I might have to disagree on a couple of these points:
belken wrote:
For example I believe that if when rummaging for a cache and you get caught and your first reaction is to blurt to a muggle that you are geocaching then you are probably not a geocacher. If you are afraid of getting caught and want the cache owner to get explicit permission so you feel safe then you are probably not a geocacher. If your first reaction to you not finding a cache is that it must be missing you are probably not a geocacher. If you think that a DNF log is a blight on your statistics then you are probably not a geocacher. If you think Groundspeak is really the "Official" cache site you are probably not a geocacher. If you think some container holding a wet soggy piece of paper is a "gift" to the finders you're probably not a geocacher.
If I'm caught rummaging
sometimes my first reaction is to blurt out that I'm geocaching because in that particular circumstance I believe its the best answer. The most obvious example is if the muggle is a cop. But in other circumstances I've had no other plausible excuse and I think honesty is the best policy. Especially if I've figured that the muggle is likely to be accepting or interested in the concept.
I also think that Groundspeak is really the "Official" cache site and I make no apologies for that. By "official" I don't mean "responsible for inventing geocaching" or "the only site worth paying attention to". But the way I play the game, the groundspeak site is my
main point of reference purely because it provides me with the most comprehensive and extensive one stop shop site for caches, wherever I am in the world. I could argue semantics and say that GCA is the "official" site for me in terms of forum communities, alternative cache types (locationless etc) but I don't think you can accuse someone of "probably not a geocacher" if they only use (or are even only aware) of groundspeak.
Now, off my high horse and on to an anecdote of "muggles who cache"
I got a message from my Aunt yesterday telling me she'd "accidentally" found two geocaches while on a bicycle tour through the mid north of SA. She has a basic concept of geocaching from talking to me and recognised a cache that she initially though was a piece of rubbish under a rock, but on closer inspection recognised it for what it was. Later on she was on a peak in an interesting area and thought that surely someone would place a cache here, had a quick look, and seconds later found another cache. So sometimes muggles can be pretty adept at geocaching! My aunt has already developed a geosense and she's never even logged onto any caching website or used a GPS in any way!
(She said she found the experience of finding the caches pretty thrilling so I may have a potential convert
)