Slob in the park

[MrDigsit]

I've been finding open holes and poorly filled holes in the park I detect in. I wish I could catch the######. The parks people have been very nice to me and I'm almost afraid to go back lest they think I'm doing it. Would you approach the parks people and tell them that someone else is making a mess?

 

[Shortstack]

I would definitely go to the parks people and tell them that I was not the vandal doing that stuff and that I would be watching for him to get his act either straightened out or ejected. You've got to cover yourself and other hobbyist who are playing by the rules. Don't let a rouge or ignor-ant newbie get the rest of you denied detecting privileges to your parks.

 

[rginn]

Well, there's a couple of ways to handle this. You may go to the powers that be and point the damage out, and they may very well thank you, and then ban detecting completely based on your info. Or you could take it upon yourself to cover their damage, so you wouldn't get blamed for it. Myself, I would stake the area out, catch the offenders, and take care of the problem. Education or otherwise, whatever it took.

 

[Sandman]

Of course you should report the slob. I aproached one sloppy detectorist to suggest he cover his holes and not leave the plug on top of the ground. I was told to mind my own business so I called the sheriff deputy on my radio and he was arrested on the spot. In court he was fined and made to pay for reseeding the land he had messed up. Many pictures of his damage was shown to the judge.

We have to clean up our act.

 

[MrDigsit]

Well, there's a couple of ways to handle this. You may go to the powers that be and point the damage out, and they may very well thank you, and then ban detecting completely based on your info. Or you could take it upon yourself to cover their damage, so you wouldn't get blamed for it. Myself, I would stake the area out, catch the offenders, and take care of the problem. Education or otherwise, whatever it took.

Unfortunately the plugs ( I use the term loosely) he dug were all dried out. I will try to catch him and enlighten him for whatever good it will do. It could go either way.

 

[MrDigsit]

Of course you should report the slob. I aproached one sloppy detectorist to suggest he cover his holes and not leave the plug on top of the ground. I was told to mind my own business so I called the sheriff deputy on my radio and he was arrested on the spot. In court he was fined and made to pay for reseeding the land he had messed up. Many pictures of his damage was shown to the judge.

We have to clean up our act.

Maybe I should carry my camera and take pictures as I come upon them.

 

[MrDigsit]

I would definitely go to the parks people and tell them that I was not the vandal doing that stuff and that I would be watching for him to get his act either straightened out or ejected. You've got to cover yourself and other hobbyist who are playing by the rules. Don't let a rouge or ignor-ant newbie get the rest of you denied detecting privileges to your parks.

I'll try to catch him in the park and talk to him after I'm sure I have the right person. If it doesn't work out I'll talk to the parks people.

 

[Cappy Z.]

You can now buy very cheap cameras. I suggest planting about twenty in the trees and the bushes. Then sit in your car with your radio on weekends. Make sure you contact a local reporter to do a big story on your public service.

8)

 

[bravowhiskey]

I hope the reprobate is apprehended and read his or her rights. A pox on them for blacking all of our respective eyes.

A word of caution, however...where I have dug at times and carefully refilled and packed my own diggings only to return the next day and find most all redug and dirt scattered was quite perplexing.
Upon close inspection have seen tracks of the culprit. Are you ready for this
Rocky Raccoon was the badguy. Actually, the fresh dug dirt caused him to think some kind of coon groceries may be revealed upon redigging the hole. A natural instinct triggered by freshly dug dirt. (mouse, gopher or vole/mole hole)
This has happened on more than one or two occassions.
So don't be too quick to blame the obvious. You never know. Buy a trail cam, then get after the proven ne'er-do-well.

good luck,
BW

 

[BIG61AL]

I've seen on the web how you can mount a disposable camera with a simple bracket, stiff wire some rubber bands and fishing line to make a critter cam. It was on a bigfoot web site but I can't remember which one. Basically it was a small aluminum bracket the form a "c" shaped holder for the camera leaving the lens, flash and button clear. That easy enough to make from some thin sheet aluminum. A stiff piece of steel wire bent to point to the shutter button secured and rubber bands on the wire to provide enough force to trigger the photo. A line strung across the area in question which is connected to the stiff wire trigger. That the only part I can't remember how it was done. A few trial and errors should get it done pretty quick. The flash charge should last almost a month. The biggest drawback is paying for developing and being able to take only one photo at a time but it can be done with out leaving an expensive digital camera for some one to steal.

 

[mlayers]

Make sure it is another detectorist before going to the park office. As bravowhiskey said I also have had a raccoon undo my holes. After you been there and done your detecting go back the next day and see if your holes hav been uncover. If they are then you know it is something else doing it instead of another detectorist. So Please check before you start accusing someone else....Matt

 

[ohiochris]

Many times the holes do get filled in properly but wildlife comes along smelling a fresh dig and they try to redig the hole. I have seen this done a lot , even to my own holes.....go back a day or two later and it looks like I never bothered to fill the holes and replace the plug....but I ALWAYS leave an area as I found it. Be sure its not squirrels or dogs ( they are the biggest culprits ) before blaming a detectorist. And contrary to some advice already given,...dont go report it even if it is a persons fault,...all that will do is draw their attention to the problem and you will probably find yourself and everyone else banned from detecting there....they dont care WHO did it , they just make a rule and think it will never happen again.

 

[lostcauses]

Cant blame the animal, they are just being what they are. The metal detectorist dug it in the first place. If the ground had not have been disturbed, the animal would most likely have left it alone.

It does show the reason one needs to go back and check.

Many times the holes do get filled in properly but wildlife comes along smelling a fresh dig and they try to redig the hole. I have seen this done a lot , even to my own holes.....go back a day or two later and it looks like I never bothered to fill the holes and replace the plug....but I ALWAYS leave an area as I found it. Be sure its not squirrels or dogs ( they are the biggest culprits ) before blaming a detectorist. And contrary to some advice already given,...dont go report it even if it is a persons fault,...all that will do is draw their attention to the problem and you will probably find yourself and everyone else banned from detecting there....they dont care WHO did it , they just make a rule and think it will never happen again.

 

[Seamuss]

There is another thread that says our "Rights are at risk". Our rights are the right to enjoy the parks and leave them the way we found them as clean as possible.

Now for the slob that is giving us a bad name so that we get shut out of another park. Ever hear the phrase "There is one in every crowd."
Well, this is the one that we are talking about when we talk about rights. The type of person that thinks rules are for everyone else. The type of person that thinks he can get away with being a slob because it is his right to do so. The type of person that will get another place shut down for you and me because it is his right to do so. And so on.

I can't dictate morality for that slob anymore then I can talk about our right to detect after the fact that he got us shut down.

I person wrote the idea of detecting becoming licensed like fishing or driving or what ever. That way a slob would pay for being a slob if he gets caught doing so and we can keep detecting after the fact. I don't like the idea of being licensed, but that is the way it looks like what will happen in the future the way things are going.

 

[BuckleBoy]

Of course you should report the slob. I aproached one sloppy detectorist to suggest he cover his holes and not leave the plug on top of the ground. I was told to mind my own business so I called the sheriff deputy on my radio and he was arrested on the spot. In court he was fined and made to pay for reseeding the land he had messed up. Many pictures of his damage was shown to the judge.

We have to clean up our act.

Maybe I should carry my camera and take pictures as I come upon them.

Perhaps you should take some photos of him and post his picture on the detecting forums.

 

[ohiochris]

Cant blame the animal, they are just being what they are. The metal detectorist dug it in the first place. If the ground had not have been disturbed, the animal would most likely have left it alone.

It does show the reason one needs to go back and check.

Ok, now you are not making any sense at all. If an animal redug the hole then there is no fault ,...animals even redig some of your holes, ya gonna go back and check them all ? If an animal has redug the hole then you cant blame the detectorist who dug it in the first place and then filled it in. It happens very often , more often than people realize and you should be sure animals havent dont it before blaming another detectorist...thats all Im sayin.

Many times the holes do get filled in properly but wildlife comes along smelling a fresh dig and they try to redig the hole. I have seen this done a lot , even to my own holes.....go back a day or two later and it looks like I never bothered to fill the holes and replace the plug....but I ALWAYS leave an area as I found it. Be sure its not squirrels or dogs ( they are the biggest culprits ) before blaming a detectorist. And contrary to some advice already given,...dont go report it even if it is a persons fault,...all that will do is draw their attention to the problem and you will probably find yourself and everyone else banned from detecting there....they dont care WHO did it , they just make a rule and think it will never happen again.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

Alls I can add is this (what others said too): If you walk in to your park's dept. (where presumably detecting is not dis-allowed) and show them photographs of some moron's poor recovery techniques, here's what's gonna happen:

They'll say "gee you're absolutely right. By golly lookit them photo's! Tsk Tsk Tsk. We'll outlaw all md'ing to solve this problem. Thankyou for coming in to report this"

While it is terrible that this has happened, I also believe that we, as md'rs, are more prone to see this after-effect, than the average Joe-Blow. Afterall, we're md'rs have our eyes are trained for such anomolies. But to the average non-md'r, they probably don't even see such scars, unless specifically pointed out to them, while standing right over them. I've noticed this phenomenom with my wife, who could care less about md'ing: I'll point out some beach erosion indicator, or some old-town vacant lot that was OBVIOUSLY just scraped, etc... and it was like nothing even registered before you pointed her head to it.

 

[watercolor]

Many times the holes do get filled in properly but wildlife comes along smelling a fresh dig and they try to redig the hole. I have seen this done a lot , even to my own holes.....go back a day or two later and it looks like I never bothered to fill the holes and replace the plug....but I ALWAYS leave an area as I found it. Be sure its not squirrels or dogs ( they are the biggest culprits ) before blaming a detectorist. And contrary to some advice already given,...dont go report it even if it is a persons fault,...all that will do is draw their attention to the problem and you will probably find yourself and everyone else banned from detecting there....they dont care WHO did it , they just make a rule and think it will never happen again.

Chris is correct. . . I've run into "open plugs" several times at thought it was careless MD'ers.
I later discovered the real culprits were four-legged critters that were NOT looking for silver.

It doesn't hurt to carry a container of Cayenne pepper to sprinkle over your replaced plugs;
That'll usually do the trick unless they're avid watchers of the cooking network.

One last thought (but I'm sure you already know this). . . is when it's been hot & dry for a while, it's best to hunt unmanicured
areas because dry plugs in mowed lawn areas are much more sensitive to damage and can be EASILY over-turned.

 

[ohiochris]

Never report jerk detectorists not filling their holes,....instead, go behind them and fill them in yourself. Dont let the bad apples ruin it for the rest of us.

 

[Monty]

There was some mo ron working the beaches at a local lake and he was using a shovel to dig up the sand. He leaves a hole about a foot deep and a foot across. Try as may I haven't been able to catch him. Of course it could be a her but I doubt it. Anyway, I took the park gate attendant over and showed him the holes and talked to him quite a little while about how we like to police our own when we see it. I showed him a copy of the MDers Code of Ethics. I borrowed a shovel and filled most of them myself until I gave out! Now I have the run of the place and the attendants are always interested in what I find. Last time I was there the gate man said that the vandal hadn't been back, but I saw his handiwork on another beach across the lake. I tried to fill the holes but all I had was a small trowel. I'd give anything to have a "discussion" with him. Monty