Tom_in_CA
Elite Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2013
- Messages
- 20,748
You're absolutely right. The park does put a lot of money out for park maintenance and this also includes cleaning up after careless detectorists. The fact is that many detectorists just aren't that careful and their plugs turn yellow, get sucked up in mowers, kicked up by kids/animals, you name it. One place I asked at gave me that as their reason for their "no" and I didn't blame them at all. To think that detectorists cost the parks no time or expense is optimistic at best. I have seen damage first-hand many times. One place I was at last summer there had obviously been a detectorist and he had replaced all of his plugs but left all the rocks out to one side beside every one! How many mower blades does the park need to go through before a ban is put in place? I am as careful as I can be but unfortunately not everybody is. This is one of the main reasons, I believe, for detecting bans. Remember also (to use your flower example) that flowers are planted in tilled up soil, meant for digging and replanting. We are usually digging on pristine lawn/turf where any damage is much more noticeable and takes more time to repair itself.
Not that I'm condoning stealing flowers!
Stewart, I have no doubt that desk-bound authorities, when reaching for a "go-to" answer to give out a "no", will .... as you say, cite "holes" as their reason for the no they just gave you. And sure, it just might be that that person knows of an instance of holes, scars, rocks, etc.... On the other hand, .... let's face it, holes are the knee-jerk connotation of metal detecting. Right? EVEN IF THAT PERSON NEVER SAW ANY HOLES, it simply their mental go-to-image, so .... they say "no because of holes". Or to the extent that , yes, they might have seen holes, it didn't necessarily mean that any law or rule ever made it into print specifically dis-allowing md'ing.
And this is all silly to begin with, because even you are admitting that it's just certain md'rs who leave holes, d/t they aren't neat, aren't going at moist/wet times of year, etc...
Ok, fine then: if you and I AREN'T of that set, and we DON'T leave messes and rocks, etc.... well then presto, problem solved. And might you or I be caught up in the same net, because they see you or I, and think we're maybe going to do what that previous person did ? Perhaps. But even then, the solution is simple: a) if there were no specific 'no detecting' rule, and b) if you're not going to leave a mess, scar, etc..., and c) if it's just select persons who would ever be inclined to have "connected those dots" to begin with, then solution is: d) fine, then avoid those lone individuals who might gripe.
If there's going to be only 2 or 3 persons in an entire city of 100k people, who "may care less" (to have seen some previous md'r leaving holes, and to be concerned therefore about some future md'r), then it seems to me they don't work after 5pm, or early Sunday AM, or ... whatever.
Not saying I relish that, or love to need to pick low traffic times. But for pete's sake, do you really think you're going to get every last person on this planet to love and condone you? To roll out red carpets for you? And even when you get a "yes", there's always someone else in that city who may not like it. Why aren't you running to get them to give you a "yes" too ?
