The Traveling Elk/Reindeer

Elks and reindeer migrate between summer and winter pastures to be able to move around easier in thinner snow, and to escape the hot weather and mosquitos during the summer. This elk/reindeer wants to see the world, some specific places and get photos from you while at it.

This travel bug was dropped off at the Geocaching.com headquarters to begin its travels. The bug wants to go see at least the following places (photos, please) before returning home to the city of Tampere in southern central Finland.

Please take the bug to the following places and post a photo:

- In front of Microsoft building 92 in Redmond, WA, the US
- The Gateway arch in St. Louis, Missouri
- The Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- The Eiffel tower in Paris, France
- The Dome in Cologne, Germany
- Any other cool place on this globe

The key fob attached to the bug flips between two traffic signs that are very common in Finland: Alert for reindeer and alert for elks. There are several hundred collisions with reindeer in Northern Finland every year. Reindeer are smallish and comparatively light. They often come to lick the road salt during the spring months when the snow is melting. Elk, in turn, are very common in Southern Finland. They move about at dawn and dusk, and will cross the road fast and in a straight line. If your car happens to be on that straight line, the elk's skinny legs will snap against the bumper, landing its 500kg body on your windshield. Only modern cars offer survivability against the falling elk carcass. During the fall months, elks are hunted for their meat in a controlled way to keep their population in sustainable check and limit their damage to new-growth forests.