Sorry, but I'm going to have to disagree with you. Being ugly, didn't help Rusty Spike. He just got unlucky enough to fall into the hands of a onetime wonder cacher.
I've definitely decided though, that if your bug is cute, drill a freaking hole right through the middle of it. That wil tend to discourage some from taking it as a free toy for their kids to play with. For the life of me, I can't imagine what that guy is doing with Rusty Spike now. No emails returned ever. I even offered to pay for postage to have it mailed back to me.
I'm thinking about getting another rusty spike and sending out the copy tag.
Funny, I came to the same conclusion with my latest traveller coin, a dime with a hole in it! Hope it works...
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?guid=0f4c598a-89b7-4f76-a890-c50640bdb725