Jump to content

Ever Encounter Dangerous Animals While Caching?


Recommended Posts

I just got my new eTrex for Christmas, so i'm very much a newbie, but having a great time.

 

One feeling that I have in the back of my mind though, is the possible encounter with some kind of unfriendly animal.

 

This being Florida, where I was caching in 76 degree weather yesterday, I couldn't help but feel a certain amount of caution...wondering if their might be a rattlesnake or large spider under that log where I'm supposed to be looking for a cache.

 

It's not at all uncommon for me to come across snakes & alligators on a regular basis down here...and that's without bushwhacking & turning over logs in the woods.

 

Anybody else ever come across any unpleasant suprises at a cache site?

Link to comment

I just found my first cache August 8, 2005. During the warm months I encountered two rattlesnakes - one I had placed my foot about 10 inches from its head when I noticed the thing. I just backed up slowly and went on my way. I figure I just need to keep my eyes open for snakes and such and I should be fine. They really don't have much interest in people unless you threaten them or step on them or something.

Link to comment

Where I live you always have to watch out for black bear. I had one come running out between two houses as I was driving around town and it nearly ran into the side of car. I couldn't have stopped in time but somehow in the last couple of feet the animal did an amzing bound and missed. We also have massassgua rattle snakes, but a moose can be as dangerous as anything out there if it gets protective of young or a male is in rut.

 

JDandDD

Edited by JDandDD
Link to comment

probably the most dangerous animal you're likely to meet caching is a tick or mosquito. both are quite capable of bringing you low. be aware of your surroundings and watch where you grab and step and you'll likely have no problems with the larger critters. -harry

Link to comment
I just got my new eTrex for Christmas, so i'm very much a newbie, but having a great time.

 

One feeling that I have in the back of my mind though, is the possible encounter with some kind of unfriendly animal.

 

This being Florida, where I was caching in 76 degree weather yesterday, I couldn't help but feel a certain amount of caution...wondering if their might be a rattlesnake or large spider under that log where I'm supposed to be looking for a cache.

 

It's not at all uncommon for me to come across snakes & alligators on a regular basis down here...and that's without bushwhacking & turning over logs in the woods.

 

Anybody else ever come across any unpleasant suprises at a cache site?

I saw this guy near a cache last March.

 

991db963-1f04-4a8c-9668-333c8aadf6eb.jpg

 

I highly recommend having a hiking stick. You can use it to poke into places where critters might be residing.

Link to comment

We were walking up a sandy wash. We rounded a corner and my daughter moved around in front of me (she is supposed to stay behind me just for this sort of thing) . Right as she did, I noticed a VERY BIG timber rattler just sitting at the edge of the wash, about 2 feet from my daughter's path. I just jumped forward and pushed her passed it as fast as I could.

 

Once we were clear of it, we watched it for a few minutes. That thing couldn't care less that we were there. It just sat there. It didn't rattle, look around, stick it's tongue out, cast a glance, snort, chortle, or anything.

 

It was funny....afterwards.

Link to comment

In my hiking career, I've met twenty bears, though only three while caching. Most run away from you very fast.

c3c72f57-b41a-4f07-acc3-7a9c226f6049.jpg

This one didn't.

Be careful where you put your hands, definitely! I've seen rattlers and a copperhead, but not while caching. Hiking sticks are good for probing.

Worst critter that I've come across was the tick that gave me Lyme Disease.

Link to comment

<-----So far (and that hasn't been long, I know) we have only encountered a pair of odd homo sapiens back in a remote area of a park where I had to poke around in a stump (yes I used a stick). Wasn't so bad I was there, but the two children that were with me were bringing out the Mama Bear thinking...These other "folks" were a couple of twenty-somethings that were out "partaking of herbal recreation" and I really didn't want to be in the same place they were...

 

We left quickly after finding our cache.

 

Seriously, the most dangerous animal I know walks on two feet. B)

Link to comment

Pitbull. Before I started caching, I had run into wolves, bears, snakes, elk in rut, displaced hornets and a bunch of randy banjo guys on acid, but none of them scared me like that relentless pitbull. Worst of all, I had fouled up the coordinates and was 2.5 miles from the cache so the whole encounter was unnecessary. I second the walking stick suggestion.

Link to comment

The kids and I are out in the big woods caching over the summer and we are on out way to the cache site. While we are hiking along I find a nice red newt, not thinking about it I pick it up and call my daughter over and tell her to look at what I found.

926e9190-5df3-40e7-9145-4182e40b4b5f.jpg

Give a 7 year old girl one of these and see what happens - the biggest and meanest scarry monster in the world.

Link to comment
The kids and I are out in the big woods caching over the summer and we are on out way to the cache site.  While we are hiking along I find a nice red newt, not thinking about it I pick it up and call my daughter over and tell her to look at what I found.

926e9190-5df3-40e7-9145-4182e40b4b5f.jpg

Give a 7 year old girl one of these and see what happens - the biggest and meanest scarry monster in the world.

Those secrete a powerful neurotoxin that can be absorbed into the bloodstream through cuts, abrasions, eye/mouth/nose and the digestive tract.

 

I don't think I'd give my 7 y/o one.

Edited by Wandering Bears
Link to comment
Just a big, growling dog belonging to some clown who didn't see fit to leash it.  Much more frightening to me than a rattlesnake.  I can avoid the snake.

I second that.

Just happened to me and my crew Monday.

 

Dog comes running full speed at us, barking his fool head off. We all stop and one of my crew, who lost a lot of skin (and gained about $50K in the lawsuit) from a previous dog attack, threw a stick and hit the dog.

 

The "clown" came around the bend and raised h because the dog got hit.

 

Unbelievable! His dog attacks someone, and the person is wrong in defending himself?

 

The dog had 10 more feet before I would have shot it, but the "clown" doesn't know that. My companion now understands why I pack.

 

"Clown" should thank me that his dog is alive.

 

I have had several "near shoots" with dogs. This was the first on a caching expedition.

 

For some reason good law abiding dog owners think their dog is perfectly in control running a hundred yards ahead of them on a hiking trail. Or maybe they think they own the trail and no one else will ever use it?

Link to comment

We have come across many a snake, all four poisonous species in the US, while caching. Only had one incident where a buddy of mine stepped on one but luckily he had on boots and the snake didnt get him when it struck. Unfortunately, he wont go caching with anymore. :lol:

 

Anyways, here is one of the most dangerous that we've ever encounter. May cause nightmares so dont even look if you're the squeamish type! ;)

 

c2ad5642-ccc4-4b52-b5be-253f52f62306.jpg

 

Actually this could have turned into a somewhat dangerous situation as we saw the it's mama on the way in and we knew she was close by. Im sure she was very protective so we of course didnt disturb in any way and only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures !

Link to comment
We have come across many a snake, all four poisonous species in the US, while caching. Only had one incident where a buddy of mine stepped on one but luckily he had on boots and the snake didnt get him when it struck. Unfortunately, he wont go caching with anymore. :lol:

 

Anyways, here is one of the most dangerous that we've ever encounter. May cause nightmares so dont even look if you're the squeamish type! ;)

 

c2ad5642-ccc4-4b52-b5be-253f52f62306.jpg

 

Actually this could have turned into a somewhat dangerous situation as we saw the it's mama on the way in and we knew she was close by. Im sure she was very protective so we of course didnt disturb in any way and only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures !

Oh how precious!

Link to comment
...

Those secrete a powerful neurotoxin that can be absorbed into the bloodstream through cuts, abrasions, eye/mouth/nose and the digestive tract.

 

I don't think I'd give my 7 y/o one.

Oh, pshaw. When I was a kid, we used to catch those and play with them all the time.

Link to comment
Oh, pshaw.  When I was a kid, we used to catch those and play with them all the time.

Word to the wise: when you're laughing in the face of danger, "pshaw" is probably not the best tough-guy expression of same. As I constantly have to remind Uncle B, "poo" and "piffle" and "fiddlesticks" are right out, too.

 

Something under a rock in the woods growled at me once. I think I said "poo" and "piffle" and "fiddlesticks" simultaneously, which sounds something like "PFFFSHHHCKSSS!" Then I ran away like a girl.

Link to comment

How about an opossum in a log with a cache? Oh and here in Iowa we have those killer deer that attack cars. Have been walking up a trail and have deer standing 2 feet from me before they bolt in the other direction.

Edited by 3AMT
Link to comment
...

Those secrete a powerful neurotoxin that can be absorbed into the bloodstream through cuts, abrasions, eye/mouth/nose and the digestive tract.

 

I don't think I'd give my 7 y/o one.

Oh, pshaw. When I was a kid, we used to catch those and play with them all the time.

Toxicon 2001 Aug;39(8):1261-3

 

The levels of tetrodotoxin and its analogue 6-epitetrodotoxin in the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens.

 

Yotsu-Yamas***a M, Mebs D.Graduate School of Agricultural Science, Tohoku University, 1-1 Tsutsumidori-Amamiyamachi, Aoba-ku, 981-8555, Sendai, Japan.

 

Tetrodotoxin (TTX) and its analogue 6-epiTTX were detected in 11-12 specimens of the red-spotted newt, Notophthalmus viridescens, by a post-column fluorescent-HPLC system and by LC/MS in selected ion monitoring mode. TTX levels varied considerably among individuals from low (less than 0.15 microg TTX/g newt) to high concentrations (23.5 microg TTX/g newt), while 6-epiTTX was found to be a minor constituent in all specimens.

 

PubMed Link

 

Pshaw, indeed.

 

:rolleyes:

 

Tetrodotoxin is a potent toxin. It acts by impairing nerve function. It blocks the sodium ion channel proteins. The LD50 (the dose sufficient to kill 50% of a population) for mice is only 10 nanograms, a tiny fraction of the total toxin produced by the skin of the newt.

Link to comment
<snip>

 

c2ad5642-ccc4-4b52-b5be-253f52f62306.jpg

 

Actually this could have turned into a somewhat dangerous situation as we saw the it's mama on the way in and we knew she was close by. Im sure she was very protective so we of course didnt disturb in any way and only stayed long enough to take a couple of pictures !

Encountered one of these myself a couple years ago. That is when I vowed NEVER to go caching without a g..................CAMERA!

:rolleyes:

Edited by ChurchCampDave
Link to comment
Ran across these guys yesterday, had to wait till we got home to identify them... Dark fishing spider...  I hate spiders! :rolleyes:

 

Dolo15b.jpg

Dolo15c.jpg

We also hate spiders we run across these all the time. Banana spiders, these guys get pretty big.

heather%20banana%20spider.jpg

BannanaSpiderCloseup.jpg

 

We have also seen gators in canals while caching. But those spiders are just nasty.

Link to comment

Well, in the wilds of Northwestern New Jersey we've run into Bears and dangerous snakes on several occasions. But on hte more dangerous level, we have had sightings of the deadly Dolphin (harry) and even more disturbing and potentially deadly were the encounters with the feared BrianSnat!

 

The last two are DEFINITELY enough to scare you out of the woods!

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...