+Us 4 and Jess Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 (edited) We have lost five caches due to muggles over the past weekend, well I say over the past weekend they could have been missing longer, we did a major maintenance check on our caches last weekend and found five to be damaged or muggled. The first part of one cache was missing so we took the second part out and archived the cache. The second was a magnet that had gone so we archived the cache. The third one of the major things to find the cache (it's a trail to follow) has been vandalised and broken so we have archived the cache. The fourth another magnet has gone so we archived the cache. The fifth has been totally muggled and smashed to bits, but the log book with some very colourful language and what they think of geocachers was put back into the hiding place to be found again. (This is the one that upset me most as it was the first cache we ever set back in June 2005) I don't think it is anything against us I think we have just been unlucky and maybe it has happened over several weeks, even though most of them have been found recently, and there is quite a distance between them all, but I am feeling very disheartened at the moment. Don't say go back out and replace the caches because that is something I won't do, I don't think it is worth resetting a cache in the same place one has been muggled, because the kids go back to the same haunts don't they? Do you think we have just been unlucky to loose five caches? Or could we have a Durham cache trasher? We have 51 caches in our profile although some of them are meets and some are caches we have replaced because we thought we could make them better than the original one. We have been caching for 2 and a half years now and we have only had one cache totally trashed, so I suppose we are pretty lucky really. We will set more caches in different places, I am just a bit disheartened at the moment. Moan over Mandy Edited April 24, 2007 by Us 4 and Jess Quote Link to comment
+ryme-intrinseca Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I sympathise. Two of my caches have been muggled in the past week, something that has never happened to us before. As we live at opposite ends of the country though, it must just be coincidence! Quote Link to comment
+drsolly Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 I just found a cache today that had been destroyed. Bits of the box strewn around, the log torn up, broken bits and pieces lying around. I was upset at first, then a bit down at the thought that there are people in this world who will vandalise part of a game. Then I thought, I should really feel sorry for whoever did this. What sort of a life does he have? What enjoyment does he get out of life, if smashing a tupperware box is part of it? These aren't muggles. Muggles are dog walkers, other people out for the air, people you pass and say "Hello" to. Muggles are people who haven't discovered the magic yet. No - these are Dementors. Soul-sucking fiends from the Dark Side. Quote Link to comment
+mollyjak Posted April 24, 2007 Share Posted April 24, 2007 Mandy Don't let them get you down - just remember the fun and all the activities around this sport / hobby / addiction. Don't let a few mindless people spoil it Quote Link to comment
+Haggis Hunter Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I've had more than my fair share of caches going missing, you tend to accept it after a while. I have also had one that was burn and urinated in, and then replaced. That one got archived sharpish. Quote Link to comment
+Bambography Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Although i've not placed any to be muggled as yet, its sad to know that people will willingly destroy items that other people obviously enjoy. That said, with the huge numbers of caches out there (and more being placed all the time, in this record breaking month) i'm sure that there will be some correlation between the numbers out there and the numbers getting muggled. Sadly this isn't going to be of any comfort to anyone whose cache gets destroyed, and hope it doesn't stop people placing! I'm sure it won't, and it certainly won't stop my plans!!! Quote Link to comment
+CrazyL200 Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 I've had similar experience - lost 3 in the last couple weeks and another that's possibly gone, but I haven't had the chance to go and check. One can only be down to someone being seen replacing it, another must be a favourite haunt (3rd time it's gone - so my own fault for not changing the location after the first time) and another due to road works. Two of them are part of a series - so the series is broken and the final impossible until I replace them. It's a hazard of the game and we have to accept it happens from time to time. Although I felt miffed at finding the 3 muggled ones in the same maintenance trip, all the others were still there and in good condition, so the muggled ones will get replaced (but moved slightly). Quote Link to comment
+Jimblonduk Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 We've had a few go missing recently so we can sympathise but we tend to treat it as a challenge, to find the perfect spot or camouflage to outwit the muggles. Before venturing out on a caching trip, we would advise cachers to check the latest details on all prospective caches as DNF's due to out of date info are very common also. It works for us Quote Link to comment
+Al & Tracy Smith Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Sorry to hear that you’ve beet targeted by ‘cache fiends’ (well 5 in a short time scale must feel like your being victimised). Just don’t let them get you down. We’ve not yet gotten around to setting caches (have plans to….eventually) so have not had to face this kind of disappointment yet. However, I have come across to cases of trashed caches. The first was in Scotland where the cache was in the open and the contents and container just scattered around – unfortunately the geocoin that was in the cache had gone missing. The second was just a case of theft. Some swine had helped themselves to ‘Ammo Box’ then scattered the contents (log book, swaps and even a TB) around. So we rescued the TB, bag up the stuff and rehid it under a stone for the cache owner to retrieve. It seems as with any sport / hobbies there are always those vermin who take pleasure in ruining others fun! Quote Link to comment
markandlynn Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 We have a few of ours with problems at present (more than is usuall) I personally believe that many people are are not being carefull enough at the cache sites they visit whether through inexperience or through being hasty or rushing along. By not looking properly for people watching or not taking the time after signing the log book to rehide the cache properly they can easily be exposed. Throwing a covering of leaves etc that get blown away with the next gust of wind or snapping more even length twigs on the top is not rehiding it properly. The leaves end up filling the hole and make the cache rise up into plain view. Recent threads about camo bags being required because the cache keeps getting exposed indicates its not just us noticing this. Quote Link to comment
+alma Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Mandy Don't let them get you down - just remember the fun and all the activities around this sport / hobby / addiction. Don't let a few mindless people spoil it i was thinking the same thing well said Quote Link to comment
+careygang Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Mandy Don't let them get you down - just remember the fun and all the activities around this sport / hobby / addiction. Don't let a few mindless people spoil it i was thinking the same thing well said I think one of the problems is the rise in Cachers and their general inexperience. We were out recently doing the Bridges of Newark set of 10. They are all micros and two of them were just in plain sight, perched in trees and bushes where the previous cacher had been through just hours before. In a lot of cases we have fellow cachers to blame for them being found; that's not to excuse the vandals who trash them... Quote Link to comment
+chizu Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Well we were all inexperienced once you know! Quote Link to comment
+Team S-J Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 Last weekend we found a cache on a wall 300m away from the co-ords. We think it was found by someone who decided to leave it rather than trash it, remove it or put it back. As the cache was complete we put it back. So it's not all bad news. Quote Link to comment
+Mike+Mary Posted April 25, 2007 Share Posted April 25, 2007 We lost one of ours in the first few weeks. It had (presumably) been found by accident and just disappeared with no clue to its fate. We replaced it and moved it to a less obvious location less than 50m away. No problem since then. It's easy to become disheartened but there's usually another, maybe better way of hiding a cache. We've learned to be more careful. Hopefully, it's improved our cache-setting - it certainly didn't put us off! Quote Link to comment
+4 Badgers Posted April 27, 2007 Share Posted April 27, 2007 No - these are Dementors. Soul-sucking fiends from the Dark Side. Firstly, excellent idea drsolly - Dementors should be the geocaching term used for those who seem hell-bent on spoiling the game! By not looking properly for people watching or not taking the time after signing the log book to rehide the cache properly they can easily be exposed. Secondly, we have to agree with markandlynn - we've visited several caches (and own one ourselves) where the re-hiding simply hasn't been done well enough. Some were in very remote places, but others ended up in full view in fairly public places and were just begging to be muggled. Thankfully, one of ours that was recently muggled twice in a short space of time was actually placed back in it's spot (but not well hidden) and the muggles actually left logs in the log book. Come on, fellow cachers - hide 'em well!!!!! Quote Link to comment
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