Strange Logs

[+Tominphx]

I released a TB (TBJFCH) in 2006. He was lost for a few years, after traveling 17K miles all over the world, and then he reappeared in Europe, where the strangeness began. If you look at the map, people log dozens of caches as visited with him, without ever leaving him in one, and then they pass him to someone else. I’ve attached an example screenshot. He’s up to 500 log entries!

 

This seems to have happened entirely in Sweden and Norway. I have a Norwegian friend, so I sent one of the loggers a message IN NORWEGIAN, asking if he would be kind enough to just send a pic of my duck. Crickets. I sent another logger a similar note in Swedish. No reply.

 

It appears to me that my duck may still be lost, and that for some reason these Geocachers are using the IDs of lost TBs to do something...but what?

 

That’s why I’m posting this. Somebody PLEASE explain to me what’s going on.

 

Thanks.

 

p.s. I thought I posted this question earlier today but I can’t find it now...apologies if it ends up posting twice.

[+Max and 99]

14 minutes ago, Tominphx said:

I released a TB (TBJFCH) in 2006. He was lost for a few years, after traveling 17K miles all over the world, and then he reappeared in Europe, where the strangeness began. If you look at the map, people log dozens of caches as visited with him, without ever leaving him in one, and then they pass him to someone else. I’ve attached an example screenshot. He’s up to 500 log entries!

 

This seems to have happened entirely in Sweden and Norway. I have a Norwegian friend, so I sent one of the loggers a message IN NORWEGIAN, asking if he would be kind enough to just send a pic of my duck. Crickets. I sent another logger a similar note in Swedish. No reply.

 

It appears to me that my duck may still be lost, and that for some reason these Geocachers are using the IDs of lost TBs to do something...but what?

 

That’s why I’m posting this. Somebody PLEASE explain to me what’s going on.

 

Thanks.

 

p.s. I thought I posted this question earlier today but I can’t find it now...apologies if it ends up posting twice.

Lists of TB numbers are shared on Facebook. Tons of numbers!

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, Tominphx said:

I released a TB (TBJFCH) in 2006. He was lost for a few years, after traveling 17K miles all over the world, and then he reappeared in Europe, where the strangeness began. If you look at the map, people log dozens of caches as visited with him, without ever leaving him in one, and then they pass him to someone else. I’ve attached an example screenshot. He’s up to 500 log entries!

 

This seems to have happened entirely in Sweden and Norway. I have a Norwegian friend, so I sent one of the loggers a message IN NORWEGIAN, asking if he would be kind enough to just send a pic of my duck. Crickets. I sent another logger a similar note in Swedish. No reply.

 

It appears to me that my duck may still be lost, and that for some reason these Geocachers are using the IDs of lost TBs to do something...but what?

That’s why I’m posting this. Somebody PLEASE explain to me what’s going on.

 

Well, unfortunately we know about as much as you.    It was recently Placed and Retrieved as late as August this year, so tough to tell.

The shot you included looks like (to me) like someone "visiting" caches on a power trail.

But I agree, all the "took it to..." logs mess up things a bit.

Most fakers we've heard/know of didn't drop or retrieve caches, they "discovered" them, or "visited" them for months/years on end.

Some not even realizing they lost that trackable years ago...

 

In '14 someone did say " Finally a Trackable..." , so it sounds like they had /saw it. 

They finally dropped it in a cache six years later, and said "Located and looking at the beautiful view...".

 - So it could have been hiding in a bag/pack, in-between the car seats, who knows what for all that time.  Left no explanation. Weird...

Retrieved by another in July who dropped it in a cache ten days later.  It would have been nice if the pic included the trackable...

In August another Retrieved it, and has been "visiting" it since. 

[+Max and 99]

6 minutes ago, cerberus1 said:

The shot you included looks like (to me) like someone "visiting" caches on a power trail.

But I agree, all the "took it to..." logs mess up things a bit.

Most fakers we've heard/know of didn't drop or retrieve caches, they "discovered" them, or "visited" them for months/years on end.

Some not even realizing they lost that trackable years ago...

 

Good catch!

[+Tominphx]

On 9/2/2020 at 6:20 PM, Max and 99 said:

Lists of TB numbers are shared on Facebook. Tons of numbers!

Toward what end do people do this?

 

 My imagination has been running wild. 
 

Are spies using my TB to pass secrets to their handlers?

 

 Are drug dealers arranging illicit transactions?

 

 I’m so confused. 

[+Max and 99]

51 minutes ago, Tominphx said:

Toward what end do people do this?

 

 My imagination has been running wild. 
 

Are spies using my TB to pass secrets to their handlers?

 

 Are drug dealers arranging illicit transactions?

 

 I’m so confused. 

Their TB find count goes up.

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, Tominphx said:

Toward what end do people do this?

My imagination has been running wild. 
Are spies using my TB to pass secrets to their handlers?

Are drug dealers arranging illicit transactions?

I’m so confused. 

 

Thanks.   If I knew it was all a gag , it could have saved me some time...

 

[+Tominphx]

FOLLOW UP: Much to my surprise, the most-recent carrier of my TB not only replied (in English, thankfully) to my email, but they also sent me a photo of my Rubber Ducky! I haven’t seen him in a very long time, so this made me smile.

 

They did not, however, offer much of a cogent explanation for the rapid-fire logs. I think the above suggestion (that they’re just racking up numbers) is probably correct.

[+Max and 99]

29 minutes ago, Tominphx said:

I think the above suggestion (that they’re just racking up numbers) is probably correct.

I don't know if you are referring to my statement above, so I'd like to clarify. I mentioned the numbers aspect when I missed that your screenshot showed the same geocacher taking your TB to a lot of different caches.  My mention of shared lists does not come into play in this situation at all.  Sure, the numbers increase, but I think someone taking your TB, legitimately, to a large number of caches is not the same as hundreds of people logging a discover on a TB they have never seen. Many geocachers will have a TB visit every cache they go to, for TB mileage. Not everyone is a fan of hundreds of visit logs, but it is a legitimate activity when you have a TB.

[+DakotaDave60]

I log visits on most caches for the travel bugs I'm carrying I currently have three when I get to another good cache I'll drop one. I don't drop more than one in a cache and my daughter and son do the same so it takes a month or two to find a good cache. We alternate who gets to drop one. Many caches are micros and nanos im also going to stop droping in small  they seem to disappear. I've been following the tracakables I drop till I see they are on there way. I also don't drop In a cache that gets pilfered often.

[+cerberus1]

39 minutes ago, DakotaDave60 said:

I log visits on most caches for the travel bugs I'm carrying I currently have three when I get to another good cache I'll drop one.

I don't drop more than one in a cache and my daughter and son do the same so it takes a month or two to find a good cache.

We alternate who gets to drop one.

Many caches are micros and nanos im also going to stop droping in small  they seem to disappear.

I've been following the tracakables I drop till I see they are on there way. I also don't drop In a cache that gets pilfered often.

 

One to two months is fine...  are you emailing the TOs ?   Some don't appreciate their trackables "visited" for months on end.   

It used to say anything held over two weeks, email the TO (in the help center).  I didn't see that there anymore...

In the Help Center it does say, "Trackables are like hot potatoes, they don't want to stay in one person’s hands too long!"

Nice I guess that you're concerned, but I didn't find any of the stipulations you placed in either of the two trackable's pages. 

  

 

Edited October 22, 2020 by cerberus1

[+Matt98030]

I've had similar problems with my TB's...

 

 I have had several that a cacher retrieved it, and then held on to it for 6-8 months logging pages and pages of "Vistited" or "Took-It" to events.  One of those cachers was holding nearly 100 TBs, and carried some of them for 18 months.

I have had a TB that suddenly started having many many "Discovered" events from all around an area, without it ever leaving a cache.   I inquired with several of the cachers who had "discovered" it and most of them said they "saw it at an event",  a little more investigation turned out the the person who last placed it in a cache, also held several other TB's, he would go to events with all his TB's and sheets of paper with all the TB ID's,   then people would "look" at his box of TB's, take a sheet, and log all those numbers.  He said he'd "accidentally" forgot to remove my TB's ID from his list, when he dropped it...

Most recently I have a TB who has been held by a cacher for 6 months with no activity, I contacted him and asked why, and he said, "there are no caches in his area large enough to hold a TB", I checked his logs, and he has logged hundreds of caches in the last 6 months, many with TB's, many that have held TB's in the past, some TB Hotels, and several ammo boxes...  He's also holding 5-6 other TB's that he has had for over a year, with NO activity.

 

Its a mystery to me why people do things like this.  I guess they think its cool to have a huge list of "discovered" TB's even thought most of them they've never really seen.  And I don't understand logging hundreds of "took-it" to events at all!  There is no stat to pad for taking TB's to lots of places!   I blame it on GeoCachingHQ adding the button "Log all Trackables Visited" for a cache you find.   So people are not really taking these TB's to all these caches, they just leave the TB's at home in a box, and click that button for every cache they find...

 

I've contacted GeoCachingHQ and asked what to do about these situations, and they say to contact the cacher, I've done that and gotten responses like "Mind your own business"..

 

All of this has really taken the fun out of TB's for me.   When I first started caching I  purchased several TB's and thought it would be fun to release them and see where they went,  but now I'm really hesitant to ever release anymore TB's....

 

 

 

[+Max and 99]

6 minutes ago, Matt98030 said:

All of this has really taken the fun out of TB's for me.   When I first started caching I  purchased several TB's and thought it would be fun to release them and see where they went,  but now I'm really hesitant to ever release anymore TB's....

 

You are not alone. 

[+cerberus1]

2 hours ago, Matt98030 said:

I've had similar problems with my TB's...

 

I responded to most in the other thread you said similar in...

[+Max and 99]

One of my TBs got about 125 visited logs in the past few days. Grrr. All power trail cache logs and not one mention of the TB.