Let them back into the wild!

[+The Wild Things]

My kids and I released 4 travel bugs on the same date to track how all of them moved around the country (and to help me keep them interested during the colder months when it's harder for us to Cache).

 

2 have moved fairly regularly while 2 others have been claimed by the same long term user who has been holding them for 6 months at this point. I've tried emailing the user about a month ago but have received no response though his account shows he was on as little as a week ago.

 

Unfortunately I've received no responses to my email and, quite frankly, my kids are fairly disappointed and slowly losing interest. I'm unsure what to do at this point and would appreciate any advise on what actions I should consider taking at this point.

 

Thanks in advance!

 

TWT

Edited January 12, 2010 by The Wild Things

[+Eartha]

Wow! The person holding your TBs has logged so many trackables, the icons were still loading on another window while I started this post! This may be a case of:

1. He's watching too many caches and Trackables and your emails are lost amongst all those emails when things are logged. Try emailing again. Always be polite in your emails.

2. He's moved so many, once in a while he gets behind, misplaces one, placed it and forgot where he dropped it...

3. It's winter now, he hasn't gotten out as much.

4. He was discovering TBs and grabbed it by mistake. With 16000+ logs, it could happen.

Could be any reason, but I would try emailing again. He's not an avid forum poster, but he does visit the forums. Try sending him a PM too, through the forums. You can also track the message to see if he ever gets it, make sure to check the box. Use the Assistant in the top right corner and add his name to your buddy list, spell it exactly as he does. Or find one of his posts through his profile page, and use the PM button under his avatar. As I said, always keep it nice and friendly, and don't send messages too frequently. Nobody likes being hassled, even if they might have the TB.

[+The Wild Things]

Wow! The person holding your TBs has logged so many trackables, the icons were still loading on another window while I started this post! This may be a case of:

1. He's watching too many caches and Trackables and your emails are lost amongst all those emails when things are logged. Try emailing again. Always be polite in your emails.

2. He's moved so many, once in a while he gets behind, misplaces one, placed it and forgot where he dropped it...

3. It's winter now, he hasn't gotten out as much.

4. He was discovering TBs and grabbed it by mistake. With 16000+ logs, it could happen.

Could be any reason, but I would try emailing again. He's not an avid forum poster, but he does visit the forums. Try sending him a PM too, through the forums. You can also track the message to see if he ever gets it, make sure to check the box. Use the Assistant in the top right corner and add his name to your buddy list, spell it exactly as he does. Or find one of his posts through his profile page, and use the PM button under his avatar. As I said, always keep it nice and friendly, and don't send messages too frequently. Nobody likes being hassled, even if they might have the TB.

 

Thanks for the advice, I had sent another email at the time of my posting so I'll give it a few weeks before trying any of the methods you've recommended!

[+The Wild Things]

Could be any reason, but I would try emailing again. He's not an avid forum poster, but he does visit the forums. Try sending him a PM too, through the forums. You can also track the message to see if he ever gets it, make sure to check the box. Use the Assistant in the top right corner and add his name to your buddy list, spell it exactly as he does. Or find one of his posts through his profile page, and use the PM button under his avatar. As I said, always keep it nice and friendly, and don't send messages too frequently. Nobody likes being hassled, even if they might have the TB.

 

I've tried a variety of ways to get in touch with the user over the past year (since the TBs were originally picked up). A few emails, a friend request and a PM via the forums. I've seen that the user in question has been on the Geocaching site several times this year as well. At this point I'm not sure what I should do.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

Edited July 28, 2010 by The Wild Things

[+BlueDeuce]

It's been a full year, time to pull them back and re-release them with the copy tag.

 

You can change the traveler, name, description, mission/goal, just don't delete the logs of the people who previously assisted your bug.

[+Chokecherry]

I'd just re-release them. It appears that the person who has them has not actually found a geocache since 2009 in spite of logging in. That person may have had any number of things happen in life that is preventing him from dropping it or going to find geocaches.

[The Dommer Party]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but I am new to geocaching and have some travel bugs on order. I have been reading lots of helpful tips about them but have come across the same advice above several times: Re-release with the second tag, or I have also seen just to initially release it with a laminated paper copy of the tracking number so if it ever comes up missing, you can re-release it.

 

 

I understand why you'd want to do this, especially if it has been MIA for a long long time, but what happens if the original one resurfaces later (as I have read they can even a year later or more)? Wouldn't this cause some confusion and you could end up with the "same" bug travelling around two different areas at the same time? I realize that a different traveler & name would help identify which is which, but it seems like it could still cause problems.

 

 

Again, I understand the reasoning, but it seems like this could cause a problem down the road if the original starts making the rounds again.

[+BlueDeuce]

Again, I understand the reasoning, but it seems like this could cause a problem down the road if the original starts making the rounds again.

 

If that should happen, and it does, you simply pull one of the travelers out of circulation. Either the first or the second. Typically you would contact the cacher who is holding the bug and ask them to mail it back to you. (You paying for the postage of course). Or just have them mail you back the tag and toss the attached traveler. If that cacher doesn't want to assist just wait until it's in the hands of another person.

[The Dommer Party]

If that should happen, and it does, you simply pull one of the travelers out of circulation. Either the first or the second. Typically you would contact the cacher who is holding the bug and ask them to mail it back to you. (You paying for the postage of course). Or just have them mail you back the tag and toss the attached traveler. If that cacher doesn't want to assist just wait until it's in the hands of another person.

Ahhh... that makes perfect sense. Thanks! I've been wondering about that. From what I've been reading I am preparing myself for the realistic possibility that any bugs I release into the wild will wind up MIA at some point. Part of the game I suppose.

[RuideAlmeida]

1 minute ago, Rumburak57 said:

Hello, I found the TB "A Wild Thing" (1D62J2) and I'm trying to reach the owner "The Wild Things". Maybe someone of you knows the Geocacher. Please get in touch with me. My cachername is Rumburak57 and I come from Germany. Thanks a lot!

 

They started this thread...