'If you don't need the attribute just choose N/R (not related) from the list of options. For example, although trolls are not normally found at caches that are not under bridges, you do not need to select the "no trolls" option for such a cache.' - How to use Attributes
We've all experienced it. That moment of exquisite terror when, having searched for a cache on and around a bridge for a while, you decide to look at the hint and read the three words that a geocacher never, ever wants to read - BEWARE OF TROLLS!
Why? Why do you do it, geocachers? If a cache was placed right next to a hundred foot drop you would warn of this in the cache description. You would choose a suitable warning attribute. The cache difficulty would reflect the danger. But trolls? Yes, they're dangerous, but I'm not going to tell cachers of their presence except in a hint which the cacher may or may not choose to read! Irresponsible, that's what it is!
I know that troll sightings are rare, and troll attacks even rarer, but when they do attack... well, we all know the consequences. I have only once met a troll when out geocaching and it was a very scary experience. I managed to get away by telling him that my much fatter brother would be along in a few minutes, but that only worked because I'm as thin as a rake. I'm sure that other, bigger cachers have not always been so lucky. Whenever a local cacher stops caching abruptly, I always wonder.
Fellow geocachers, please let me decide if I want to take the risk by giving me fair warning! (The Troll attribute is also useful to reassure cachers that there are no trolls at a cache placed under a bridge - the sight of a crossed out troll symbol always makes my heart sing.)
So much for trolls. We all know that they exist and (if we have any sense) we are wary of them. Gnomes, however, are a different matter. I have even spoken to geocachers who deny their existence!
Well, not any more. Not since our own beloved Jersey Evening Post, with very little fuss, became the first newspaper in the world to include a 'Gnome Announcements' section in its personal columns.
The very first announcement is reproduced below. I hope it proves to doubters, once and for all, that these hard-working little chaps (who, let us not forget, almost single-handedly run the garden pond fishing industry) really do exist. Perhaps some of you can even work out where gnomes can be found and pay then a friendly visit.
Gnome Family Announcements
Gnorth - Gwest. The engagement is announced of Pales, the daughter of Victoria* and Ida Gnorth, gnomes of St Mary to Pallas, the son of Pallas and Messalina Gwest, gnomes of St Ouen.
Feel free to use this handy gnome address co-ordinate checker.
Free parking can be found at N - 0.121', W - 0.101', where N and W are the co-ordinates of the cache.
There is a FTF prize of a small geocoin.
* One aspect of gnome nomenclature (or gnomenclature, its preferred gnomic spelling) that many of the non-gnome community find unusual is the unisex nature of gnome names. Most names are used indiscriminately for both male and female gnomes. For example, the name Victoria, which is, in human nomenclature, used almost exclusively as a female name, is one of the more common names for male gnomes. In this case, the frequent use of the name among gnomes stems from the popularity of the railway station, rather than the queen. FromSome Aspects of Gnomenclature by Professor Anacostia Stroyd, GnD, University of Gnucastle. The Journal of the Royal Gnomic Society, Gnovember 2013.
Just in case you were wondering.
*** Congratulations to Andrews148 for the FTF ***