Lost stuff I have found while camping - something always turns up.

Charm found while camping; I used my macro gear to photograph it on our green picnic table.

Most of the stuff I find belongs to kids, although sometimes something else turns up.  

It's amazing how many plastic animals I have found.  They are usually small, often no more than a few inches in length.  And an amazing number of them are dinosaurs.  I guess the intrigue regarding these extinct giants hasn't diminished much since I was a kid.

Then there is the jewellery.  I took the above photo of a charm I found while camping a few weeks ago.  I have never found anything valuable, and I generally turn in what I find to the camp's lost and found.  Still, though, the things that people lose would astound you.

I have never used a metal detector, but I have found lots of things made out of metal.  Small things, mostly coins, fasteners, and washers.  The coins go into my pocket, and the useful bits end up in my assorted pieces collection.  You never know when something may be useful.

Provincial parks produce a lot of tent pegs.  Now, I hate those little, useless tent pegs you get in a kit, the ones that you couldn't tie a hamster to and expect it to stay put.  I use 12-inch spikes if I need something to stay, preferably the ones with spiral edges.  So, those little aluminum pegs end up in the trash.  

Speaking of trash, I have to say people could do a better job of cleaning up their campsites.  Somehow, many of them think the perfect place for garbage is the fireplace, which is odd given that fires are often banned.  And then there is the litter about the site; wrappers and bits of trash that no one would bother to dispose of properly.  I don't know if this qualifies as stuff found, but it's worth mentioning.

This year I found a very nice stegosaurus.  It sits proudly on the top dash of my truck along with some of the other treasures that have turned up.  There is also a sauropod, jaguar, and a lizard or two, all found while camping.  It's a plastic menagerie.  And I'm sure they will have another friend joining them soon.

Thanks for reading.

Eric Svendsen     www.ericspix.com

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