The cache is located along the Petrified Forest Nature Trail in Black Mesa State Park. Be observant along the trail and you might encounter some wildlife. We certainly did while placing the cache. Here’s our story.
Bootswalker, Ramp & Frog, and I made a caching trip to the Oklahoma Panhandle over Memorial Day weekend and camped in Black Mesa State Park. Ramp and I went to hide this cache Saturday evening. The Petrified Forest Nature Trail is along a small rocky canyon and we approached from the rim of the canyon. As we were scrambling down from above, looking for a hiding place, I saw something bolt from behind a bush about 6 feet away. I was very startled and only got a glimpse of the rump of the animal as it went around a large rock. I couldn't tell what it was but the size and coloring led me to speculate it that it must have been a deer or antelope – what else could be that large. We were somewhat baffled though because we heard no sound and the animal just seemed to disappear.
Not to be deterred - we looked around for awhile and found a good hiding place. I dropped the ammo can in a crevice and covered it with a rock. It was dusk so we went back to camp.
The next morning Bootswalker and Frog wanted to find the cache so they could claim it. Ramp and I stood on the nature trail in the bottom of the canyon and watched as Bootswalker and Frog climbed up the rocks toward the cache hiding place. As Bootswalker stood on top of the rock where the cache was hidden Frog circled the rock from below – looking for the logical hiding place. She came to the same bush that I had approached the night before and looked under the rock behind the bush. Suddenly she shrieked and jumped back. At the same time a large cat that we later identified as a bobcat (Lynx rufus) came out from the other end of the rock. The bobcat stood about 15-20 feet below Bootswalker and Frog and looked back at them. I assume that the cat was trying to distract their attention.
Amazingly, Frog had discovered the bobcat’s den with three young cubs. Frog had not seen the big cat at first, only the cubs. When she spotted the big cat things really got exciting. Bootswalker snapped several photos and then the bobcat moved away and out of sight. Ramp and I rushed back to the car to get our cameras. This is where I got stupid. I climbed back up to retrieve the cache and get a photo of the cubs. The cache was hidden literally 3 feet from the cubs. As I pulled the cache container out of the crevice, I spotted the mother bobcat up on the rim above me. I couldn’t get down without going back by the den again. What do I do – run, hide, make threatening noises? No – I snapped some more photos before scrambling back down.
After we all caught our breath we ventured deeper into the canyon and rehid the cache some distance away. When we came back down the nature trail later we again spotted the female bobcat sitting under a large rock just outside the den.
This is was definitely my most memorable animal encounter while caching. I am sure that Bootswalker and Ramp & Frog will provide their own view of this encounter in their logs. We had lots to talk about on our drive back home. Be sure and check out the photos at this link.
(visit link) The container is a medium ammo can and is well hidden. This is a theme cache, loaded with Oklahoma related items. Please honor the theme with your exchanges.
Happy geocaching and DISCOVER OKLAHOMA!!!