Don't Kill Caterpillars Traditional Cache
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A cache by [DELETED_USER]
Hidden
:
4/2/2013
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(micro)
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Don’t Kill Caterpillars!
(Unless of course, you know what you are doing.)
The most widely recognized and stunning butterfly in the area is the Monarch butterfly. You know them, the large Orange guys that at times seem to be everywhere. They float by in perfect silence. Here is a monarch butterfly:
In the last decade their numbers have dwindled dramatically. Mostly for habitat destruction like deforestation, and climate change. Their caterpillars look like this:
Fat and slick, yellow and black. Their eggs look like this:
Usually clinging to the bottom of leaves. Monarchs offer no danger to trees and other foliage.
Another very common animal is the Eastern Tent caterpillar. It’s adult moth stage looks like this:
A nuisance to home owners as they tend to wreak havoc on closets and cling to ceilings all summer. Their caterpillar form looks like this:
Fuzzy with blue spots on it. These caterpillars are a huge problem in North America. They can swing into town and destroy trees quickly or even entire swaths of forest. Their egg nests look like this:
If you see this, your tree is most likely done for.
So, If you see a caterpillar that looks like this:
Let it be! Help it across the path! It will one day turn into a beautiful Monarch. If you see a caterpillar that looks like this:
Step on it! Kill them all! Cut their egg nests out of your trees and burn them!
I’ve struggled with the rating system at times. I understand that if something has a 5 rating, this means that it needs some sort of tool. My problem is, which rating should be a five? I’ve seen it both ways, but in my mind, if a special tool is needed for a finder to physically move their body to a given location, that would be a 5 terrain (ladder, boat, helicopter, grappling hook…). If a tool is needed that does not assist a person in moving their body to a given location, then that would be a 5 difficulty (wrench, 9v battery, giant tweezers, long pole…). With this criterion in mind, I set the difficulty and terrain ratings as they are to communicate the fact that you will need a tool to retrieve the cache, but you won’t necessarily need a tool to move your body into position. Now, that is not saying it will not be tough to get your body into position, it IS a 4 terrain after all, but you don’t need a TOTT to get into position. Or at least…I didn’t.
Also, if you are not certain that you can replace the cache exactly as you found it, please do not retrieve it. Come back another day better equipped.
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