover-r-us]

found a dead bird one time

[+Dave and Michelle]

I too want to see the dolls.

[WH]

Ive come across a homeless camp. I was also unfortunate enough to find 3 homosexual men who obviously got lost looking for the Holiday Inn

[+Team Fegel]

Er... um... would you REALLY still want the wetsuit?

Heh heh, was joking about wanting to keep it.

 

jfegel, was it a dead body, or just some really weird person floating down the river?

 

The ribcage and hips were just bones. Well.. mostly bones.

[+The Blind Acorn]

Dead birds, skull to small animal perhaps a dog by it's shape, a homeless camp. That's about it. I was more freaked out about the homeless camp than the other things.

[+archaeor]

Okay . . . here's the Doll Pic (sorry it took so long, had to have my wife email it to me from her work).

 

Pretty scary, huh??

 

Rick

[+Fritz_Monroe]

Ewww. Freaky. Not sure I'd hang around there.

 

I've never found anything all that unusual.

 

F_M

[+Team BlackZ]

Okay . . . here's the Doll Pic (sorry it took so long, had to have my wife email it to me from her work).

 

Pretty scary, huh??

 

Rick

dude, that is freaky..... I would have gotten the heck out of there.

[adampierson]

Weird things that I've found...

 

1) Snakeskin (some kind of gopher or kingsnake)

2) Dead bird

3) A petrified bone from a whale (rib section - I think)

[+SERG312]

Hilltop Picnic Cache in NJ. When the buildings ( abandoned hospital ) where still there, I found a small plastic childrens pool with what looked like red'ish blood/water mix in it and womens high heeled shoes next to it. In those woods I also saw an albino deer. Check this site. http://www.mountainsanatorium.net/ Briansnat was right, weird and NJ go hand in hand.

[+Spoo]

While hiking in Maine:

 

The remains of a Moose, sans head and rack.

A deer head and rack, sans body.

A square, laid out on the ground. Maybe 10 feet on a side, staked out with about 40 candles.

A lost Silver mine.

A large box, 3 feet on a side, filled with childrens toys and clothes.

Possibly the worlds largest Beech tree, about 12 foot circumferance at the base.

 

You know, the usual stuff.

Edited February 4, 2004 by Spoo

[+Sparky-Watts]

Okay . . . here's the Doll Pic (sorry it took so long, had to have my wife email it to me from her work).

 

Pretty scary, huh??

 

Rick

Me too.....I've done the doll thing to a buddy of mine before.....in his yard in front of his trailer house.......out along a major highway......heheheheheheheheheh......

 

Ok...tell me this wasn't in Kansas, near Hutchinson.......