My husband and I have the rare pleasure of having a couple of caches in our front yard. Watching several cachers wander the corner looking for them has given us the opportunity to research a guide on how to not look like you are caching.

An easy trick is to hold your GPSr to your ear...To the unsuspecting observer, you look like you are making a call Most cachers look like tourists in a foreign land. They look around more than the locals, consulting various guides and equipment several times a minute. If you don't want to look like a cacher, don't look like a tourist.

When you leave the car, take as little with you as necessary. Read all of the description and clues before you venture from your car. Put in your pocket any necessary trade items. If you find the cache and feel that it cries out for an item that is not in your possession, you can always come back later.

Also, be pretty sure of where you are looking before you leave your vehicle. That way, you aren't glued to your GPSr. Many of them now look like a cell phone. An easy trick is to hold your GPSr to your ear and walk to where you think the cache may be. Then, pull it away to check and move on, asking, "Can you hear me?" To the unsuspecting observer, you look like you are making a call and then checking your signal strength.

Now for the tricky part: the search. No matter how confident you look, it is hard to pull off digging around a bush, tree, or bus stop without attracting attention. For this stage, I like to use props. If I am by myself, I will approach the potential cache location throwing a softball repeatedly up in the air (I've been known to also use my keys). When I get to the exact area I want to search, I fumble and 'accidentally' drop the object into the undergrowth. As long as I don't spend too long, this provides adequate cover to do a quick search.

Even better, have a friend throw you the softball (football, whatever) as you stand near the target area. Of course, you miss the catch and have to go rooting around in the bushes to get it back. This ploy can work several times but I would catch a few every once and a while so you don't look like a complete idiot.

Resist the urge to perform the victory dance.

Resist the urge to perform the victory dance. It's hard to hold yourself back, but try to refrain from shouting and dancing when you find the more elusive containers. At least, wait until you are a block away. This is the hardest thing I have been trying to drill into my kids. Just today, the little one was yelling at me through the woods, "You find it yet?"

If you are in a heavily crowded area and just can't wait out potential observers, it is time to turn your antics up a notch. This calls for some advanced skills that separate the casual cacher from those which dare to call themselves hobbyists. Both of my main secret methods involve using someone else to help you.

I am often caching with my kids so I put them to work. If we are in a heavily populated area and I want to be sure that we will not be seen while retrieving and replacing the cache, I use my kids as a distraction.

It's shameless but true. I position myself right next to where I have spotted the cache. I then send them to the opposite area of the crowd and they start to scream their ABC's. People whip their heads around to see what all the yelling is about (strangers can't help but stare at a misbehaving child) and I snatch the container. I usually have it out before D, slip my card in, and have put it back before anyone starts looking around to see who this "angel" belongs to. Whatever you do, don't have your kid go and cry or pick a fight with their sibling. While this will get people's attention, they almost immediately start looking for the parents....if you want to do a good search...you are going to need more time. That's when you pull out the primo distraction - the mentally ill. The ABC's or the Pledge of Allegiance shocks them for the time you need to get the cache and get out.

The kids are great for micros but if you want to do a good search of a regular container, you are going to need more time. That's when you pull out the primo distraction - the mentally ill.

I, in no way, mean to make fun of, or ridicule, the mentally ill. They make up a larger portion of our society then most people are aware of and while some have chosen not to get medical attention, others cannot and it's sad. That isn't what this is about. This is about the natural human reaction to stare at something that is different from us. Trust me, if you get your buddy (wife, husband, whoeverever) to spontaneously sing "God Bless America" at the top of his or her lungs, no one is going to notice you slipping an ammo can out of a bush. Matter of fact, they will then continue to stare at him after he finishes singing just to see what he will do next.

And last, but not least, if you are waiting on that one lone person to vacate so you can get the cache try the direct approach. Most adults are normal and honest and if you tell them what you are doing they will understand and leave the cache alone.

On a recent trip to LA, we were doing some caching and found a police officer in his car, parked practically on top of the cache. We tried driving around for a few minutes but finally decided that we either had to approach him or give up - coming back another day was not an option.

My husband walked over, explained about geocaching, and had a delightful chat with the officer who then promptly left and we got the cache.