Note: Even though this event occurred before this blog had come into existence, it is still a memorable caching experience for two of the Stoogeteers and we hope that what we learned can save you from some similar pain on future caching excursions.
It was the evening of August 2 and Horace and I were just getting started on a cache-run in the Goodlettsville area that gave us nine new smileys. With one find already under our belts, we headed for Shawshank Redemption by emkat (GCYNWF). Rated a 1/1.5 we didn’t think this one would be too taxing. We were seriously misguided in this thought.
We pulled up next to the field where the cache was located, got out of the car, and began walking towards the cache site (Spoiler Alert: under a tree). As we walked, we entered into the midst of some taller plants that we paid no attention to, thinking them to be your usual harmless flora. This was another incorrect assumption. Literally ten seconds after first coming into contact with the plants, our shins and ankles were on fire. Not actually in flame, no, but burning with pain. Even worse, we had no idea what was the source of this misery. So, we trekked on, found the cache, signed the log book, and headed back to the car, choosing an alternate route this time.
Though the cache was completed, the pain had yet to run its course. We immediately eliminated some of the usual plant fiends: poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac. We saw nothing resembling these little buggers and knew that the reaction was much to instantaneous to be the work of any of them. Luckily, Horace called upon his Boy Scout background and made the wise suggestion that soap and water could help. So, it was off to Walgreens for us.
After thoroughly washing and rinsing our now red ankles, the pain had mercifully subsided. Hooray! Now unhindered by the wrath of the then unidentified ferocious plant-life, we continued caching and had a great time in an area that we will most certainly return to for future hunts.
Later that night at my house, we began to investigate just what had caused us so much discomfort earlier. We searched for poisonous plants found in Tennessee, but nothing seemed to match what we encountered. We searched by symptoms, yet again to no avail. Then, while browsing the authoritative source that is Wikipedia, we found the culprit: the stinging nettle (Urtica dioica).
DANGER DANGER DANGER DANGER
Trichomes
Turns out that, according to Wikipedia, the stinging nettle has “stinging hairs (trichomes), whose tips come off when touched, transforming the hair into a needle that will inject a cocktail of irritants: acetylcholine, histamine, 5-HT and possibly formic acid.” What great wording: “a cocktail of irritants.” That makes it almost seem like a good thing. However, I assure you, it is not. To make this clear, we did a little editing of the entry to reflect our own opinions (which are facts) on the matter. The part that we thought needed a little extra something was the sentence that included some of the colloquial names for this plant, names like “burn nettle, burn weed, and burn hazel.” This was, in our eyes, a list that was lacking two much more descriptive and appropriate names. So, we added to the entry the new colloquial names “plant of pain” and “satan weed.” Sadly, the entry was edited again shortly after our additions and now the world will never have the whole story behind the stinging nettle. The word travesty comes to mind.
So, there you have it. One eventful, production, and painful day of caching that left us with a new distaste for the scheming plants that lurk out in the wild, biding their time, waiting to attack innocent caching enthusiasts. A final word of advice for any cachers out there who plan on looking for this one: WEAR PANTS (I guess that was actually two final words of advice). I’ve also posted a note on the cache’s page to alert prospective victims of this plant’s wrath. Hopefully, you can avoid what we were unaware of.
Halpert
Our additions are at the end of the paragraph.
