Found an un-activated bug

[LaurieM]

I have the opposite of the missing Travel Bug problem. I found a TB in a cache that had never been activated. How do I claim this "find" and get the bug into action again?

[+worldtraveler]

I'd give it some time. Perhaps the owner was waiting until s/he could place it in a cache to activate it and just hasn't got around to doing it yet. If it has still not been activated after a reasonable time has passed (1 month?), you could adopt it and activate it yourself.

 

If there is not a hitch-hiker attached, someone may have purchased it and just left it in the cache as a trade item. But I'd still give it a month to see if the original owner activates it.

 

Worldtraveler

[BassoonPilot]

If it was in its original envelope with the sticker listing its tracking number and activation code, I would assume it was a trade item. If not, try to figure out from the logs who dropped it off and contact them about it ... I don't know if one can activate a travel bug without the code. (Maybe Jeremy has a database he can refer back to, maybe not.)

 

When travel bugs where a new item, I found several that hadn't been attached to anything.

[+GoldKey]

If it was still in the envelope, I would assume it was a trade item. I know many cachers who have left them as trade items.

 

Goldkey

[LaurieM]

The TB was attached to a whistle and the person left a note with his ID. Unfortunately, he did not register the find on the cache page yet and I forgot who he was. I guess I'll just have to wait for him to register it. I don't know what else I can do.