This story first appeared in our April 2015 Newsletter
GC58HAC OWL NEST was recently the subject of much confusion when some locals spotted the weird contraption hiding in a tree.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: Thu, 8 Jan 2015
Somebody put this in a tree here in Tweni and was seen doing it, I went there and can't work out what it is for and don't want to remove in case it is an experiment or some research project.
The piece of fishing line is not a noose and is fixed both sides, the tape measure is inside the tube.
Regards
Alex
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: 08 January 2015 07:56 PM
No idea Alex unless the tape measure is a noose on the inside of the tube, trap tree hyrax or genet?
Interested to see if others know other ideas.
All the best
Geoff
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: 09 January 2015 07:45 AM
Hi Alex ,
Best guess is that it is a housing box of sorts , possibly tree dassie.
If you can find out who placed it there it would be worth while asking what its for.
Sorry I cant be of more help.
Kind regards
Piet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: 09 January 2015 10:02 AM
Hi Alex
I've never seen anything like this.
My thoughts are that it looks specifically designed for a purpose - and seems too complex to be a trap used simply for catching bushmeat. If its a trap its designed to trap something in particular - either because the target is a high value muthi or a research subject.
Projects that catch indigenous wild animals should be registered with Ezemvelo so perhaps contact them to ask. And otherwise leave a note on or near it to get them to contact you. I'm sure if its legit then they would benefit greatly from Umtenwini Conservancy's awareness and support.
Cheers
Shane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: 12 January 2015 11:52 AM
Hi Alex,
This is such a weird contraption! It does look like it is to measure something (tape measure suggests that). Perhaps leave a note in a plastic bag asking the person to contact the conservancy about it?
We used to use tubes to collect hair samples (for DNA testing) of rodents in trees and canopy walkways, but I am not sure where the tape measure comes in?
I would be interested in finding out what it is as well.
Regards,
Yvette
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Date: 2015-01-19 20:39
Hi Alex
This is one of my Geocaches called Owls Nest.
Geocaches is an International game hiding and seeking Caches using GPS Co-ordinates.
I am known as the Camo King on the South Coast of Geocaching. This specific cache has a tape measure and it's purpose is merely to allow the cacher to retrieve and replace the container with the log sheet. The tape measure is visible as ants have invaded the container and therefore unable the tape measure to retract. Nothing sinical just a way of making the find more interesting and preventing non cachers to find and destroy the hiding place. Please feel free to google www.geocaching.com to learn more about this. Currently there are more than 2,5 mil geocachers world wide playing the game. Caches are hidden daily and therefore the number varies day by day. The day i was spotted i was checking on the cache,because caches informed me the cache was faulty,:not retracting :So in geo caching terms I was MUGGLED, see by a none geocacher. ME bad.
PS: I apologize for any inconvenience caused.
Regards
Howard
Article submitted by waco&winnie
