Panda's Paradise (Previously Curse of the FTF #11) Traditional Cache
YetAnotherReviewer: There has been no response from the CO. Without recent communication on future cache availability, we can't hold this area for you any longer and so we are archiving this cache. Please pick up any remaining cache bits as soon as possible.
Thanks for your understanding,
Thanks,
YetAnotherReviewer
Volunteer Geocaching.com Reviewer
Known Virginia Geocaching Guidelines
Panda's Paradise (Previously Curse of the FTF #11)
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Difficulty:
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Size: 
(small)
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It's a nice little hike around the outer reaches of Lake Maury. The container is a medium sized rubber container located close to the service road. When you enter the GZ you'll be amazed by the bamboo forest. Don't worry, no pandas here. Be careful the hills can be slick.
Permit # 0180...all nice & legal.
The Curse of the FTF's seemed to die out in 2009. With that said, it's time to bring this cache back to life! Panda's Paradise was named because of the amazing bamboo forest that appears in the middle of the indigenous surrounding growth.
Soft bamboo shoots, stems, and leaves are the major food source of the giant panda of China, the red panda of Nepal, and the bamboo lemurs of Madagascar. Rats eat the fruits as described above. Mountain gorillas of Africa also feed on bamboo, and have been documented consuming bamboo sap which was fermented and alcoholic; chimpanzees and elephants of the region also eat the stalks.
Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. In bamboo, the internodal regions of the stem are usually hollow and the vascular bundles in the cross section are scattered throughout the stem instead of in a cylindrical arrangement. The dicotyledonous woody xylem is also absent. The absence of secondary growth wood causes the stems of monocots, including the palms and large bamboos, to be columnar rather than tapering.
Bamboos include some of the fastest-growing plants in the world, due to a unique rhizome-dependent system. Certain species of bamboo can grow 91 cm (3 ft) within a 24-hour period, at a rate of almost 4 cm (1.5 in) an hour (a growth around 1 mm every 90 seconds, or one inch every 40 minutes). Bamboos are of notable economic and cultural significance in South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, being used for building materials, as a food source, and as a versatile raw product. Bamboo has a higher compressive strength than wood, brick, or concrete and a tensile strength that rivals steel.
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