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Wildlife Day!


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I found some weird wildlife today while caching. It didn't stop me from finding the cache and it wasn't anything dangerous but it scared the %$%^$ out of me at first. :o

 

A cache from a hole in the ground. I picked up the cache and found the biggest beatle I have ever seen. It seemed harmless but it was about as big as my fist (really!). I think he has found a nice home underneath this cache. He lazily crawled out of the hiding spot as I sat there and signed the log. I put the cache back and he turned around and starting heading back to his cache home.

 

Flyboy. AHHHHHHH! The first time I have encountered a snake while caching. He was a harmless snake (see my log for more details) but he scared the @$%# out of me!

 

Tollgate Treasure. This cache is mine. I went to do a little maintenence today since I was in the area. I pick up the cache and 10 fieldmice scattered in every direction. Talk about having a heart attack! I know they are harmless but it was just surprising to see them living under there. I looked where the cache was hidden and underneath it, these mice have built quite a condo. There was all kinds of nesting materials and 3 baby mice. I didn't touch them and I was very careful when I put the cache back in it's spot. They haven't damaged the cache at all. No one has mentioned them in their logs so I have no idea how long they have been there.

 

Okay, enough harmless wildlife heart attacks. I am going to find a cache on a lightpole. :D

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My only real encounter with wildlife whilst caching is documented here. Few people realize there's such a critter in that particular state park. I certainly wasn't aware of his existence until the sudden introduction. :o

 

It just goes to show that, at times, I've been so wrapped up in finding a cache, I haven't paid enough attention to the physical surroundings. It's ironic that the main reason I started caching to begin with was to get out and enjoy the outdoors. However, since that encounter, I've kept closer tabs on what's going on around me, and it makes caching that much more enjoyable.

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You call that wildlife, go North and I'll show you where the bears and puma's reside.

Yes, I said it was harmless wildlife. Wild = Lives outdoors and is not tame, Life = It is alive. :o

 

I have seen a mountain lion when we were in Estes Park last year. That was pretty cool. We were far away and in the car but we managed to get a couple of photos.

 

I know you live in the mountains and hate it down here in the city. I just thought it was funny I got needlessly startled so many times today and thought I would post about it. I wanted to see if anyone else had any needless scares too. :D

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A couple of weeks ago, I took my little brother out for his first Geocaching experience. We were about 5 minutes up a local canyon looking for this

cache, when we heard the distinct noise that an angry rattle snake makes! We backed off and found the cache, and then quickly left. We did not have a camera with us, but sombody came across a snake a the same cache a couple of days later, and they got a picture, look at

this log entry to see it. Needless to say, I am a whole lot more careful when I play in the canyons now.

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Some wildlife that I've encountered while geocaching (most in New Jersey):

 

A copperhead

A rattlesnake

several black bear

1.2 million deer (Ok I exaggerated a little, but not by much)

A strange looking salamander, that after researching online, turned out to be a "five lined sink".

A few red-tail hawks

an osprey (in NY)

a bald eagle

several very big black rat snakes

some common watersnakes

numerous gartersnakes and other small, harmless snakes.

Thousands of tiny toads (or frogs) crossing the trail. Very strange. They were about the size of a dime and the ground was covered with them.

a few porcupine (in NY).

numerous wild turkey

a very large snapping turtle and several smaller ones.

an eastern mud turtle, laying eggs.

countless chipmunks, rabbits, racoon and birds, the "rarest", at least in my area, being a red headed woodpecker and a scarlet tanager.

Edited by briansnat
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I know you live in the mountains

 

I didn't know Loveland was in the mountains, my home is here and I spend my time off in the back country. And yes I do hate the big city of Denver, between politicians and smog you can have it.

I was kiddin'! I wasn't trying to be rude in my last post. I just meant I know you prefer the mountains and the Loveland area compared to the Denver Metro area. You have told me you enjoy the back country and the mountains and don't care for Denver or Aurora. That is what I meant by my comment.

 

And I wasn't calling the wildlife I saw dangerous or anything. I knew it was harmless but it still gave me quite a start when I first saw them. I have no interest in meeting a bear or mountain lion up close and personal, I'll leave that to the more experienced wilderness lovers out there.

 

Come on Tahosa, don't take me seriously. You know me, I wasn't trying to be rude. I apologize if it sounded that way.

 

So, if my post sounded rude, I do apologize.

 

I think the snake I saw was the same kind you found when you came for the CITO. Of course, I didn't really take a close look so I could be wrong. I am just glad he didn't bite me. I don't want to get bitten by a snake, even if it isn't poisonous.

 

;) ;) :D

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Dsc01515.jpg

 

Dsc01517.jpg

 

I was walking to a cache with my friend behind me, stepped over a log, and he said theres a snake. I took a look, and ripped my camera out of my backpack as soon as fast as i could. Snapped these pictures. My friend went to pick it up, it went to strike at him, a perfectly harmless garter snake. I was going to cut its head off (cause im a redneck whom hates snakes) but wasnt sure if my knife was sharp enough.

 

aj

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A mouse ran between my legs once as I crouched to pick up a cache. That startled me. :)

 

Nearly stepped on a couple of water moccasins walking to caches. They got the blood pumping pretty good. :P

 

After hiding this cache with my daughter and niece, we continued to paddle our canoe down the bayou. As we made a sharp turn on the waterway, an aligator of unseen size made a rather fast and loud entry into the water. That nearly gave me a heart attack. :blink::lol::D:)

Edited by rpecot
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Relax, no harm intended. Its about time you took a cache trip in the hills to clear out the harmful effects of the smog. Just check out the Geotouring cache its good medicine for those bad days.

 

Cache on and have fun.

Team GeoHoy will go with Imajika!!!

Rachael and I are going to cache up at Golden Gate Canyon State Park at the end of the month. We are camping up there if anyone wants to come hang out.

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Relax, no harm intended. Its about time you took a cache trip in the hills to clear out the harmful effects of the smog. Just check out the Geotouring cache its good medicine for those bad days.

 

Cache on and have fun.

Team Yatta and Team Geohoy need to go visit Tahosa. But I am letting Tahosa walk in front in case a mountain lion or bear decides to pay us a visit. :blink:

 

I will handle any field mice, bugs or non-poisonous snakes we come across! :lol:

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Huh, my list is surprisingly like Brian's. But I guess that's one of the cool things about living in NC-

this is as far south as a lot of temperate climate critters come, and as far north as some tropical species venture.

Lots of snakes-mostly black rat snakes, and a few copperheads.

Hundreds of deer-that's not exaggerating. At one cache I counted 26 running down a trail 100 yds. away.

A few fox.

I once had a red headed woodpecker follow me down a trail between three stages!

Lots of Red tailed hawks and opsrey.

Blue herons-man do they sound wierd.

Lotsa squirrels (are they even wildlife)

One nice thing is NO skunks

as for the five lined skinks-I have so many out back by the pool that the cats bring them inside to play with! :blink: Good thing they can grow new tails.

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A sampling of wildlife I have encountered while caching:

 

A rattlesnake. I had already removed the container and apparently had not noticed the snake sleeping next to it. Only when I went to replace it did I notice the snake.

A javelina (the container was hidden near his/her resting spot - he/she was not amused)

A quail's nest under the bush where the cache was hidden. The female quail flew out when I started rooting around. There were about 6 eggs, so I moved away. I checked later with the help of my binocular, and she had returned.

A gila monster (on a rock next to a cache)

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