I wish people were a little smarter about what they place in a cache

This is a picture of what I pulled out of the cache called Curt's Bill Gates Booty #2. As you can see, two very old cupcakes and a tube of toothpaste was part of the bounty found today. Since this was the first of four caches we found over a two mile hike, yours truly got to carry them over the course of the day. Contrary to popular belief, these commercial baked goods do not have a shelf life that can be measured by carbon dating.

I don't know if this was just a inexperienced cacher attempting to provide survival items to someone who found it, or a practical joke to those who found it after these items were placed. Leaving food or other smellables can be a hazard to those who are trying to enjoy the sport of geocaching.

I spend much of my time explaining what smellables are to the Scouts and how damaging they can be to Troop equipment if left in tents or containers. Smellables are items that animals, with their acute sense of smell, will go after if they think it is food. Items like batteries and camera film are considered smellables. Animals will tear in to the container, destroying the container and its contents. Destroying the hard work of the person who hides the container, and destroying the enjoyment of the cacher who finds the prize.

I hope all who geocache place a bit of thought into what they place in a cache. If you leave something, you should ask yourself, "Would I want to trade for this item?"