TFGT: Tangled Flight Traditional Geocache
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Example of a bird using trash to build its nest. Photo by Phil Holden
Anyone can claim this cache, but to be eligible for the Taking Flight Tracking Tag, you will need to make a positive impact on the environment. After you find the cache, spend a little time helping wildlife by collecting stray trash. Participating in a “cache in, trash out” (CITO) is a favorite event of geocachers and one of the many ways cachers help care for the lands they visit while looking for caches. Please come prepared with a plastic grocery bag to collect trash and lend a hand to clean up. What was the strangest piece of trash that you found during your “cache in” and “trash out?” Record your trash treasure in the Passport, and be sure to dispose of it properly!
How often have you been walking along the beach, boating, kayaking, or just walking in your neighborhood and seen a piece of trash? Do you stop and pick it up, or do you walk by and ignore it? One small piece of trash may not seem like a problem, but where there’s one piece there are often many more. Litter can be very harmful to wildlife and especially birds; depending upon the type of trash it can cause various levels of harm. Toxic types of litter, like lead casings and rotten food, can poison birds when ingested. Small pieces of plastic litter, especially those that are brightly colored, are often mistaken for food by birds. But when ingested, these pieces of plastic will not break down and will cause blockages that eventually cause the bird to starve. When plastics and other materials are used in a birds’ nest, the nestlings can be in danger as they may eat the trash or become entangled in it. Sharp pieces of trash can cut and injure birds, and oil, which can gum up a bird’s feathers, may prevent it from flying.
Some of the worst trash in the County’s waterways is monofilament fishing line. When left in the environment, monofilament line does not readily decompose – it can take up to 600 years for it to break down. That’s a long time for the strong, nearly invisible material to exist, and provides lots of opportunity for wildlife to encounter it. When they do, it’s often with disastrous ends. Each year hundreds of fish, birds, and even land animals are harmed due to entanglement. When the wildlife become entangled in or ingest the line it can result in them losing flippers, tails, and wings, or drowning, starvation, and death. Humans too can be negatively impacted by monofilament line. Boat propellers can become entangled in discarded line causing costly repairs for boat owners. (information courtesy Stow It Don’t Throw It Project).
Volunteers from the Manatee County Boys and Girls Club help make Stow It Don't Throw It Monofilament Recylcing Containers at a Manatee County Natural Resources Department volunteer workday
Manatee County’s Natural Resources Department has partnered with the Stow It, Don’t Throw It Project to provide free monofilament fishing line recycling containers in Manatee County. These portable containers are a great place to stash unwanted or tangled line while fishing rather than dumping it into the water. They can be easily attached to a boat, kayak, or canoe to collect line while exploring Florida’s waterways. If you would like one of the monofilament fishing line containers, you can pick one up for free when you turn in your Passport or get one from local bait shops in Manatee County.
Anyone can claim this cache, but to be eligible for the Taking Flight Tracking Tag, you will need to make a positive impact on the environment. After you find the cache, spend a little time helping wildlife by collecting stray trash. Participating in a “cache in, trash out” (CITO) is a favorite event of geocachers and one of the many ways cachers help care for the lands they visit while looking for caches. Please come prepared with a plastic grocery bag to collect trash and lend a hand to clean up. What was the strangest piece of trash that you found during your “cache in” and “trash out?” Record your trash treasure in the Passport, and be sure to dispose of it properly!
Visit the sites along the Taking Flight GeoTour (TFGT) and learn about Manatee County’s wild spaces and the amazing feathered friends that live in them. Along the way, you will be challenged to become a citizen scientist, a preserve ranger, a detective, a historian, and of course an excellent geocacher in order to find all of the caches in the trail. Caches are located in birding “hot spots” throughout Manatee County’s publicly accessible conservation preserves. Each one highlights a specific bird species or aspect of bird life providing you with opportunities to learn more about these creatures and what we can do to help them survive. Caches also focus on protecting the region's waterways, bays, and natural watersheds, and habitat areas for many of our area’s feathered fliers.
The Taking Flight GeoTour includes 20 caches within Manatee County. A custom Taking Flight Geo Tour trackable geo tag will be awarded for locating at least 12 TFGT caches. To be eligible for the tag, geocachers must download a passport from the TFGT Website or pick one up at the Manatee County Natural Parks & Natural Resources Department office at GT Bray Park 5502 33 rd Ave. Dr. W., Bradenton, FL., Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Geocachers must log at least 12 finds, answer the question from each cache on their passport, and complete any additional requirements for specific caches (such as posting photos for earth caches). After finding a minimum of 12 caches, participants can have their passports validated in person or via mail at the Manatee County Natural Parks & Natural Resources Department office at GT Bray Park 5502 33 rd Ave. Dr. W., Bradenton, FL 34209, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. News and updates on tag availability and validation hours can be found online at the Parks & Natural Resources Department's website.
Thank you for assisting with the Taking Flight GeoTour:
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