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Zine No. 14 The autumn roll issue Chapter 7 · Cluj-Napoca 3 lei, or one trolley coin

A field guide and spotters' club for shopping trolleys living wild: in canals, in hedges, in bus shelters, in car parks and halfway up the riverbank.

We write down what we see and leave the trolley exactly where it is.

Founded 3 March 2009 in bay 114 of the Mărăști market car park by three people and a clipboard. 212 members, 14,806 sightings, one Concordant (disputed).

Take the scopeOpen the field guide

p. 2 · The practical bit

The scope

Eight trolleys are hiding along the Mill Canal stretch below. Sweep the binoculars across it and hold a trolley in the middle of the lenses until the stamp comes down. One of them has been seen once, in fog, by one member.

Plate S. The Mill Canal behind Hiper Sud, looking east, 16:40 on a Thursday in October. Eight trolleys in frame. The binoculars are 8 × 42 and belong to the chapter.

Mouse: move over the scene. Touch: drag. Keyboard: arrow keys, or the button, which aims at the next trolley you have not logged.

Your notebook

  1. ICommon Steel Hundred-Litrenot yetSeen
  2. IILesser Wire Basketnot yetSeen
  3. IIIBlue-Handled Rattlernot yetSeen
  4. IVCanal Divernot yetSeen
  5. VCar Park Solitarynot yetSeen
  6. VIHedge Nesternot yetSeen
  7. VIIChild-Seat Warblernot yetSeen
  8. VIIIConcordant Four-Wheeldo not get your hopes upSeen?!

p. 3 · Before you go out

How to read a trolley

Every wild trolley can be keyed out from six field marks. Learn them on this one, a healthy adult Common Steel Hundred-Litre, drawn from life in bay 112.

Fig. 1. Carrus vulgaris, adult, side view. The numbers match the key.
  1. Handle. Pink in most species, blue in one. Grey is sun-bleached pink and does not count as a new species, whatever Sector 3 says.
  2. Coin slot. Look before you leave. About one wild trolley in six still has its coin, and the coin belongs to the trolley (Rule 4).
  3. Child-seat flap. Closed in most adults. Stuck halfway open means Warbler.
  4. Wire mesh. 25 mm squares. Count them if you need to calm down.
  5. Rust on the lower chassis. Roughly one bloom per winter outdoors, so you can age a trolley like a tree.
  6. One wheel that disagrees with the others. Every wild trolley has one. Except one.

p. 4 to 7 · Plates I to VIII

Field guide

Eight species are on the Chapter 7 list. Seven turn up every year. Hover over a plate, or tap it, and it rattles (visually; we do not do sound).

Plate I

Common Steel Hundred-Litre

Carrus vulgaris

Field marks
Full-size basket, 100 litres to the brim. Pink handle, faded to salmon on the sunny side. Coin still in the slot about one time in six.
Habitat
Verges and car parks, usually facing the store doors as if it might go back in.
Call
"A dry clack on paving slabs, about two clacks per metre."
Plate II

Lesser Wire Basket

Carrus minor

Field marks
Two small baskets, one above the other. Short handle. Stands about hip height to an adult member.
Habitat
Bus shelters, under the bench. Sometimes on the bench, which we log as "seated".
Call
"A high, nervous tik-tik-tik, as if it has a bus to catch."
Plate III

Blue-Handled Rattler

Carrus crepitans

Field marks
Blue handle, the only species with one. Loose bottom tray. Usually heard two streets before it is seen.
Habitat
Slopes. Found halfway up riverbanks far more often than chance allows. Nobody has ever seen one climb.
Call
"A thin rattle, like cutlery falling down a staircase."
Plate IV

Canal Diver

Carrus submersus

Field marks
Usually only a handle and part of the top rim. Weed on the mesh. Nose down at 20 to 35 degrees.
Habitat
Canals and slow water. The Mill Canal holds the chapter record: six in 300 metres, October 2019.
Call
"None above water. Now and then, a single bubble."
Plate V

Car Park Solitary

Carrus solitarius

Field marks
Alone in a bay, never in the trolley shelter. Faces away from the store. Keeps at least 40 metres from any other trolley.
Habitat
The far end of big car parks: bay 114, or whichever bay is furthest.
Call
"One long creak when the wind turns it, then nothing for hours."
Plate VI

Hedge Nester

Carrus dumetorum

Field marks
Goes into hedges front first and is then mostly hedge. Look for one castor at ground level and a straight line where hedges have none.
Habitat
Privet and hawthorn beside footpaths. Birds really do nest in them: three eggs, spring 2023, Sector 3.
Call
"A twig snaps, then a small bird leaves."
Plate VII

Child-Seat Warbler

Carrus cantans

Field marks
Child-seat flap stuck halfway open. Leg holes lined with leaves. Stands upright, usually in reeds.
Habitat
Reed beds and long grass near water. Most records fall between 18:00 and dusk.
Call
"The flap in the wind: two notes, high then low, over and over."
Plate VIII

Concordant Four-Wheel

Carrus concordans

Field marks
All four castors point the same way and turn at the same speed. That is the whole field mark.
Habitat
Unknown. One record: a footbridge, March 2014, in fog, one member. Accepted by the committee, 7 votes to 6.
Call
"Silence. A trolley that agrees with itself makes no sound at all."

printed in yellow, our rarity ink

p. 8 and 9 · Movements

Migration and seasons

Trolleys leave the store slowly and almost always downhill. By late October most of the chapter's regulars are within 200 metres of water. We map the routes with chalk marks and patience.

Chapter 7 migration map Four supermarkets around the Someșul Mic river and the Mill Canal. Blue dashed routes run from each store down to the water. Pink dashed routes run to bus shelters and hedges. SOMEȘUL MIC the Mill Canal (Canalul Morii) HIPER SUD MARKET PLOPILOR 24 COȘUL MARE SUPER NORD the Horea St descent: 1.4 km, about 9 days record: 6 Divers in 300 m (2019) resting point: shelter, line 35 downhill. somehow. Sector 3 N 500 m, roughly Migration map Chapter 7 · autumn 2026 · not to scale

drag the map sideways

Pink: spring dispersal, towards shade and sheltersBlue: autumn roll, towards waterViolet: where the two cross, and where most arguments start

Dispersal

Spring · March to May

Trolleys leave the bays one or two at a time, mostly at night, mostly downhill. They head for shade first: shelters, hedges, the side of the pharmacy.

Basking

Summer · June to August

Car Park Solitaries hold their bays in full sun. Handle temperature record: 61 °C, bay 114, July 2022, taken with the chapter thermometer.

The roll

Autumn · September to November

Rain and gradients do the rest. 71% of the year's canal records fall between 20 September and 30 November.

Frozen in

Winter · December to February

Canal Divers freeze in place and become Canal Sitters for about three weeks. Do not walk out to them.

Median distance from the nearest store, by month

Metres, all species, 2009 to 2026. The December drop is the council van, which comes on the 12th. We do not talk about the van.

  1. 90
    Jan
  2. 85
    Feb
  3. 120
    Mar
  4. 180
    Apr
  5. 210
    May
  6. 190
    Jun
  7. 170
    Jul
  8. 185
    Aug
  9. 260
    Sep
  10. 410
    Oct
  11. 380
    Nov
  12. 150
    Dec

p. 10 · Read before your first outing

The spotters' code

  1. Never return a trolley that has clearly chosen its new life.

    Ratified 3.III.2009

  2. Look for as long as you like. Do not touch.

    Unanimous

  3. A trolley on the line between two sectors belongs to whoever logged it first. Disputes go in the book, not in the canal.

    Amended 2016, after the incident

  4. The coin in the slot belongs to the trolley.

    Passed 11 votes to 2

  5. No flash photography. It startles them, and it startles the people in the bus shelter more.

    Added 2012

  6. Nested trolleys are one flock and several entries. Log each one. Yes, all eleven.

    Amended 2019

  7. A trolley that follows you home was never wild.

    Sector 3 objected

  8. Report a Concordant sighting in writing within 24 hours, with a witness who is not a relative.

    Ratified April 2014

p. 11 · Membership

Join the club

Membership is free and lasts until you stop looking. Pick a field name and your life list from the scope goes straight onto the card.

It stays on this page. Nobody at the chapter will see it.

Meetings
First Thursday of the month, 18:30, bay 114. Bring a torch and a flask.
Dues
One trolley coin a year, which we hand straight back.
Feral Trolley WatchMembership card
Chapter 7 · Cluj-Napoca
Field name
not chosen yet
Member no.
0213
Life list
0 / 8
Rank
Fledgling
Valid
Until you stop looking
Look, don't push