Do any of these bison tubes look like a grenade to you?
One certainly did to members of the Washington State Patrol Bomb Squad responding to a “suspicious-looking” container last Sunday.
The aluminum geocache - which looked like “a military-style grenade” - was found in Woodland, in a forested area northeast of the city which straddles Clark and Cowlitz counties, according to a report in The Daily News.
It was attached to the back of a state Department of Natural Resources sign at the intersection of Davis Peak and Little Kalama River roads. Authorities later confirmed the item was “part of a prop hi-tech treasure hunt for hobbyists”.
Initially, it was not known which hide was involved nor what happened to the container as none of the 16, mostly premium-member traditionals, in the vicinity have been archived. However, after a little investigation, It’s Not About The Numbers can now reveal the cache at the centre of the latest American bomb scare.
GZ: The corner of Davis Peak and Little Kalama River roads.
GC2K4TV Wash Day Is A Busy Day is a challenge cache published with a mystery icon located at N 45° 57.912 W 122° 39.638 which requires finders to log six (or more) different cache types from Washington state in a single day.
Owner Amygems, who lives some distance from GZ, confirmed her container was “a large bison tube on the back of a sign”.
“I sure can’t see it looking like a bomb? Boy, people are just a little too scared these days. The paper inside it has geocaching stuff at the top of the log.”
The other hides in the area belong to Craig Forster (GC handle: 4STER5FORGEO) as part of his Big Blue Gate (GC2ENBC) and Saturday Drive (GC2EN8W) trails. His response was “oh well, it’s not mine”.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Charlie Rosenzweig said it was unclear who reported the device. He implored geocachers to mark their sites to avoid alarming law enforcement officers and the public. “There were no markings on this thing – and it clearly looked like a bomb.”
The area’s bomb squad was last called to a geocache site in 2010; that false alarm occurred north of Castle Rock.
8 comments
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Nighthawk700
October 13, 2012 at 1:32 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
Granted, grenades come in all shapes and sizes, but a bison tube? I do question putting it on the back of a sign though. A little too observable to the public.
Lib Mendonca
October 13, 2012 at 4:47 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
I realize their job is to be uber cautious, but a bison tube? Even a large one? In the middle of nowhere?
What high value target was in the area? Weekend campers?
Give me a break…..
Bluelamb03
Mr.Yuck
October 13, 2012 at 5:20 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
Lost in all of this: I’m going to qualify for a diffcult challenge cache, and my reward is finding a Bison tube on the back of a sign? Just kidding there, but yet serious at the same time. I don’t know here, like Knighthawk700, I’m not a big fan of putting our containers in plain site. I do, however, have to agree with the basic premise that a Bison tube should not appear to be a bomb to a trained observer. The newspaper article says it is “unclear” who reported the object.
Kristelle Reed James on Facebook
October 13, 2012 at 6:08 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
ಠ_ಠ WSP, I am disappoint.
Gerard Hyland on Facebook
October 13, 2012 at 8:34 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v250/GSVNoFixedAbode/GPS%20NZ%20Bits/double_facepalm-425×340.jpg
thebitchycacher
October 13, 2012 at 11:53 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
Looks like if we are to keep the entire game from getting muggled,
a hide is going to have be an Actual hide.
loved this line though,,,, “There were no markings on this thing – and it clearly looked like a bomb.”
Oh, yeah, really…, how many bombs have you seen that look like that?
if I had seen it, and not been a geocacher I probably would have assumed it was one of those waterproof id containers, .
maybe it is time that groundspeak spent some OUR hard earned dollars on educating the public, one look on geocaching.com could have saved the community thousands of dollars in wasted time and effort .
Gavin Treadgold on Facebook
October 13, 2012 at 5:56 pm (UTC 13) Link to this comment
I think they meant the larger bison tubes
DK Sillx
October 17, 2012 at 7:54 am (UTC 13) Link to this comment
good idea: make a geocache container looking like a bomb,whih only opens by pulling the pin! give it difficulty 5 for the mental…