A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke that involves experienced people making fun of
credulous newcomers by giving them an impossible or imaginary task.
The snipe hunt may be assigned to a target as part of a process of hazing.
A snipe hunt is a specific type of "wild-goose chase", where a person embarks on an impossible
search.
Where a wild-goose chase may be accidental, a snipe hunt is always initiated by a second
person, as a prank.
Etymology The origin of the term is a practical joke
where inexperienced campers are told about a bird or animal called the snipe as well
as a usually preposterous method of catching it, such as running around the woods carrying
a bag or making strange noises such as banging rocks together.
Real snipe are difficult to catch for experienced hunters, so much so that the word "sniper"
is derived from it to refer to anyone skilled enough to shoot one.
Examples In the pizza-making business, newcomers are
told to look in the fridge for the dough repair kit.
Another variation includes being sent to procure a "long wait" or "long stand", the idea being
that the dupe will reach the shop and place the request.
The target is then left waiting by the shop keeper and thus receives a long wait.
Other common restaurant practical jokes include sending the new employee to another restaurant
to borrow the "bacon stretcher", "souffle pump", or a can of steam.
In construction, a "left handed screwdriver", "board stretcher", "eye measures", "hammer
grease", "wall expander", "glass hammer", "striped or tartan paint", or "box of assorted
knots" are the analogous pranks.
In the U.S. Navy, sending a new sailor after "red lamp oil for the port running light"
and "green lamp oil for the starboard running light" are similar pranks.
Other examples are to send the naive on a search for a "spool of water line", a "dropped
gig line", a "bucket of steam", or the infamous "ID-10-T form".
First-time crew on carriers are occasionally assigned a "sea-bat" watch, in order to insure
"sea-bats" do not infest the aircraft engines.
In the U.S. Air Force, a newbie is sent to get some "prop wash" or "flight line".
In the Canadian military, a common joke is tasking a new soldier to find a "brass magnet"
to ease the collection of spent ammunition casings.
A common thing is to require an ID10T form to be filled out for a government form with
the military or taxes.
The unsuspecting person is asked to write down the form and go ask someone for it.
In Boy Scouts, sending a new camper after a "Left Handed Smoke Shifter" is a similar
practice.
This class of jokes was behind what was pulled on Olive Oyl in Thimble Theater in the 1922-01-14
strip.
Castor Oyl, not wanting Olive to sail to Dice Island with him, sent her to get a "dime's
worth of longitude", expecting to be sailing before she gave up.
Popeye made his debut in the strip, during this sequence.
Former Major League pitcher Rick Sutcliffe would often send the young batboy out to the
umpires during pregame to ask for the "keys to the batter's box".
This is an age-old baseball prank.
In Game of Thrones King Robert sends his squire to find a breastplate stretcher.
In the movie Up, Russell is sent by Carl on an actual hunt for a snipe.
Later, when they meet Kevin, Russell believes he has finally found it.
In Red vs. Blue the object being asked for is generally headlight fluid.
'Long Stand', a 1980s song by David Harley, is partly based on examples of apprentice
hazing such as sending a lad off for a long stand or a can of striped paint, though its
main theme is unemployment.
An album by Sting based on his 2014 musical The Last Ship includes a song 'Skyhooks and
Tartan Paint' on apprentice hazing that has a very similar first verse to Harley's 'Long
Stand', though it focuses on the hazing aspect.
See also List of practical joke topics
Fool's errand, another term for a snipe hunt References
Further reading The Little Red Book of Firehouse Pranks by
Jeff Hibbard External links
Snipe hunt at TV Tropes