Bears And Caches

[+bigbill6]

I have about 45 caches placed,and most are in Harriman state park.In about 3 or 4,I placed scented candles in them.Everyone of them has been dug up and the heavy plastic container destroyed.Skunks and Racoons

could not do that.I figure its a Bear.Anyone else have that problem?

[magellan315]

Keep in mind that anything scented will attract animals. If your candles are scented with anything that smells like food all animal will think is that its edible. I'd suggest you find something other than scented candles.

 

The last cache I found with a scented candle I found by the smell alone 20' from the actual location. The container was overpowering when I opened it, since many animals have a very powerful sense of smell they would have smelled it even further away.

[+sbell111]

... Everyone of them has been dug up and the heavy plastic container destroyed....

Were the caches buried?

[+Rogue_monkey]

you'd be surprised what a raccon can eat through

[+Imajika]

Racoons can destroy almost anything if they put their mind to it. Just ask my dad how many trash cans he has had to replace! Finally after trial and error he found a good setup and the racoons have moved on to other neighbors trash cans.

 

In any case, scented items are never a good idea as cache swag. As other posters have noted, animals have a much better sense of smell than humans do. Those sandalwood candles can smell like good eatin' to a forest animal.

Edited September 5, 2004 by Imajika

[virgo91967]

Yeah, I had one of my caches Possum Hollow Raided and scattered by a raccoon a few weeks back.. Somone had left a note on a business card in strawberry scented ink.. the tin was opened and scattered about with the logbook no where to be found.

 

SCENTED ITEMS IN A CACHE ARE A NO NO!

[+Team FUBAR]

I second the question.... Was it buried, that along with scented stuff is a NO NO

[+Robespierre]

Ursa? O my!

[+Team DEMP]

No, none of bigbill6'scaches have been buried and I've found 16 of them.

 

By "dug up" I'd imagine he means removed from the location they were placed.

[+CO Admin]

Perhaps this is why the cache guidelines state:

 

Cache Contents

 

Use your common sense in most cases. Explosives, fireworks, ammo, knives (including pocket knives and multi-tools), drugs, alcohol or other illicit material shouldn't be placed in a cache. As always respect the local laws. Geocaching is a family activity and cache contents should be suitable for all ages.

 

Food items are ALWAYS a BAD IDEA. Animals have better noses than humans, and in some cases caches have been chewed through and destroyed because food items (or items that smell like food) are in the cache. Even the presence of mint flavored dental floss has led to destruction of one cache.

[+JMBella]

I don't see what the problem is. Beers and caches go great together.

[GeoPup&ShelpieGirl]

The last Bruin I saw had a Garmin. They're smarter than I thought

Really - animals will even go after soap! And Bears do like Beer. Immediate consumption is the best policy when in doubt.

[+nfa]

Hi,

 

My new bacon, baked beans, and overripe fruit cache got trashed by a bear, can anyone help me figure out why, and what I can do to avoid that happening again in the future?

 

I went out to restock it and added some catfish I just caught, so I really hope the bear doesn't come back.

 

nfa

[+briansnat]

There are a lot of bear in the area I place my caches. I've yet to have a problem. First, I don't put scented items inside. A bear might be as attracted to a berry scented candle as he would be to a berry bush. Second, I mostly use ammo boxes, which seem to do a good job sealing odors in, should some clueless geocacher leave soap, candles, or other scented items.