If you get shot carrying the rock the shooter can take the rock and rehide it. The early version of the game involved actual rocks since one of the team captains was a geology major. With the resignation of that person from captainhood, the rocks disappeared. A last minute search for new rocks before a game, taking into consideration the criteria in footnote 2, produced two small cans of dogfood, but this idea was rejected since dropping them in a conflict could result in an unpleasant situation. The captains decided on cans from a recycling bin, then squashed and marked them with duct tape so that forgeries could not easily be made during play.
Rocks are inconspicuous.
Not many people would really consider stealing a rock they find behind a garbage can. This version was developed after hours of extensive research involving ways to motivate play after the rock has already been found, while still maintaining footnote 5. 4. The purpose of this type of scoring is to encourage that people make finding the rock their primary objective. If the losers kill off all members of the other team, they get 500 points, half of what they would have gotten if they found the rock. This encourages play after the rock has been found.