El Rescate del Pelícano Traditional Geocache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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Cammo'd military first aid kit box in Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park.
UPDATE 12/7/07 - AS PER THE PARK MANAGEMENT, PLEASE ONLY PARK IN VALID PARKING SPOTS WHEN HUNTING FOR THIS CACHE. YOU MAY BE QUESTIONED OR ISSUED A TICKET FOR PARKING IN INAPPROPRIATE PLACES.
This cache is named for a pelican we helped rescue on the day we placed our Cape Florida caches. The biggest risk to pelicans in Florida is fishing tackle. They sometimes dive on baited hooks and swallow the fishing tackle whole. Others become entangled in monofilament line, which can result in infection or injury to the body and major organs. These fishing tackle injuries are fairly common in densely populated areas like Miami where seabirds are in close physical competition with anglers.
While geocaching around No Name Harbor that day, we encountered one such unfortunate pelican that had tried to swallow a baited hook and got the line wrapped around its wing and beak with the bait fish dangling from its side. Poor bird! Poor us, too - we had to stop geocaching for a while! (hehehe). The pelican was clearly in distress, but was in the water and impossible for us to catch as it was still pretty mobile. We needed some outside assistance from the experts, so we called Pelican Harbor Seabird Station (PHSS), a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of sick, injured and orphaned wild birds in and around Miami's Biscayne Bay.
PHSS immediately responded and were at the scene in about 30 minutes! Armed with a long net and a bucket of herring, Brian Fox of PHSS lured the pelican in close enough to shore and was able to quickly nab him in the net. By that time, the pelican had already managed to swallow the hook and bait, so had to be taken in to their facility to have surgery to remove the deadly swallowed fishing tackle. We were super impressed with their rapid response, their professionalism, and their dedication to helping wildlife. Way to go Brian and PHSS! We hope the pelican can be helped and soon released!
A wonderful bird is the pelican.
His bill will hold more than his belican.
He can take in his beak,
Food enough for a week,
But I'm damned if I can see how the helican.
-Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910
Original cache contents include:
ExoticDVM's Brass USA Geocoin #3
Geocaching patch
2 fossilized shark teeth
Small 2007 calendar
Outside magazine climbing clip with compass/stopwatch
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
Juvgr Cryvpna'f jvatfcna