New Cache Type

[shooter206]

I recently placed a cache "GCKHA6 Food Bank In the Forest"GCKHA6

I placed a large air tight container in the forest. In order to claim this find, you must place canned goods into the cache. When the cache fills up, I will retieve the canned goods and donate them to either my son or daughters Scout troops for thier food drives. I would like to invite others to place similar caches in thier areas.

Shooter

[+GreyingJay]

That's an awesome idea, but will canned goods attract animals?

 

I've heard from other posts that this is still possible.

[virgo91967]

canned goods should not attract critters... the food scent cannot get out of the cans unless a can is punctured. i sure hope that cache-tainrrt is bearproofed, or raccon proofed and bug tight

[Keystone]

Please be mindful of the guidelines against caches that solicit donations. Prior permission from Groundspeak is required for such caches. Also the "no food in caches" rule is relevant here.

 

Thanks.

[shooter206]

I used a round steel shipping container with a lid that has an airtight seal and a locking ringto keep the lid in place (like on a 55 gal drum). It was used to ship tear gas grenades.

[shooter206]

I may be wrong here but I assumed that this rule applied to making some sort of for profit cache, what if I were to take out the " to claim this cache" and just asked finders to places can goods? Also is ther e no way to get dispensation fromthe no food rule? After all it is for a good cause, it would also make for good PR

[+briansnat]

I may be wrong here but I assumed that this rule applied to making some sort of for profit cache, what if I were to take out the " to claim this cache" and just asked finders to places can goods? Also is ther e no way to get dispensation fromthe no food rule? After all it is for a good cause, it would also make for good PR

There are thousands of good causes out there. An exception apparently was made for this cache, but where does it end? How do they approve this one and tell the next person with a good cause, no?

Edited October 5, 2004 by briansnat

[Keystone]

From the Geocache Listing Requirements/Guidelines:

 

Commercial Caches / Caches that Solicit

 

Commercial caches attempt to use the Geocaching.com web site cache reporting tool directly or indirectly (intentionally or non-intentionally) to solicit customers through a Geocaching.com listing.  These are NOT permitted. Examples include for-profit locations that require an entrance fee, or locations that sell products or services.

 

Solicitations are also off-limits. For example, caches perceived to be posted for religious, political, or social agendas may not be listed. Geocaching is supposed to be a light, fun activity, not a platform for an agenda.

 

Some exceptions can be made. In these rare situations, permission can be given by the Geocaching.com web site. However, permission should be asked first before posting. If you are in doubt, ask first.

[+evergreenhiker!]

I recently placed a cache "GCKHA6 Food Bank In the Forest"GCKHA6

I placed a large air tight container in the forest. In order to claim this find, you must place canned goods into the cache. When the cache fills up, I will retieve the canned goods and donate them to either my son or daughters Scout troops for thier food drives. I would like to invite others to place similar caches in thier areas.

Shooter

I like this idea. I did a similar cache down by Chehalis (south of Olympia, Washington). Just make sure it's can goods only.

[+Sagefox]

We found a cache with the same theme along I-5 in Washington early this year. As far as the canned food goes there did not appear to be any problems. We found nothing wrong with the idea and I am one of those who HATES finding food in caches. We did leave a can of beans. Not sure if bears know food is inside cans.

[+Sagefox]

Hello John (EGH)! Looks like we had the same thought and posted at the exact same minute. I was referring to that same cache.

[+evergreenhiker!]

Hello John (EGH)! Looks like we had the same thought and posted at the exact same minute. I was referring to that same cache.

LOL...just sent you guys an email regarding that fact.

[+1stimestar]

Any bears in your area? From the National Park Service:

 

Bears are opportunistic and will eat almost anything, including human food and trash. They are naturally curious and have a sense of smell that is better than any other animal. Bears can even smell canned food kept inside the trunk of a vehicle..... "Food" includes any item with a scent, regardless of packaging. This may include items such as canned goods, bottles, drinks, soaps, cosmetics, toiletries, perfumes, trash, and even empty ice chests.

[shooter206]

nothing larger than a raccoon.

[+Muirwoody]

There is a similar cache in Indianapolis that avoids the "hiding food" problem - just take it to the food bank!:

 

Can You Log This Cache

[+Touchstone]

Nice idea, BUT I have to agree with 1stimestar. I've been so brainwashed by the Park Service schpeel about bears, racoons and opossums, that I wouldn't even leave a canned good out in the open. Bears around here are pretty smart critters. If they even saw a picture of food they'd make cache into a pile of rubble.

 

This opinion brought to you from someone that's been raided twice on backpacking trips and had to make some long hungry hikes back out to the car. Now I carry those heavy plastic bear containers when I go out (required in some areas now).

[+Team Perks]

The one thought that comes to my mind...

 

What charity in their right mind would say "Sure, we'd be happy to take this food that's been sitting out in the woods for six months"???

 

[+nfa]

A couple of points:

• It's food, in a cache
  
• The food will freeze and thaw many times in winter time
  
• It's food, in a cache, in the woods
  
• no charity will take food that has been sitting in a tear-gas delivery container for months in the woods
  
• It's still food in a cache, in the woods, which is against the rules for plenty of good reasons
  

Giving food to charities is awesome...do that, and then go geocaching...don't mix the two.

 

I like helping out at animal shelters, but that doesn't make it a good idea to help unwanted kittens find homes by hiding them in tupperware in the woods...

Edited October 5, 2004 by NFA

[+Mopar]

I like helping out at animal shelters, but that doesn't make it a good idea to help unwanted kittens find homes by hiding them in tupperware in the woods...

Of course not, kittens are too big for most caches.

Hampsters however fit pretty well into tupperware and ammo cans.

[+Car54]

This topic has me really thinking.....I work at a food bank (non-profit, of course!) and coincidentally, I have an extra ammo can laying around just waiting to be born as a cache. If I just "suggested" a canned food donation, and had a physical cache with normal trading items as well, all would be well, right? Any way I could work in the desire for a picture to be taken by our building or our truck? I know I could ask on the cache page, but without an incentive, will people do it? Perhaps by offering "extra credit" of some sort, like a certificate I could e-mail or something? Any ideas?

[+GreyingJay]

Car54, I would be thinking of ways to make this an urban hide... hide the ammo box somewhere on the premises if possible.. then suggest in your cache page that visitors might want to bring a donation as they swing by.

 

That would be how I see it. Others may differ of course.

[+Car54]

Notjustjay,

 

Oh yeah, I'd hide the ammo can on the premises. Although we are in an industrial park, it is somewhat rural and we have a wooded area on our property that would be a perfect place for the ammo can. Just wondering how to get them to take a picture....

[+Team Perks]

I like helping out at animal shelters, but that doesn't make it a good idea to help unwanted kittens find homes by hiding them in tupperware in the woods...

Not even if you trade the kitten for a hamster?

[+1stimestar]

Nice idea, BUT I have to agree with 1stimestar. I've been so brainwashed by the Park Service schpeel about bears, racoons and opossums, that I wouldn't even leave a canned good out in the open. Bears around here are pretty smart critters. If they even saw a picture of food they'd make cache into a pile of rubble.

 

This opinion brought to you from someone that's been raided twice on backpacking trips and had to make some long hungry hikes back out to the car. Now I carry those heavy plastic bear containers when I go out (required in some areas now).

 

Bear Resistant Food Container (BRFC). To get a back country permit for Denali you must have all items with any type of smell in one of these. This size (2-3 day food supply) fits right in the top of my back pack but it is hard to fit EVERYTHING in. That includes toothpaste, deodarant, every thing with an oder. But the bears in the park have not come to associate humans with food (or hunting for that matter).

[+Nappy10]

I think the idea is a good one, but maybe not with geocaches. I think that raising the idea of food as an acceptable means of geocaching "swag" opens a door to many questionable scenarios.

 

If such a cache were to be placed, I think it would work really well...for the first couple weeks. I don't see that a standard cache could get enough visits to be worth the effort for the food bank. A well-organized food drive over a weekend would probably raise a better inventory of food than a cache such as this would in a year.

 

Also, what of those who never quite follow the guidelines. A canned item might cause others to ponder droping a bag of trail mix or chips into the cache. Squirrels and other animals would make use of your cache more than cachers would. Dangerous for the animals and the environment.

 

It is my opinion that a good rule of thumb would be "no food in caches whatsoever." I don't mean to put down the idea, because your intentions are to help the community in which you live.

 

I would prefer that you maybe organize an event cache. You and your local geocachers could do a food drive before the thanksgiving/holiday seaon. It solves the above mentioned problems and accomplishes the task at hand. I don't know how this will pass the non-soliciting rule, but maybe worth a try.

[+SixDogTeam]

If you think coons and possums can't smell thru cans, leave one on your back porch overnite and see what happens. Heck, the coons around here can READ the labels...

[+Prime Suspect]

If you think coons and possums can't smell thru cans, leave one on your back porch overnite and see what happens. Heck, the coons around here can READ the labels...

Well, actually, they can't. But they can smell the minute food particles on the outside of the can, left there during the canning process, and usually trapped under the paper label.

[+BadAndy]

If you think coons and possums can't smell thru cans, leave one on your back porch overnite and see what happens. Heck, the coons around here can READ the labels...

It's probably more from experience digging through the garbage. They relate cans to food...because every open can they find tastes good.

[+Team Tigger International]

I like helping out at animal shelters, but that doesn't make it a good idea to help unwanted kittens find homes by hiding them in tupperware in the woods...

Of course not, kittens are too big for most caches.

Hampsters however fit pretty well into tupperware and ammo cans.

I found a kitten near a cache , wasnt in the cache exactally but all alone on the boardwalk . No mother around or siblings . So sad , I couldnt leave him there and now he resides at my house . Never could figure out whathe was doing there or how he got there. Makes me very sad to think that people can do such an awfull thing .

[+Team Tigger International]

I recently placed a cache "GCKHA6 Food Bank In the Forest"GCKHA6

I placed a large air tight container in the forest. In order to claim this find, you must place canned goods into the cache. When the cache fills up, I will retieve the canned goods and donate them to either my son or daughters Scout troops for thier food drives. I would like to invite others to place similar caches in thier areas.

Shooter

Wonderful Idea , nice and thoughtfull .... However this is a cache that is placed without adhearing to the gc.com guidelines once again ..... Just like the "heated" topic of religious caches and/or political caches.

 

And any food in the woods I wouldnt think would be a good idea in any or all cases .

 

Star of Team Tigger International

[PC Medic]

While the thought and intentions behind this cache are most admirable, more than the 'food in cache rules' OR ctritters, I would be concerned with spoilage.

 

Extreme heat and cold (temp changes) will in fact spoil the contents of even a fresh and tightly sealed canned good. I help support an orphanage in Haiti and we have faced this problem in the past before better storage facilities could be built.