FTF goes to 247GeoSlayer. Honorable mention goes to 3 Amigos who would have FTF if not for my mistake.
I filled a container with pine cones for this game, but we are competing with the local wildlife. My game is their food source. The balls were all gone before I got the cache activated. You may have to hunt for your own balls, (pine cones).
According to ConsumersEnergy.com, “Our land stewardship efforts date back early into the 20th century when Consumers Power hired teams of tree planters to help reforest the watersheds that powered the hydroelectric dams of the fledgling power company. The first Consumers forest plantation was established in 1924; more than 2 million trees were planted in the reforestation effort. The Company hired professional foresters to manage its forest lands, and they continue to manage Company forest lands to this day.” I do not work for Consumers Energy. This cache is not affiliated with the Consumers Energy Company. I just think this information is interesting. I hope you do too.
Red pine (Pinus resinosa), also called Norway pine, is one of the most extensively planted species in the northern United States and Canada. Trees, 38in thick and 141ft tall, in Michigan are among the largest living specimens. Red pine has been grown primarily for the production of wood for lumber, piling, poles, cabin logs, railway ties, posts, mine timbers, box boards, pulpwood, and fuel. It has been one of the most extensively planted species in the northern United States. Even when wood production is the main goal, red pine forests often are managed throughout their rotation for other uses such as RECREATION. (Rudolf, Paul 0. 1965. Red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.). In Silvics of forest trees of the United States. p. 432-446. H. A. Fowells, comp. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Handbook 271. Washington, DC. · Rudolf, Paul 0. 1967. Silviculture for recreation area management. Journal of Forestry 65:385-39)
PINE CONES
According to DiscoverWildlife.com,
- Both red and grey squirrels eat pine cones and leave characteristic ‘cores’ and piles of stripped scales under conifer trees.
- Birds, such as crossbills and woodpeckers, also strip pinecones, but while the scales of cones eaten by squirrels have clean-cut edges, those made by birds are ragged where they have been pulled out.
- Woodpeckers also often jam pine cones into crevices in rough bark to make them easier to handle. They have favorite trees for this technique and piles of worked cones accumulate beneath these 'workshops'.
http://www.discoverwildlife.com/british-wildlife/how-identify-wildlife-feeding-signs
This forest was recently logged, (October 2015), so there are tree tops laying around everywhere making it hard to walk a straight line. The lumber company left one nice trail, the rest are just their own paths made while collecting lumber. The cache is on one of those trails. Please watch your step.
Don’t forget to record the clue for the Consumers Energy: Mystery Cache.