Muggle Stories

[+AtwellFamily]

Looked for this topic but didn't see it anywhere. Just had my first experiance with muggles and it was a great story, though others might have some as well. Here is mine to get this started.

 

 

Well after 399 caches I finally got muggled and boy did I get muggled. Below is the complete story:

 

I pulled past the location and notice that kids were waiting for the bus some 200 ft from ground zero. No problem. Pulled up and parks at other end of block. Walked back and ducked in the bushes without anyone seeing me. Looked for a minute or so and found the cache. Success!

 

Then a truck pulled up on the street right next to my location. Tried to look innocent but it was a parent dropping of their kid for the bus stop I mentioned. They both got out and he walked his kid to the stop. Good, signed logged and placed TB in container. Person got in truck and left. Success still!

 

Then another man walked up and said what are you doing? I was caught in the act of putting the container back. Tried to explain but he asked more question and then showed me a badge. If you have tried to explain this to anyone you know it is not easy to understand. I showed him the container, GPSr and website on my Blackberry. He still decided to call it in as suspicious.

 

15 minutes later a police car pulls up and the off duty cop tries to explain it to the other officer. Then a second car pulls up. Again the guy tries to explain it to the other officer. I show my GPSr which has 1000+ caches loaded on the screen. They go and grab and look at the container. They tell me I am free to go. I ask for the TB I placed in the container and they give me the entire cache. The cop says he doesn’t know what to do with it. Just be more observant in the future he says.

 

At this point there are now 4 police cars and the off duty cop there with me. They send me on my way and say “To each his own, I just don’t get it!”

 

Off I went with the TB, container and this story of my first muggling.

 

[+StarBrand]

Good reason to carry the Geocacher-U brochure or the Groundspeak brochure found at: http://www.gpsmaze.com/uploads/files/GEOCACH_F2.pdf

 

Glad it turned out well. Seems like overkill to send 4 units out for suspicious behavior but you should feel like you are getting good taxpayer value out of the local cops!!

[WhatUpDog]

I've encountered police many times, and they are usually understanding and friendly. Sometimes neighbors or nearby property owners can cause problems as they see the activity out their window, etc. A property owner approached me last week and even though he had given permission for the cache he was still furious that I was on HIS LAND! I guess it wasn't explained to him that people would actually come seeking the cache.

Edited October 17, 2007 by WhatUpDog

[+alienbogey]

With regard to the original post, I can understand the reaction by the LEO's. Someone sees an adult who is skulking around in the bushes near a school bus stop with children waiting? I'd want it checked out, too.

 

Glad it turned out all right and gave you a story to tell.

[+hiker6699]

These last few days have brought me my first experience with being muggled - not once but 3 times. I had caches in 2 small town parks. I replaced 1 & it was muggled within 3 days. So I disabled it till I can get a different container for a site I had previously considered when placing this one. The 2nd was in another small park in another town.

[+egami]

Good reason to pack heat, imo. I'd of started firing rounds and yelling real loud that people better back off!

Edited October 19, 2007 by egami

[+robynest]

We were at our home in Florida on vacation from Iowa, It was our last day before going to the airport! I needed to get rid of 2 TB's i picked up in IA before we left.

Found a great little park and I came to the drop off I seen two kids! First thought they were doing the same thing I was there for.

After a closer look, they were taking out stuff.

I went to talk to them and the told me they found this ammo box several weeks ago and checked it everyday! At this point the mother of the two boys came up and was telling me how the boys was getting neat stuff form this ammo box!

I TRIED to explain to her what this was for and the boys should not be taking ANYTHING from here.

She just said it was fun for them and that they found it, well again I told her and the boys they did not find it, that it was hidden only to be found by people doing the GEO caches!

 

Well I placed the Tb's and contacted the owners of the cache,

The box came up gone and the 2 TB's I put in have never been found!

The owners replced another one well hidden this time!

[+Rontro]

I got Muggled yesterday in fact. here is my story:

 

There is a cache I have been meaning to get for some time in a local park. It is a high use playground. Everytime I drove by kids with their folks were all around. Yesterday, for the first time the park was empty. I parked and jumped at the chance to grab it. The cache was well hidden and it took a bit for me to find it. There was a problem: It was a magnetic container attached to the underside of a metal plate used to walk on. It was very close to ground. The last geocacher to find it was very zealous in putting it back and had put it WAY back. I had to lay on the ground and shove my arm WAY back to grab it. As I was in this awkward position I hear a little girl say, "What are you doing?" I about ripped my arm out of my socket. I had the cache in hand and dropped it. I had to think fast ...so I lied ...I told the girl that I had lost my pet snake and was looking for it. She got a "Interesting" expression on her face and left. I quickly grabbed the cache, signed the log, replaced it and got the heck out of dodge.

[+Team Tigger International]

Here's a story of a good kind of muggling ...

 

We received the following email at National HQ here in Bippus, that we thought might be of interest to GEO-ISQ members....

 

[GEO] cemeterylady contacting SixDogTeam from Geocaching.com‏

From: Geocaching (noreply@geocaching.com)

Sent: Wed 10/17/07 8:29 AM

 

 

--This message was sent through http://www.geocaching.com --

 

Hello! I found your email through the geocache site. I am not a geocacher- couldn't care less, researched a little because I teach geography and it seemed a cool project until I found how much the GPS thingies cost........then I saw the Spirit Quest stuff. Ok, NOW you got me. I am a cemetery person. I have been in all the cemeteries you showed for Steuben County - many times, sometimes many times a year. I photograph markers. I do cemetery history walks in Circle Hill. I have photographed some of the same markers. You, however, have found some that I have never noticed. NEVER. NEVER. I stand in awe. I lived next to Mt. Zion as a child and I PLAYED in that cemetery, made up stories about the people, thought I knew every stone, and I NEVER saw the balloonist one. (my family alternates between being amazed and laughing, because I'm actually upset about that .) AND - though I have righted flowers, replaced flags religiously, and cleaned out bags of trash, I have NEVER found any of your cache holders. Never. ( I would have noticed if I picked it up as trash. I really am careful, especially about things that might have been left intentionally and got moved from a grave.) Now I want to go find one and write in the log. I may even look for others. I even got a geocache login so I could write to you. Whoever Shadow is, and the rest of Spirit Quest, I stand in awe. Your research is remarkable. I should know- I've done the same and used it in the talks.

 

You don't know me. I'm a faceless email and you have no proof I'm not a kook, but if you're in the Steuben County area again, I would love to meet you. I would also like to help replace whatever has gone missing at Circle Hill Cemetery, and you're right - the Dan Webster story is the best. I also have more background for Henry Janes, who died descending Mount McKInley. Thank you for listening.

 

Kathy

 

 

 

User's Profile:

[+Team Tigger International]

We were at our home in Florida on vacation from Iowa, It was our last day before going to the airport! I needed to get rid of 2 TB's i picked up in IA before we left.

Found a great little park and I came to the drop off I seen two kids! First thought they were doing the same thing I was there for.

After a closer look, they were taking out stuff.

I went to talk to them and the told me they found this ammo box several weeks ago and checked it everyday! At this point the mother of the two boys came up and was telling me how the boys was getting neat stuff form this ammo box!

I TRIED to explain to her what this was for and the boys should not be taking ANYTHING from here.

She just said it was fun for them and that they found it, well again I told her and the boys they did not find it, that it was hidden only to be found by people doing the GEO caches!

 

Well I placed the Tb's and contacted the owners of the cache,

The box came up gone and the 2 TB's I put in have never been found!

The owners replced another one well hidden this time!

 

I just gotta ask one question ..... Why would you then choose to leave the TB's in a cache that you knew was being muggled ? (with the mothers permission no less) ... Personally , perhaps taking the TB's with you may have been a better option .. they may not have gotten where they were going but they probably would still be moving about.

 

Star

[+jave042]

Cops, angry farmers, Chuck Norris... name it, we have been there.....

[+blb9556]

I don't see why they had to come, now one of the first geocaches placed next to railroad tracks needed bomb squad but if this is in a normal place it should have been fine