Geo-Catting Anyone?
My oldest son, Chris, came to visit Dan and I last month and introduced us to the world of “geocaching.” It apparently has been around for years, but since I live in a cat induced bubble, it was new to me. For those of you that also may have no clue what geocaching is, it is an outdoor sporting activity in which the participants use a GPS receiver or mobile device to seek hidden containers of various sizes, called “geocaches” anywhere in the world.
A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. Geocaches are currently placed in over 200 countries around the world and on all seven continents, including Antarctica and the International Space Station. After more than 12 years of activity there are over 5 million geocachers worldwide.
When I was a kid, we had the same concept, only we called it “hide the object“ (such as a broken crayon) and told someone they were getting “hotter or colder” as they got closer or further from it. While that was fun in our day, I must admit that this new method is also a really cool way to have fun. You actually combine technology with physical activity, your mind, and the great outdoors. Chris, Dan and I drove to six different locations, of which we were able to locate four of the caches. One of them appeared to be lost or damaged (according to the Geocache website notes) and one was so extremely difficult to locate, that has been found by only a few people. One cache was found in a tree, another in a fake electrical plate on a lamp post, one in a fake electric box, and one under a stairwell.
After we got home from our adventure, I realized I had been geocaching as an adult all along, only it was “geo-catting.” There are very few times that I go anywhere or do anything, that somehow a cat is not involved. If you will recall, my trip to PA last month to visit my brother involved them adopting a cat, me sitting next to a cat on the plane ride home, and a book I bought with an unexpected story line about a cat rescue.
The cat (Abbey) my brother adopted at a PetSmart adoption drive.
You don’t need a special uniform to Geo-cat, but this is what tends to happen to people who get involved with professional Geo-catters, such as myself. This family portrait was taken the year before my brother adopted Abbey. Clockwise, starting far left, my sister-in-law, Kathy; my brother, Dave; me; my niece, Allison; my niece Kayla, and my nephew, Alex.
When I was married many decades ago, my ex and I were visiting his parents in Florida who lived in a “no-pet” senior community. I was terribly homesick and out of nowhere a tiny black cat appeared. The cat stayed the whole time we visited, and after we left, so did the cat. Last summer when we went to Sea World in Orlando, we found a cat on the property, and the other weekend Dan and I went to Flamingo Gardens to enjoy the day and we saw three cats, one of which actually jumped up on the bench I was sitting on and curled up next to me for a nap. Oh, and surprise, surprise – these cats were all part of a successful TNR program and were living quite happily and peacefully amongst the guests.
We found this sweet little kitty while at Sea World, Orlando. Staff members take care of her and she is very happy!
This beautiful Siamese mix at Flamingo Gardens took a brief cat nap with me.
I commend Flamingo Gardens for taking care of its outdoor cat community - you will note that the left tip of this cat's ear was clipped - a sign that this cat was sterilized and part of a well-managed TNR program.
I have geo-catted numerous cats in our yard, and of course, throughout the course of my life, since cats tend to find me, several geo-stray cats became permanent household members with me such as Meagan, Tosha, Kit, and Shami. I also remember a tiny little white and orange kitten I found around the holidays. This was of course right around after I had found Kit in my driveway. I had STRICT marching orders from my ex…. No more cats allowed. Fate intervened – I put an ad in the paper about the kitten and received a phone call from a father whose young seven year old daughter had lost a kitten and was heartbroken. He asked if he could adopt this kitten as a surprise Christmas gift for her, which of course I said yes.
This calico that we nicknamed "Callie" was one of the first neighborhood cats that would visit our yard on a regular basis.
We have nicknamed this neighborhood bruiser, "Major."
What the heck? Hey, that's not a cat! No cheating guys... this is just one of the neighborhood possums stopping by for a visit!
This cool cat lounging in our yard has been nicknamed "Tom Cat."
Eureka!! My patience has paid off... I have spotted one of those elusive geo-cats in my own yard! Oh, wait a minute, it's just Zee... one of my own cats that actually lets me hold them while they are outside without squirming to get away!
How about you, have any of you been geo-catting lately, or, like me, your whole life?
Please take a moment to vote for Zee & Zoey in the DogTime Pettie Awards – we are nominated for “Best Designed Blog” and “Best Blog Post” for our interview with Steve Dale on pedigree cat breeding. You can vote once a day up to July 31st, and winning blogs will get $1000 donated to the rescue or shelter of their choice! We have picked a local organization called Abandoned Pet Rescue where we got several of our dogs throughout the years.Click here to vote.
That is one reason I have so many cats is because I am always geocatting. I really don’t look for them though, they seem to find their way to my house and then just stay.. Guess they think the cuisine is good. Have a great week end.
There is no doubt that you are a geo-cat magnet, Marg, and we are so grateful for people like you in this world!
I just came from voting for you over at the Petties. WOW, that Major is one major mancat!
Thanks Brian, and yes, Major sure is one spectacular mancat!!!!
Love the photos, yes I can say I am a geo catter, I had not heard of geocaching though. Love the photos!!! esp the possum!!!
I love the possum picture too, Margaret!! I’m glad I’m not the only one who had not heard of geocaching! It really was a fun adventure!
A rather non-technical person asked me recently if I’d ever heard of this and I had not! But he’s found it fun with his iPhone.
Apparently, I’m a geo-catting hub–not only do cats magically appear here, but people generally stop here first to find out if I’ve seen their lost cat, or if a cat they’ve seen is mine; no matter how many times I tell them my cats don’t roam outdoors they still ask. But because I tend to travel the neighborhood on foot and on bicycle, I do have all the feline hot spots marked in the area and enjoy photographing them in their “geo-cat-che”.
Lovely photos, as always!
Bernadette – my son is completely addicted to the activity and knows all of the lingo that is absolutely foreign to me! Yes, I can well imagine that you are the “geo-cat-hub” and how fun is it that we are developing a new language for cats!! Glad you enjoyed the photos and great to have you pop by!!
Great article. I didn’t really get “into” cats until an older age. I always grew up with dogs. For some reason, my parents didn’t like cats, so we were never encouraged to be around them. However, when I got married, I wanted a pet and my “now ex” didn’t like dogs, so we got a cat. That was the beginning of my love of cats.
I really enjoy your posts! So, off to vote!
So happy you are enjoying the posts Sweet Purrfections and that you are now a true-blue “cat convert!” Thank you for the votes too – very much appreciated!!
Deb, loved this post and especially your family portrait! Geo-catting is in our blood. I’ve been a cat magnet from early childhood and don’t think twice about it anymore.Now off to vote for you!
Layla – you are a soul cat sister like me and it is no surprise you have been geo-catting since childhood! Thank you for the vote and I wish you all the best with your Pettie nomination as well!!
The Woman better no geo cat…
You tell her, Chey…
I’ve never heard of geo-caching before, sounds like so much fun to do with friends and family! And I love the idea of geo-catting. I think I’ve also participated without being aware of it. It doesn’t surprise me at all that all these kitties found you and your family. Love the family portrait btw : )
Wendy – the geocaching was a blast and I hope to do it again. I am certain you have been geo-catting without being aware of it!! 🙂
Do you have any other pix of Major? He looks SO much like the Scottish or European wildcat, Felis silvestris silvestris.
And I LOVE your family portrait! Wish I could get all the Christensens to do that!
Purrrrrs… wac
Wendy – I have one more picture of him and I will send it to you via email. He is one of our more elusive visitors and I am fascinated by his wild look. I would love to know more about him, if you could share! As far as the family portrait, I’ll let you in on a little secret… Bud light works wonders to loosen up the family. Mind you, not the minors, but it sure did help to get my brother to put on cat ears with such gusto!!
Geo caching is quite popular in our area of Dartmoor although I have never done it myself. Geocatting is more appealing to me. We have voted for your blog design every day and are off to vote again now.
Eric and Flynn – I was amazed at how many caches were in my neighborhood alone – all these years, I never knew people around me were hunting for these hidden objects! THANK YOU so much for the votes – that is so sweet of you and we really appreciate the support!!
Oh yeah, we’re geo-catters from way back. But now that the ferals are gone, we are visited by a rabbit, a possum and a groundhog. How cool is that!
I love it Rumpy – you take geo-catting to a whole new dimension!!
Never heard of geocaching before. How interesting! There is an acrivity called letterboxing which is similar but is restricted to Dartmoor in Devon.
I think you qualify as geo-catter extraordinaire Deb 🙂 Recently even I seem to have become a bit of one lol
Carolyn – much to the displeasure of Austin, yes, it does seem you are becoming quite the geo-catter!! You qualify as a geo-cat hub – they come to you, you are not finding them off premises!
Hi, I do geo-catting on trips too. While down in Miami, my friends and i spent the whole day sightseeing on the open air tour bus and then decided we wanted a drink at one of the hotels along the beach. We stopped at one, decided we would find another one and then I was the first one to slide across the picnic bench and there at my left side was an alley cat. She was being taken care of by the owner of the restaurant.
Kathy – I live near Miami and yes, there are several hotels that manage the alley cat population through successful TNR measures. I’m glad this kitty was well taken care of and I thank you for stopping by my blog and taking the time to comment!
We’ve definitely done some geocatting, and have friends who do extensive work with ferals — we’d say they — like you — are geocatters extraordinaire!
We just voted. 🙂
Geocatting…and here we just thought it was called “catting around” when Mommy left us to go volunteer at Wayside every week. *sigh* who knew?