kiwiowl

I have reasonable evidence that someone is a bugnapper. I believe he still has one of mine although it was supposed to have been dropped off in to a cache with a few other bugs a few months ago. This cache is in an area where I don't think it is likely to be muggled and I've also emailed those who visited the cash soon after. None of them say the bugs supposed to be in the cache. Of course, I can't be 100% sure that this guy has kept them but I think its a little strange. So, should I name and shame this person? Something else I find a little strange is that he has a few of his own TB's which he has never released. I can understand that with coins but a simple item you already own, what is the point in putting a tag on it and then keeping it?

I've seen this a few times now and wondered what should be done in the case where the first person to find isn't the first to log. I can see many reasons why you may not be able to log a find straight away after you have been the first to find - but can do within the next day or so. I had an example today where I was first to find. I couldn't log due to site maintenance, had to go to work and when I could log, someone had already logged their find. The didn't claim FTF I must add, on the contrary, they admitted being second. But if say the second person to find the cache makes their log first, who is then given the the FTF statistic? Surely the admins don't analyze this. I'd have thought the fist log after release is given FTF? So, wouldn't good etiquette be, wait to log your visit until the real FTF had made theirs? (If anyone knows, I'd also be interested in knowing, can the FTF stat be altered once the first log has been made? eg, if you logged with an earlier date would this remove the stat from the first log and award to the new log? Hope that makes sense?) Personally, I'd wait to log my find if I knew I wasn't FTF, but I don't always see this happening. Do we need to log a time too?

I'm in Hawkes Bay and I also have a Canadian friend who has been geocaching with me on a couple of occasions . Although I don't see them too often, I've 2 other Canadian friends who live here too. Feel free to mail me nearer the time if you wish. As someone else has already suggested, search around a local cache, zip codes in this part of the world are not understood like they are elsewhere. Hope you enjoy your holiday, there are some quality caches and places to find in Hawkes Bay if you do your homework first.

Proper adoption cannot be done without approval/assistance of the owner, through geocaching.com. If the cache is in good shape and viable, it should remain as is. If cache is in bad shape, etc. (I don't know if "cache migration" applies) post a "Needs Maintenance" log. If no action is taken by the CO, after a period of time post a "Needs Archived" log. Eventually, archival will clear the cache for placement of a new one. Thanks for that. Seems a great pity to go through all that 'procedure' just to wait around for the inevitable. Oh well, I guess it prevents 'cache jacking' if there is such a thing?

Sounds like a multi to me. A puzzle would involve some kind of task to solve. If the 2 caches just contain part of the co-ordinates to the final then it's not really a puzzle. If the two caches had a task to solve then it would be a puzzle. Maybe you could make it a "Multi-Puzzle"

I have a similar question. I'd like to adopt a cache where the CO has not been active for over 2 years. The cache in question has been moved by 'do gooders' although for some this has lead to confusion as the co-ords are no longer correct. The cache is in a great spot but is there any way to adopt a cache when the CO seems no longer around?

I appreciate that. The owner has 6 or 7 TB's and this has by far traveled the furthest. You would think they would like to keep it going. Actually all the owner needs to send to me is the private number so I can add this somehow to the TB, I don't have to use the copy dog tag. As it's a plastic key ring I have to means to engrave to number on to it and I'd happily do this. If the owner had lost the copy tag then they only need to view the item and view the trackable number displayed in the right column in blue characters. I think I'll also email them about this thread so they will see I'm trying to get their bug going again and not for any other reason.

Perfect solution. Why not go and visit your brother, take the bug with you and introduce geocaching to him during your visit.

I found a TB (TB1343) a couple of weeks ago. The cache hadn't been found for a month and was in open view, just a few feet away of a track which is quite busy. Four people passed by during the 5 minutes of my visit. I suspect that someone may have removed only the dog tag on this bug. I've emailed the bug owner and the last few people who found the bug in the event they may have a record of the private number. As yet, I've not established the number I need to log my find which I could then add to the bug and get it back on the road. The owner just gave me back the public number, so I emailed them back again to explain that it was the public number that I needed - I've not heard back from this request. The bug has been going for almost 5 years so it would be a pity to just stop him. Is there any other way I can establish the bugs private number or perhaps there is some other way to keep him going. I'm welcome to suggestions you may have.

Thanks for the discussion. I think I'll keep my eye on this for a few of weeks and see what happens. I've already sent a message to the CO regarding the situation. If I get no reply from that then I'll perhaps do what has been suggested. Thanks again everyone for you help.

Thanks Geoff, that sounds reasonable and something that I might as well try. Hopefully the current owner still reads their messages sent from gc.com. However, I fear they may not respond so the more drastic action may be needed. Thanks again, Dave

I re-visited a cache today with a fellow geocacher. I'd found this one before (3 months ago) but my companion hadn't. The chances of this one being muggled are almost zero due to location and amound of foliage. So, I was very surprised to not find the cache on this occasion. Back home, after reading the logs, I found out that someone had logged that they had moved the cache due to its over grown nature. This was not the cache owner, did not have the owners permission, they just mentioned the new coordinates in the log. I often don't read logs due to potential spoiler information. I often briefly scan to see more recent yellow faces (finds) than blue faces (did not find). The original cache owner no longer appears to be active on this site as there has been no activity for them for around 18 months. The cache is in a great area and it is right for one to be there, but what can be done about it now it's owner has gone AWOL and it is not in the place as registered?

I'm brand new too. The last link you used no-one has replied to a post for over a month. The first site is for general GPS stuff but is at least more active. Maybe kiwi's can't talk as well as fly? (shamed to say considering all the 'views' each post gets).

Wow, you found a TB on your first cache! I've very new to this too. Thanks for sharing your story. My sons are 8 and 11. We did our first 2 caches last Saturday and then 4 more yesterday (Sunday) - I think we're hooked. My boys also quizzed about 'taking more' items. It was a good opportunity to talk about respect, integrity and just basically keeping to the rules of the game - although I'm no expert. I'm sure your son will soon be happy to abide by the rules. Ask him how interested he would be if there was nothing but empty containers to find each time. Best of luck, I'm quite envious of you finding the TB. One of ours was supposed to have one but it wasn't there. Of course someone else may have moved it and not managed to log their find yet.