This Cache is placed as part of the New York State Park Saratoga/Capital District Regional Geocache Challenge. There are 60 geocaches hidden within 18 state parks and historic sites in this parks region, and geocachers finding 40 or more will be eligible to enter their names in a drawing for valuable prizes. The first 75 people to find 40 or more caches will receive a special geocache challenge coin. If you are interested in trying the challenge, you can pick up a geocache passport at any of the participating parks and sites or download it at www.nysparks.com
This cache contains a unique stamp which must stay with the cache. Use this stamp to mark your passport. This stamp is NOT a trade item. Some of the items in the cache are park souvenirs and do not need to be replaced with a trade item.
Walking on the Wild Side of Grafton Lakes
Looking is not the same as seeing. Hearing is not the same as listening. Signs of wildlife are everywhere to those who observe their surroundings carefully. Each geocache gives all perceptive explorers the opportunity to discover some clues about the lives of wild animals. Wait, still and silent, longer than it takes for the chickadees to stop singing your coordinates, and you might even be rewarded with a visit by one of the park’s many wild residents. To find this cache, park at the Fishing Access trailhead on Shaver Pond Road and walk down to Shaver Pond trail. Follow your GPS from there!
Mingle with the Minks
You’re near a former mink den along the bank! The world is a delicious playground to minks, who spend their days and nights bounding in and out of water, sliding down slopes, swimming, and even climbing trees. All this activity requires hefty amounts of food, and although they are small, cute and fuzzy, these mobile mustelids are ferocious carnivores. They dine on a vast variety of cuisines, including mammals, fish, crayfish, amphibians, birds, and reptiles. Look for middens (fish bones, oyster shells, and other food waste) along the shore and even several meters upland