Travel Bug

[+adeperkins]

I have found a bug, number <secret tracking code removed by moderator>, which does not seemed to be registered so can not log my find. It is a I Love Scotland, nessi key ring and it says that the mission is to return to Scotland. Also on another key ring it says Hazel Conquered Slieve Donard. I have contacted Slieve Donard and he has nothing to do with this bug. Does anyone recognise this travel bug? Is there any other way it can be registered without the other serial number?

Edited November 2, 2014 by Eartha

[+Bear and Ragged]

Not good to put the trackable code in a public post.

 

Does it say Trackable at Groundspeak/Geocaching.com?

It may not be on this site, there are others that do trackable items.

 

Usual problem is a misread of letters/numbers... eg O vs 0, 1 vs l etc.

 

Anything in the previous logs to say where/who it came from?

 

Does it have a name, what does it look like?

[+adeperkins]

I could see no harm in putting the code on the post, without the other half of the code it is useless. It is a bug trackable at Geocashing.com. I have put out 2 bugs (sadly both now lost) the same as this one and know how it should happen. Something has gone wrong with this one. The code is impossible to misread as the letters and numbers are clear and imprinted on the 'dog tag'. As the bug is not on the system there are no previous logs and I have given a full description in my original post.

[+NanCycle]

I could see no harm in putting the code on the post, without the other half of the code it is useless.

 

Not at all true. There are two separate codes, the public number which starts with TB and is perfectly safe to use "in public," and the tracking code which is to be kept secret.

 

Please read the info at the following link:

 

http://forums.Groundspeak.com/GC/index.php?showtopic=312124

[+adeperkins]

OK, point taken. What can I do with this bug as I would hate for the owner to loose it as happen to the 2 I put out into the world?

[+Bear and Ragged]

Trackables have 2 numbers.

A Reference Number, which for a TB will start TB*****

And a number on the trackable, which is only seen by those who have, or have seen it, that is used to prove to the site that you have, or have seen, the TB.

 

Slieve Donard from Irish: Sliabh Dónairt, meaning "Dónairt's mountain" is an 850-metre (2,790 ft) mountain in County Down, Northern Ireland. Part of the Mourne Mountains, it is the highest peak in Northern Ireland

 

So you are possibly looking for a cacher called Hazel, who has been up the mountain...

[+Bear and Ragged]

OK, point taken. What can I do with this bug as I would hate for the owner to loose it as happen to the 2 I put out into the world?

 

Read the logs.

Anyone mention leaving a TB?

 

It may have been dropped shortly before you found it, so you may have to wait until they catch up with their logging...

[+adeperkins]

I picked this bug up in early September and have been trying to sort out since then. The code is still not recognised and I have gone through the logs at the cache I picked it up from right back to the start of the year. Nothing is logged that mentions a bug matching the description of the bug I am trying to identify.

[+kunarion]

I have found a bug, number <secret tracking code removed by moderator>, which does not seemed to be registered so can not log my find. It is a I Love Scotland, nessi key ring and it says that the mission is to return to Scotland. Also on another key ring it says Hazel Conquered Slieve Donard. I have contacted Slieve Donard and he has nothing to do with this bug. Does anyone recognise this travel bug? Is there any other way it can be registered without the other serial number?

Can you post a picture? It would be good to add a photo to the log of the cache where you found it (at which point you'd have a URL so you could post it here). Don't show the tracking number, but the attachments may help identify it. Does it look like the TB and attachments are brand new and have never been banging around in caches? How many "serial numbers" are on the TB?

 

Hazel McLaughlin ran the Slieve Donard Classic last August, and seems to have done well. It could then be said that "Hazel Conquered Slieve Donard", therefore someone may have memorialized it on a TB. Maybe that's just a coincidence, but it's quite a coincidence.

 

You may contact Groundspeak and ask them to look up the tracking number.

Edited November 2, 2014 by kunarion

[+adeperkins]

I have logged a request at Groundspeak, see if that helps. The bug looks new but states that its mission is to return to Scotland and I picked it up in Wiltshire, a long way from Scotland. It got here somehow. Will post a picture if all other avenues fail. Thanks for all your suggestions.

[+Bear and Ragged]

I have logged a request at Groundspeak, see if that helps. The bug looks new but states that its mission is to return to Scotland and I picked it up in Wiltshire, a long way from Scotland. It got here somehow. Will post a picture if all other avenues fail. Thanks for all your suggestions.

 

Several thoughts...

 

It's a new(-ish) cacher, unaware a TB needs to be activated...

(Could be a non-cacheing member of the family setting off a TB to get to the caching member?)

 

It's a Scottish cacher who has dropped the TB whilst on holiday*, or got someone else to drop it for them, in order for it to travel back to Scotland.

(There are a couple of Scottish forums/facebook groups**, but not all cachers use them...)

 

If Groundspeak can't help, your only option may be to drop it back in another cache to continue it's journey. IF you could include a note to mention things, it may help the next cacher who tries to find out who owns the TB. I suspect this has happened a couple of times already, and it's now you trying to help.

 

* Sometimes TB's survive better if heading home.

Dropping it off somewhere is often a better option than setting it off to go somewhere, and then make the return journey.

 

** Are you on Facebook? May reach a few more cachers, as very few visit the forums these days.

Edited November 3, 2014 by Bear and Ragged

[josephrichie99]

Visit this http://www.geocaching.com/track/travelbugfaq.aspx