Garry Oak Ecosystem - a CITO cache Traditional Cache
Amandazon: It's gone, my apologies. Time to free up this spot.
Garry Oak Ecosystem - a CITO cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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I wanted to submit a cache for the Blitz 09 that had an
environmental theme.
The cache is located in a very small Garry Oak Ecosystem in the
midst of housing.
After finding the cache, please take a piece of garbage away with
you.
The cache is filled with packages of native wildflowers: Shooting
Star Lilies, Chocolate Lilies, Fawn Lilies and Camas. One package
for each of the first four finders.
For trade items you could bring seeds from your garden.
***Racoon living in hole in tree near cache - cache is NOT in
Tree!!!!
The Garry Oak Tree is the only Native Oak to British Columbia. On
Vancouver Island only 1% of its original habitat remains. Garry
Oaks grow here because of our temperate climate aided by the rain
shadow provided by the Olympic and Vancouver Island mountains.
Garry Oaks used to thrive on Vancouver Island. Unfortunately the
bucolic nature of these meadows has been their downfall.
Most of this ecosystem has been lost to development, over grazing
and the arrival of aggessive new plants like Broom. Currently 100
species related to this ecosystem are on Canada's "at risk" list.
Garry Oak Ecosystems also shelter delicate camas flowers.
Camas flowers can not compete with dense vegetation and thrive in
Garry Oak Meadows, which used to extend from Sidney through
Sooke.
A Garry Oak Ecosystem comprises more than just oaks. You can also
find Arbutus trees, Douglas Firs, shaded woodlands, meadows,
wildflower, vernal pools, cliffs, bluffs and rocky outcrops. Garry
Oak Ecosystems also support a wide variety of other life including
100 species of birds, 7 types of amphibian, and 7 reptiles, 33
mammals, and an astonishing 800 species of insects.
Fawn Lily
Shooting star
But the whole idea of this cache is to make changes for the better
for the Garry Oak Ecosystem - so what can we do...
Check out the Garry Oak Ecosystems Recovery Team's website
http://www.goert.ca/
- they have ongoing restoration projects all over the South
Island.
If you have a garden turn it into a Garry Oak Meadow. (Our
neighbours did this with their front garden and now they don't have
to mow the lawn - by order of the City of Victoria!)
If turning your garden into a Garry Oak Meadow is not approriate
then plant only native plants - ask your local nursery which plants
are native ones and visit the Native Plant Sale - held every year
at Swan Lake Nature Sanctuary.
Remove invasive plants, especially Broom.
Download a copy of the Garry Oak Gardener's Handbook - its free
http://www.goert.ca/documents/GOERT_Gardeners_Handbook.pdf
For more information see
http://www.goert.ca/at_home_introduction.php
And please don't forget to practice CITO (cache in, trash out!)
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
ebpxf ba gbc
Treasures
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