Caught Red Handed!

[dougiezerts]

Have any of you ever been unexpectedly "caught" by onlookers, while relaxing in the mud? If so, how did you handle this situation? I hope you didn't (ahem!) make a mess of it!

[Duncan Edwards]

I'm certain that Robert and Pam will remember the time when we were ambushed by a land owner while shooting a video. It was the largest collection of cast and crew ever, before or since, and three of them are naked women. Fortunately his view was somewhat obstructed and we managed to make him think we were fishing and would leave soon without making a mess.

[jack c]

I wrote in my post "Summer of '76," that my high school friend, Cathy, caught me in walking around in the mud. It wasn't exactly getting caught deeply sunk, as you suggest, but it led to her knowing and understanding my fascination. She was great, actually later shared in the process, but it was a bit unsettling getting caught, until I knew that Cathy was cool with the whole thing. She was incredible - I was fortunate.

[joedeep130535]

Yes I've been caught several times & no I don't sink in public places- but if you do it regularly law of averages kicks in & sooner or later you get caught. First time I was scared as hell but the guy came close & chatted & was interested in my sink so I got less worried about being spotted. I've been seen by guys,girls & couples over the years. Nobody has been nasty or called me a pervert (which I suppose I am) but they have asked if I needed help or what I was doing,pretty obvious I'd have thought,& then either chatted,walked off or just stared. I've never had an offer to join in(shame)but equally no abuse or threats so I suspect there are some hidden sinkers out there.I do take some care not to offend if there is any chance of discovery,always decent in daylight & keep away from working sites in working hours My experience is that if you don't break the law you are fairly safe but don't get caught if you can avoid it

[Nessie]

I can't answer for the risk level of any place I sank in but did not find (heck, I don't even know where most of them were, if somebody else drove).

As for MY places, though, so far those peaty boglands themselves have proven an effective barrier. There are times when people have been so close that I'm not...real sure about doing this any more...a couple times I've thought that they were so close that they couldn't possibly not know I was there because I could distinctly hear what they were saying.

But so far I've been correct in my assessment that if swamp guck touches a pair of shoes, nobody wants to get in beyond the soles. Like, not even a second inch. So, I just stay put, stay totally quiet, and eventually people go away.

I had one incident where three young men (teenagers, or college age? hard to tell) were exploring just a mite bit closer to the bog than most people generally try to get. They didn't find me actually in the mud but I did end up making a very quiet retreat from my basking place.

What they saw was me walking slowly over the marsh...away from them, the muddy lower half of me hidden by tall weeds.

They yelled, "Hi there!"

I turned around, gave 'em a great big dazzling smile, and waved right back at 'em.

I slowly walked back into the marsh, and back into the cattails, which I knew like the back of my hand, and where, basically, I've never found another human being, ever.

They looked like they might try to follow me. I am very glad that they didn't. I not only didn't want to get into a conversation with them, period, regarding what I was up to (although bog photography sounds like a nice excuse) but if any of those guys, who I would assume would not be at all familiar with the terrain, hit a sinkhole...I don't even want to think about the dilemma that would have presented itself to me if, perchance, it was a deep one.

Being the kind of mud gal who always does the right thing...I might have had to RESCUE somebody!

Nessie

[joedeep130535]

Nessie you can rescue me any time you like

[dougiezerts]

Me, too!

[Nessie]

Nessie you can rescue me any time you like

Me, too!

You guys got no idea how many times I wish that guys like them could be guys like you.

I'd be happy to rescue either of you. These guys, though?

What a royal pain in the...bog.

Nessie

[nointelhere]

Does having to be rescued by the Fire Dept. count?
How about being "found" by your employer, and he had to call the Fire Dept?
How about the whole event being filmed by a news helicopter?
Does having your rescue including a picture taking up half the front page of your local newspaper qualify as "caught red handed"?
Would you believe me if I claimed to have experienced all of the above?
I hope so, it happened!
It was Monday, the last day of a 3 day holiday weekend. I was working, but being a taxi owner/operator I could make my own schedule, so around 3PM I stopped at a favorite pond with lots of what it is that attracts. I had intended to use a new digital camera I bought earlier in the day.
I had just arrived at the pond's shoreline, about to walk around to where the fun starts when much to my surprise a large area (about 150 sq feet all around me) slid into the pond, spilling me, my camera, & my cell phone into the pond.
I got up, my attention focused on recovering my now ruined camera and my drowned cellphone. I realize now that was my big mistake for while I was distracted with recovering my toys, the mud/sand/silt I was about knee deep in solidified and I became part of the landscape.
And there I waited, starting about 4PM, crotch deep in pond water, under which I was knee deep in whatever had turned into cement. I was "found" 22 hours later (2PM the next day) by the owner of the taxi company when he went to investigate an abandoned taxi (mine).
It took another 90 minutes before I was freed. First, two firefighters wearing survival suits entered the water and simply tried to pull my legs out. Ouch!
Failing that, and realizing I really was stuck, they started to dig around my legs, only to discover that disturbing the material only caused the whole area to slide deeper into the pond taking me and them with it. To free me they had to use 2 high pressure fire hoses to blast the dirt away from around my legs.
I have been back there many times since, but now never there alone. As I have mentioned before, my wife also enjoys getting muddy.

[poolshark]

I was going to post a reply but after that last one I just don't think mine measures up lol..