The Wrath of Muggles

[+BaylorGrad]

Yesterday was a rough day--a really rough day. I had been accused of a crime that I did not commit, and spent most of the day defending myself (to no avail).

 

So when the day was over, I decided, "Well, I'll go pick up one of these new caches around town--that'll make me feel a little better!"

 

So, I grab my GPS and pen, and head out to GC2J8VA.

 

The location is near a neighborhood, but doesn't appear to be in the neighborhood. I can see houses in the distance through the trees. Also, the cache is at a relatively busy intersection.

 

So I head towards GZ, and search for about 20 seconds--and that was about it.

 

I hear a car behind me, and I see a truck pulling up. "Great!," I think to myself, "New Geocachers that I haven't met yet--how cool!"

 

Nope.

 

The truck pulls up about three feet from where I'm standing. A man is driving, a woman is in the passanger seat. The woman immediately holds up her cell phone and takes my picture. One of them says, "Who else is there?" and points into the wooded area. I reply honestly--"No one."

 

The woman launches into a rave about how this is private property (I know what you're thinking--no, there were no signs, I checked), and that she has both my picture and license plate number, and that if she ever sees me on the property again, she'll call the police.

 

"Fair enough," I think to myself, I would probably be upset also.

 

I said to her--"Yes ma'am, I understand. But please understand I wasn't trying to cause harm--see, this is a GPS, and I was just Geo--."

 

She interrupts me and says, "I know about the box thing, and I don't care. You need to leave."

 

I said, "Please--understand that others might show up--I'm trying to make you aware--."

 

Yet again, she cuts me off--"There's no 'yes ma'am' or 'no ma'am,' just LEAVE."

 

Needless to say, at this point I got in my car and left.

 

The CO had no idea that this was private property, and thought it was owned by the city as it appeared to be a dumping place for old, discarded utility poles. Apparently she was wrong, and I got quite and earful from it.

 

And in case there's any question about it--I immediately when and archived the cache.

- - - - -

 

So, that's my story. Has anyone else come across furious muggles?

Edited November 16, 2010 by BaylorGrad

[+J the Goat]

Sorry you had a bad day I"ve not had a day like that with geocaching...... yet. Just chalk it up to a bad day and leave it behind you.

[knowschad]

Yet again, she cuts me off--"There's no 'yes ma'am' or 'no ma'am,' just LEAVE."

 

Were you on a private road, too?

[+Brooklyn51]

We've had a couple of experiences with self-appointed guardians. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing that there are people who looking out for the neighborhood or public resources though. We haven't had anything like what the OP went through though. Once we pull onto an unimproved drive near a public access in this tucked away neighborhood. GZ was a bit further on down a little trail so I went and found the cache while my wife stayed with the car. When I got back to the car, there were 2 larger-than-me guys walking up the drive with very stern determined looks on their faces. They wanted to know just exactly what we were doing. We nervously explained geocaching to them and they relaxed a little. It turns out that this area had a history of people driving up this very same drive to leave off their old stove and mattresses and these guys were going to see to it that that habit ended as they had worked hard to get the place cleaned up. We thanked them for their vigilance, warned them that there would be other people visiting and they in turn thanked us for the explanations. Then we got out of there.

[+StarBrand]

Wow - sorry about that but it does happen. I got yelled at when finding a cache on state property once but it was about 3 feet from the border of her property and upon spotting me she jumped on her 4 wheeler and drove over to start yelling at me about "messing" with her fenceline. I pointed out what side of the fence I was on and went to leave but she continued yelling at me all the way back to the car and kept threatening to call authorities. Just not worth the smilie.

[+John in Valley Forge]

No, I've never had such an encounter, butI just pulled the archived cache up on GoggleMaps and BingMaps and it sure looks like someone's back yard.

[+GeoGeeBee]

Wow, sorry to hear about your bad day.

 

It looks, from Google maps, like that cache is in someone's back yard. I think if I lived across the road from a Federal Prison, I'd be pretty touchy about strangers poking around in my yard, too. This is a seriously major Fail on the part of the person who placed the cache.

 

It's a good thing you gave up on your first attempt to find the cache, if they had found you out there at night you might have been shot.

[+JohnnyVegas]

Yesterday was a rough day--a really rough day. I had been accused of a crime that I did not commit, and spent most of the day defending myself (to no avail).

 

So when the day was over, I decided, "Well, I'll go pick up one of these new caches around town--that'll make me feel a little better!"

 

So, I grab my GPS and pen, and head out to GC2J8VA.

 

The location is near a neighborhood, but doesn't appear to be in the neighborhood. I can see houses in the distance through the trees. Also, the cache is at a relatively busy intersection.

 

So I head towards GZ, and search for about 20 seconds--and that was about it.

 

I hear a car behind me, and I see a truck pulling up. "Great!," I think to myself, "New Geocachers that I haven't met yet--how cool!"

 

Nope.

 

The truck pulls up about three feet from where I'm standing. A man is driving, a woman is in the passanger seat. The woman immediately holds up her cell phone and takes my picture. One of them says, "Who else is there?" and points into the wooded area. I reply honestly--"No one."

 

The woman launches into a rave about how this is private property (I know what you're thinking--no, there were no signs, I checked), and that she has both my picture and license plate number, and that if she ever sees me on the property again, she'll call the police.

 

"Fair enough," I think to myself, I would probably be upset also.

 

I said to her--"Yes ma'am, I understand. But please understand I wasn't trying to cause harm--see, this is a GPS, and I was just Geo--."

 

She interrupts me and says, "I know about the box thing, and I don't care. You need to leave."

 

I said, "Please--understand that others might show up--I'm trying to make you aware--."

 

Yet again, she cuts me off--"There's no 'yes ma'am' or 'no ma'am,' just LEAVE."

 

Needless to say, at this point I got in my car and left.

 

The CO had no idea that this was private property, and thought it was owned by the city as it appeared to be a dumping place for old, discarded utility poles. Apparently she was wrong, and I got quite and earful from it.

 

And in case there's any question about it--I immediately when and archived the cache.

- - - - -

 

So, that's my story. Has anyone else come across furious muggles?

It may or may not be private property, A few month ago I was out looking for a few caches and doing some photography and I found a note on my wind shield when I got back to my truck claiming I was parked in a private area. Well it was not and is not a private area. It was a so called up scale community, you know the ones were all the housed are paint the same color etc. There is even an access path were I parked so that people can access the public lands behind the homes.

THere are some people that think they have the right to control access to public lands because they feel they are better than others.

I am going to back there soon and park my car in the same place but this time I will have several video camers set up with a note on my windsheild saying, "Watch your self on you tube tonight" it is public property so they have no expectaion of privacy.

I am think the place I found would be a good location for a flash mob event. LOL

[+Ecylram]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

[Mr.Yuck]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

Easy mistake to make? This is like so someone's backyard, it's not even funny. As my 11 yr. old would say, EPIC FAIL. I looked at the GIS too, that's why you beat me to posting. But for a quick no-brainer check, you can just zoom in on Google Maps until your close, and see obvious residential property boundries.

 

Very nice to see the Cache owner archived it immediately though. She seems very conscientious (and has been around a long, long time, and placed many caches).

Edited November 16, 2010 by Mr.Yuck

[+BaylorGrad]

Yet again, she cuts me off--"There's no 'yes ma'am' or 'no ma'am,' just LEAVE."

 

Were you on a private road, too?

 

I don't think I was... It's hard to describe. If you look at Google maps, you can see where I parked--there's only only possible spot. It's kind of like a short gravel path that cuts across a corner of the intersection. Certainly didn't FEEL like I was on a private road.

[+narcissa]

Some people seem to decide that they own any sort of park or trail adjacent to their property. I know Taoiseach's been yelled at by a crazy lady who had to cross a street and walk about fifty yards into a well-known park that is part of a UNESCO Heritage Site in order to shout at him that he was on her property.

[+Ike 13]

I couple weeks ago I was caching and in an Olive Garden parking lot. The owner came up and asked what I was doing. I explained and he said, "It's on my property, why?" I said oh they're supposed to ask for permission. It was disabled that day.

 

I also found one on the edge of Private Property. I accidentally crossed the invisible line when the owenr drove by he yelled at me. I apologized and got back on the public side.

[+BaylorGrad]

No, I've never had such an encounter, butI just pulled the archived cache up on GoggleMaps and BingMaps and it sure looks like someone's back yard.

 

Interestingly enough, it actually look LESS like a backyard on Google maps than it does today. Notice that the gravel path connects the two roads of the intersection, and most importantly--the area looks like a city dumping ground now. There's a pile of discarded utility poles just sitting there, about where the tree line begins.

 

I would've never gone on this property if it looked to be private.

[+Ike 13]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

That's a cool site. Wish it had my local counties. How can one tell what's private on this map?

[+BaylorGrad]

Wow, sorry to hear about your bad day.

 

It looks, from Google maps, like that cache is in someone's back yard. I think if I lived across the road from a Federal Prison, I'd be pretty touchy about strangers poking around in my yard, too. This is a seriously major Fail on the part of the person who placed the cache.

 

It's a good thing you gave up on your first attempt to find the cache, if they had found you out there at night you might have been shot.

 

Believe me, I'm thankful that I wasn't caught at night. They found me actually right at sunset... So I was cutting it close again. What's even worse is that I had a flashlight with me on my first visit... Can't believe I wasn't spotted.

[Mr.Yuck]

Some people seem to decide that they own any sort of park or trail adjacent to their property. I know Taoiseach's been yelled at by a crazy lady who had to cross a street and walk about fifty yards into a well-known park that is part of a UNESCO Heritage Site in order to shout at him that he was on her property.

 

This is very true. I've heard of dozens of incidents of Geocachers being yelled at by enraged citizenry when they were actually on public property. Heck, it even happened to me once, and it was totally non-geocaching related! All you can do in these cases is comply, and do your research when you get home.

[+BaylorGrad]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

Easy mistake to make? This is like so someone's backyard, it's not even funny. As my 11 yr. old would say, EPIC FAIL. I looked at the GIS too, that's why you beat me to posting. But for a quick no-brainer check, you can just zoom in on Google Maps until your close, and see obvious residential property boundries.

 

Very nice to see the Cache owner archived it immediately though. She seems very conscientious (and has been around a long, long time, and placed many caches).

 

Like I mentioned to a previous poster, the image you see on Google maps isn't the image I saw yesterday. The area has old, discarded utility poles--and the cache owner has been driving by the location daily for years--she thought it was a city dumping ground.

 

And yes--the CO is an excellent cache hider. She has more in this town than anyone else--and if she could mistake this area for public property, then it's certainly no surprise that others, like myself, could do the same. And yes, she archived it immediately.

[+John in Valley Forge]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

Easy mistake to make? This is like so someone's backyard, it's not even funny. As my 11 yr. old would say, EPIC FAIL. I looked at the GIS too, that's why you beat me to posting. But for a quick no-brainer check, you can just zoom in on Google Maps until your close, and see obvious residential property boundries.

 

Very nice to see the Cache owner archived it immediately though. She seems very conscientious (and has been around a long, long time, and placed many caches).

 

I have to agree with OJ on this one. It looks like someones back yard no matter how far you zoom on on the map. I didnt even notice the federal prison across the street. I wouldn't want to cache around there.

[Mr.Yuck]

I couple weeks ago I was caching and in an Olive Garden parking lot. The owner came up and asked what I was doing. I explained and he said, "It's on my property, why?" I said oh they're supposed to ask for permission. It was disabled that day.

 

 

This is amazing! You are actually telling me a cache in an Olive Garden Parking lot didn't have permission to be there? That is an outrage! (Sorry, couldn't resist).

[+BaylorGrad]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

Easy mistake to make? This is like so someone's backyard, it's not even funny. As my 11 yr. old would say, EPIC FAIL. I looked at the GIS too, that's why you beat me to posting. But for a quick no-brainer check, you can just zoom in on Google Maps until your close, and see obvious residential property boundries.

 

Very nice to see the Cache owner archived it immediately though. She seems very conscientious (and has been around a long, long time, and placed many caches).

 

I have to agree with OJ on this one. It looks like someones back yard no matter how far you zoom on on the map. I didnt even notice the federal prison across the street. I wouldn't want to cache around there.

 

Ok, even after reading about the discarded utility posts, add in the fact that I arrived at GZ from the North, the first time at night, and the second time at sunset. Still obvious?

[Mr.Yuck]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

Easy mistake to make? This is like so someone's backyard, it's not even funny. As my 11 yr. old would say, EPIC FAIL. I looked at the GIS too, that's why you beat me to posting. But for a quick no-brainer check, you can just zoom in on Google Maps until your close, and see obvious residential property boundries.

 

Very nice to see the Cache owner archived it immediately though. She seems very conscientious (and has been around a long, long time, and placed many caches).

 

Like I mentioned to a previous poster, the image you see on Google maps isn't the image I saw yesterday. The area has old, discarded utility poles--and the cache owner has been driving by the location daily for years--she thought it was a city dumping ground.

 

And yes--the CO is an excellent cache hider. She has more in this town than anyone else--and if she could mistake this area for public property, then it's certainly no surprise that others, like myself, could do the same. And yes, she archived it immediately.

 

OK, I'll soften my stance, and accept my apologies. Even what I see on Street View (without utility poles) does look like somewhat like a public pull-off. Google Sat view though, I still say, makes this a no-brainer for someone's back yard. I am also a person that pretty much Google Sat views every single new cache in my area that gets published, so that was the first place I went.

[+John in Valley Forge]

Like I mentioned to a previous poster, the image you see on Google maps isn't the image I saw yesterday. The area has old, discarded utility poles--and the cache owner has been driving by the location daily for years--she thought it was a city dumping ground.

 

And yes--the CO is an excellent cache hider. She has more in this town than anyone else--and if she could mistake this area for public property, then it's certainly no surprise that others, like myself, could do the same. And yes, she archived it immediately.

 

No, those dont show up on the aerial photos. But still, given the proximity to homes, businesses and farm fields, I would figure it was private.

 

Kudos to her for archiving it quick.

[+BaylorGrad]

Ahhh--using Google satellite, I can definitely see what y'all mean. Thanks for clarifying. I can say that I should've checked first, but with the CO being such an excellent hider and having found about 30 of her caches, this wasn't a worry for me.

 

But yeah, if you check Google street view, you can see how I was misled...

[+John in Valley Forge]

 

Ok, even after reading about the discarded utility posts, add in the fact that I arrived at GZ from the North, the first time at night, and the second time at sunset. Still obvious?

 

Admittedly, I am not and was not, standing at GZ looking around, so my perspective is from 30,000 feet and with 20/20 hindsight. Admittedly too, I am a non-fan of caches placed anywhere near houses and offices. I passed up on several FTFs in the office park near my home. Even though I can walk to the office park, I just won't go after those.

 

It was an honest mistake (showing that evened seasoned cachers can make them) that was promptly remedied.

[+BaylorGrad]

But this thread shouldn't be all about my story--

 

Any other cachers out there had a similar event occur? Any other raging muggles out there?

[+GeoGeeBee]

 

A few month ago I was out looking for a few caches and doing some photography and I found a note on my wind shield when I got back to my truck claiming I was parked in a private area. Well it was not and is not a private area. It was a so called up scale community, you know the ones were all the housed are paint the same color etc. There is even an access path were I parked so that people can access the public lands behind the homes.

 

 

I think if your town/county has a GIS system where you can check property ownership, you'll find that you really were on private property. In most of these sorts of communities, the "public" footpaths are owned by the neighborhood homeowners association, and are meant for the use of people who own homes in the neighborhood.

 

Here's an example from my area:

[+GeoGeeBee]

Ahhh--using Google satellite, I can definitely see what y'all mean. Thanks for clarifying. I can say that I should've checked first, but with the CO being such an excellent hider and having found about 30 of her caches, this wasn't a worry for me.

 

But yeah, if you check Google street view, you can see how I was misled...

 

I don't think it's incumbent upon you to have checked google maps first. I know that I don't check google maps for most of the caches I search for.

 

The CO, on the other hand... since it's the cache owner's responsibility to make sure adequate permission is obtained, she should certainly have checked google maps or a similar resource.

[+John in Valley Forge]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

That's a cool site. Wish it had my local counties. How can one tell what's private on this map?

 

Most counties have them. Search google for your county name and assessors office or GIS maps.

 

You light like this one Lexington County GIS

[+briansnat]

But this thread shouldn't be all about my story--

 

Any other cachers out there had a similar event occur? Any other raging muggles out there?

 

Never ran into one myself, but have heard many stories of it. Not long ago someone posted a story about being blocked in by a guy who got out if his car with a shotgun and started screaming at him.

[+dreamarcher]

That's just how farmers are. They're not going to listen to reason. Best thing to do is just leave.

 

I've had something similar happen to me when I was on a public road but right next to their house and a section of closed public road. I stopped on my mountain bike at the gate. Just a rest for a few minutes before I turn around. Next thing I know the farmers adult son comes out and confronts me while holding his cell phone and tells me he just called the police. Yeah, in the 15 seconds I was there he already called and hung up. Doubtful. I was very friendly and tried to explain I was just exercising and was about to leave anyway. He tells me this has happened before and the people got confrontational. What? It was you that walked 50 feet from your property to give me some BS scare warning. When I saw it was going nowhere I just left.

[+jomouse]

I stopped for a cache in the bushes of a local business. The description said it was placed with permission so no problem, I thought. The store was closed except for what turned out to be the owner catching up on some work. I found the cache quickly, signed the log and was turning to get into my car when the owner came out and started yelling at me. What was I doing... what did I put in the bushes... he was red faced and seemed really angry. I started sputtering about the geocache and that I thought it was with permission. He wanted to see it so I showed him. Then he suddenly calmed completely down and looked a bit sheepish. He said a lady had asked him if she could place it and he had forgotten for the moment. He had been having problems with people leaving their trash in his bushes and thought that's what I was doing. I asked him if he wanted me to have the cache shut down and he said no and apologized. So it ended well. That was back in July and the cache is still active, so he must be used to it now.

[+EscapeFromFlatland]

It turns out that this area had a history of people driving up this very same drive to leave off their old stove and mattresses and these guys were going to see to it that that habit ended as they had worked hard to get the place cleaned up. We thanked them for their vigilance, warned them that there would be other people visiting and they in turn thanked us for the explanations. Then we got out of there.

 

I had that happen to me once. Only it was a drunk woman from the nearby vineyard that hosts weddings making sure I wasn't dumping garbage into the woods along the road. Luckily the geocache was an easily found gargoyle in a tree stump so it amused her and she was glad I wasn't dumping garbage.

 

No, I've never had such an encounter, butI just pulled the archived cache up on GoggleMaps and BingMaps and it sure looks like someone's back yard.

 

GoogleMaps has plenty of mistakes. Until recently they listed the Mormon's private property in downtown Salt Lake as a public park. Often labels will be in the wrong area. One area had the name of the road changed for 2 blocks to "Subway" because there happened to be a Subway shop on the corner. One of the forested hills out here has a big "P" for parking on an eroded logging road.

[+kpanko]

Any other cachers out there had a similar event occur?

My most similar story involves two police officers, who wanted to know why I was in a park/playground after dark (about 9PM), where am I from, what exactly is hidden in those trees (I had not found it yet so I was not sure), are there any drugs or guns involved, have I been arrested before, and did I know that it is illegal to be in this park after dark?

 

They were not raging mad, just doing their job. They let me go after all the questions.

[+Ike 13]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

That's a cool site. Wish it had my local counties. How can one tell what's private on this map?

 

Most counties have them. Search google for your county name and assessors office or GIS maps.

 

You light like this one Lexington County GIS

 

Thanks I found that about 5 minutes after I posted. It will come in handy (once I figure out how to interpret the thing).

[knowschad]

That's just how farmers are. They're not going to listen to reason. Best thing to do is just leave.

???

[+northernpenguin]

We had a situation here in Georgetown where a local started barricading one of the town roads. She put pylons out across the street and told people who were driving down the street that they were trespassing - particularly if they were driving an SUV or off-road capable vehicle. At the end of the road, known as "10th Line, Halton Hills" (Halton Hills being the name of the town, that owns the road) is an official parking area and trailhead for a portion of the Bruce Trail. Local geocachers came to know this woman as the "10th Line Witch".

 

The local cachers simply removed the pylons but there was a few tongue lashings endured by the non-local cachers (and hikers, and bird watchers, and pretty much everyone who came near).

[knowschad]

A "wrath of muggles"... I LIKE it!! Like a "herd of sheep", a "pride of lions", or a "murder of crows"!

 

"I was just getting ready to pull the cache from its obvious hiding spot, when a wrath of muggles comes walking down the trail."

[+geodarts]

I have had a few encounters with Angry Property Owners who did not appreciate that I was looking for a geocache that had been placed on their property. And I know of others who have had problems after looking for caches in areas that were posted with no trespassing signs. In these situations I let the person say what they have to say, answer their questions, and promise to get the cache archived and removed.

 

But I have learned through my mistakes. In my younger days, I placed a cache in an isolated old marina, a post-industrial wasteland of sorts, which was the site of the last whaling station in California. I had often been out there taking pictures of every conceivable thing and walking around the area, without a problem. I did not find anybody at the office, but my daughter knew someone who lived at the marina, who thought that there would be no problems with a cache. The cache itself was near an old railroad right away, with the tracks no longer used. The area was not posted. After a couple of months, one cacher came across the owner, who said "he thought it was cool."

 

But several months later, the area had been hit with several burglaries. My friend was approached by several rather large people (including the owner) who were prepared to be rather aggressive. Its not that hard to imagine the scene, but my friend managed to sweet talk them into letting him remove the cache and leave. I learned not to make assumptions about the nature of property. And I have not been back there to take pictures since then.

Edited November 16, 2010 by mulvaney

[+deercreekth]

Yikes! For some reason I did not get a notification email for this cache. It looks like that was a good thing. I probably would've been too spooked to look if it got published around the time the other new ones Sunday night(went after a roadside one in town instead). I spent too much time yesterday morning looking for Gigger's other new one in town, so I probably would've skipped this one then too. It was dark on my way home last night, so the whole too spooky thing would've covered me again.

 

I've been pretty lucky so far. I did attract enough attention at a stump on the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere that a neighbor drove over to see what I was up to once. He was friendly, though.

 

Sorry about your day. I've not had a lot of luck with caches along 63 like that. There's a cemetery surrounded by Federal Prison property that I've always thought would be a cool place for a cache, they even had a sign advertising plots available recently.

Edited November 16, 2010 by deercreekth

[+Yshf]

A "wrath of muggles"... I LIKE it!! Like a "herd of sheep", a "pride of lions", or a "murder of crows"!

 

"I was just getting ready to pull the cache from its obvious hiding spot, when a wrath of muggles comes walking down the trail."

 

LOVE IT!

Edited November 16, 2010 by Team Yeti SMP!

[+Castle Mischief]

That's just how farmers are. They're not going to listen to reason. Best thing to do is just leave.

???

 

Ditto. Double

Edited November 16, 2010 by Castle Mischief

[+BaylorGrad]

Yikes! For some reason I did not get a notification email for this cache. It looks like that was a good thing. I probably would've been too spooked to look if it got published around the time the other new ones Sunday night(went after a roadside one in town instead). I spent too much time yesterday morning looking for Gigger's other new one in town, so I probably would've skipped this one then too. It was dark on my way home last night, so the whole too spooky thing would've covered me again.

 

I've been pretty lucky so far. I did attract enough attention at a stump on the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere that a neighbor drove over to see what I was up to once. He was friendly, though.

 

Sorry about your day. I've not had a lot of luck with caches along 63 like that. There's a cemetery surrounded by Federal Prison property that I've always thought would be a cool place for a cache, they even had a sign advertising plots available recently.

 

Haha yes, I was wondering where you were! Yes--the cache was published along with the other 3 on Sunday night, and I went and searched for this one immediately. Mostly because I thought I was most likely to beat you to it! And sure enough, I beat you to it twice... But the second time I was lucky to get away without having the police called. It was quite an experience, and one I don't plan to repeat! Whew they were mad.

[+StarBrand]

...

Most counties have them.

 

HA!!!

 

Not anywhere near me. The county courthouse uses a nearly 20 year old PC for what little is computerized.

[+NYPaddleCacher]

I stopped for a cache in the bushes of a local business. The description said it was placed with permission so no problem, I thought. The store was closed except for what turned out to be the owner catching up on some work. I found the cache quickly, signed the log and was turning to get into my car when the owner came out and started yelling at me. What was I doing... what did I put in the bushes... he was red faced and seemed really angry. I started sputtering about the geocache and that I thought it was with permission. He wanted to see it so I showed him. Then he suddenly calmed completely down and looked a bit sheepish. He said a lady had asked him if she could place it and he had forgotten for the moment. He had been having problems with people leaving their trash in his bushes and thought that's what I was doing. I asked him if he wanted me to have the cache shut down and he said no and apologized. So it ended well. That was back in July and the cache is still active, so he must be used to it now.

 

Glad it turned out well but you were lucky that the person that you encountered was the same person from which permission was obtained. That's a risk that you run anytime you search for a cache on private property owned by a business. Even if the primary business owner granted permission, chances are every current and future employee, or any customer of that business may not know that permission was granted.

[+Don_J]

Some people seem to decide that they own any sort of park or trail adjacent to their property. I know Taoiseach's been yelled at by a crazy lady who had to cross a street and walk about fifty yards into a well-known park that is part of a UNESCO Heritage Site in order to shout at him that he was on her property.

 

This is very true. I've heard of dozens of incidents of Geocachers being yelled at by enraged citizenry when they were actually on public property. Heck, it even happened to me once, and it was totally non-geocaching related! All you can do in these cases is comply, and do your research when you get home.

 

I've never been yelled at but I was politely told that I was on a private trail even though it was well marked as being owned by a State Conservancy and designated for public use. I politely told the gentleman that the signs at the trail head say otherwise. I wonder how many people never returned to the area because of this guys actions.

[+Don_J]

Some bad caching luck.

 

I checked the county GIS records and the property really is private property. From the looks of Google Street View, it's a real easy mistake to make.

 

It's never fun to alarm the muggles.

 

Easy mistake to make? This is like so someone's backyard, it's not even funny. As my 11 yr. old would say, EPIC FAIL. I looked at the GIS too, that's why you beat me to posting. But for a quick no-brainer check, you can just zoom in on Google Maps until your close, and see obvious residential property boundries.

 

Very nice to see the Cache owner archived it immediately though. She seems very conscientious (and has been around a long, long time, and placed many caches).

 

I have to agree with OJ on this one. It looks like someones back yard no matter how far you zoom on on the map. I didnt even notice the federal prison across the street. I wouldn't want to cache around there.

 

The cache is 60' from a house. Public or private, it's just a bad idea. I personally wouldn't even stop.

[+BaylorGrad]

^ I've been in several public parks where caches are much closer to houses. Maybe this is just the nature of urban Geocaching.

[knowschad]

^ I've been in several public parks where caches are much closer to houses. Maybe this is just the nature of urban Geocaching.

So have I. And I have walked away from most of them. Just because a cache is on public property does not mean that looking for it is essentially an invasion of privacy, even if it wouldn't stand up to that claim legally. It is a matter of (cough!!) common sense.

[+Don_J]

^ I've been in several public parks where caches are much closer to houses. Maybe this is just the nature of urban Geocaching.

 

I didn't mean to offend, and a lot of this is personal to me. After five years and over 4500 finds, I am still extremely unconformable around private residences. More often than not, I simply shift gears and go on to the next one. Luckily for me, there are more than enough around here to keep me busy.