Own (two) hidden geocache disappears

[Hoppili]

Hello Geocaching community,
after a long time I started geocaching again, and I immediately noticed why I stopped. That was because I have twice hidden a geocache which disappeared (stolen by animals, people (haters) or so. What is the motivation to hide geocaches when they are stolen anyway? The maintenance of geocaches is easy but to always build a new one when the old one is destroyed I find also kind of stupid.
What is your experience or opinion on this subject?
Greetings from
Hoppili

 

Edited January 22, 2022 by Hoppili
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[+Smitherington]

I have not had any geocaches destroyed or gone missing.  That may be due to my semi-rural to small town setting.  There are many places I would not place caches because of the type of pedestrian traffic in the immediate area. 

 

If if one did get destroyed or go missing I would rethink my placement criteria.

[+Max and 99]

12 hours ago, Hoppili said:

Hello Geocaching community,
after a long time I started geocaching again, and I immediately noticed why I stopped. That was because I have twice hidden a geocache which disappeared (stolen by animals, people (haters) or so. What is the motivation to hide geocaches when they are stolen anyway? The maintenance of geocaches is easy but to always build a new one when the old one is destroyed I find also kind of stupid.
What is your experience or opinion on this subject?
Greetings from
Hoppili

 

Maybe you could reconsider the placement or container? 

 

[+barefootjeff]

14 hours ago, Hoppili said:

What is your experience or opinion on this subject?

 

A lot depends on the environment the cache is in. If it's somewhere that gets a fair bit of pedestrian traffic then it really needs to blend in sufficiently with the surroundings so as to be invisible to muggle eyes and unattractive to muggle fingers. In an area where there are rocks, a fake rock can work very well, I used one in a spot that had a constant stream of muggles going past or lingering about but it survived unscathed for several years until it got washed away in big seas during an intense storm. I now have another cache a bit further along (and higher up) on the same coastal headland, this time the cache is a regular-sized 1 litre Sistema but is concealed behind a good-sized rock that blends in nicely with the surroundings. Can you spot it in this photo?

 

 

That cache has survived there for over a year now in spite of muggles often sunbaking on the ledge beside it.

 

My latest cache, a multi (GC9M6X5), is also in an area that gets a fair bit of muggle traffic, particularly around the caves where the waypoint objects are. After a fair bit of thought, I decided to use small flat rocks with the information painted on the underside. Those are then placed inside honeycombing in the caves where they're unlikely to be noticed by anyone because it's completely natural to see small rocks sitting in places like that.

 

 

The final location is less likely to be visited by muggles, but I still took precautions there by concealing the cache behind natural-looking camo rocks.

 

 

Urban hides can be a lot trickier though, because not only does the cache have to be well concealed, there's also the prospect of a finder being observed extracting or replacing it. Once a hiding place has been compromised, it's likely any new cache that goes there will soon disappear too as local muggles, particularly kids, will be keeping watch. My rule of thumb is to replace a cache once if it goes missing, but if it happens again, particularly if it's soon afterwards, it's time to either find a new hiding spot or archive the cache.

[Hoppili]

Thanks for all your opinions/experiences on this topic, since I live in a city I find it difficult to find (good) hiding places manymaybe I should find more caches first to get better ideas.

[+Smitherington]

Finding more caches to get ideas is always a good practice.

[+cerberus1]

On 1/22/2022 at 12:15 PM, Hoppili said:

 I have twice hidden a geocache which disappeared (stolen by animals, people (haters) or so.

What is the motivation to hide geocaches when they are stolen anyway?

The maintenance of geocaches is easy but to always build a new one when the old one is destroyed I find also kind of stupid.
What is your experience or opinion on this subject?

 

If you're hiding low D/T caches in a city and caches are going bye-bye, think about your hide style.

Most places I'd think were good, we know others think so too. I worked in a prison once, and all inmates hid stuff in the same spots...

You'd be surprised by how many "city caches" are mistaken for dope stashes.  It's a good spot...

 - But other than a short time with a bad app, we haven't experienced this stolen caches belief you seem to have.   

We prefer woods though, and if you have a larger park outside the city, a bus/train ride may be in order.

[Darwin473]

Urban caches can be much more challenging. It would be a bit easier if CO's were able to find out exactly why a missing cache went missing - bored teenagers, council staff, drunks and malicious people all require different options to improve cache longevity.

 

The common theme for longer lasting urban caches (in my limited experience) is for them to be hidden from view. Tupperware tucked under a bush or next to a bus stop is almost guaranteed to be spotted by a random person. Mint tins magnetically stuck under a utility box or sign and out of sight are less likely to be found accidentally, and as a bonus are also out of the elements. Semi-hidden caches such as those inside the lid of a fence post are "out in the open" but blend in to their environment. One of my hides is in a metal utility box (about shoe box sized) that that the original CO (I resurrected an archived cache) had made by bolting it a metal pole that had nothing on it. It's right in the heart of the city and it's been ignored by thousands of people over the last ten years (my cache is GC91QZG, the original was GC3F8B5).

[+niraD]

4 hours ago, Darwin473 said:

The common theme for longer lasting urban caches (in my limited experience) is for them to be hidden from view.

I think that applies to pretty much any cache in a busy location. That can be an urban/suburban park, or it can be the visitor center of a popular state/county park in the woods somewhere.

 

And keep in mind that it isn't just the cache sitting in its hiding spot. It's also the cache while seekers are searching for it, finding it, retrieving it, and replacing it.

 

One pattern that I've seen multiple times in urban/suburban parks is for various owners to place a series of short-lived larger caches in a location, until someone hides a micro-cache (or perhaps even a puzzle micro-cache). That micro-cache is what survives in that kind of location, so it's what you tend to find in urban/suburban locations.

[+T & G's Adventures]

Years ago when we first started caching we put out three of our own caches. Two were easy to get to and one took some effort to climb up to. It was a rocky climb but not all that bad. It was an ammo can. No cache was placed where a casual walker/hiker would happen on them. You had to be Geocaching to find them. Two are still in use and fairly busy. But the one that was the hardest to get to got "muggled" (out and out stolen!) twice. It was the one with the ammo can! It had to be fellow cachers who decided they needed the ammo can more than me and my cache. Finally we just archived it because I didn't want to lose any more cans. More than 15 years have gone by now and we're thinking of re-placing that cache only this time with a much smaller (and cheaper) container. This kind of behavior really saddens me. 

[+cerberus1]

3 hours ago, T & G's Adventures said:

Years ago when we first started caching we put out three of our own caches. Two were easy to get to and one took some effort to climb up to. It was a rocky climb but not all that bad. It was an ammo can. No cache was placed where a casual walker/hiker would happen on them. You had to be Geocaching to find them. Two are still in use and fairly busy. But the one that was the hardest to get to got "muggled" (out and out stolen!) twice. It was the one with the ammo can! It had to be fellow cachers who decided they needed the ammo can more than me and my cache. Finally we just archived it because I didn't want to lose any more cans. More than 15 years have gone by now and we're thinking of re-placing that cache only this time with a much smaller (and cheaper) container. This kind of behavior really saddens me. 

 

When we started in '04 a cache maggot was stealing only ammo cans, claiming them to be litter (by paper left...), so it happens sometimes.

Odd that they didn't see all the plastic strewn about as the same...

Anyway, no one knew who it was, and this new cerberus couple either placed a DNF and the cache was missing, or it went "missing" after their find. 

We were called terrible things at events, and after all the emails, thought we'd quit this hobby with such awful people...

Turns out I spotted the maggot, the tell-tale outline of a 50cal in his pack, accosted him, and he moved outta the area with his mommy.

His landlord (a cacher) did his check and found shelving filled with caches, trackables, and toys in the basement.

Not one person ever apologized for the (expletives deleted) heck we went through... 

   But...  we've looked to place caches in the oddest of places (and distant...) to find signs that others outside this hobby went there too.  

We wouldn't assume it had to be a geocacher...   

We had a cache in a cave that even old locals didn't know about, to find kids used it to party in the Summer, and even cleaned-up after themselves.

We used lots of ammo cans, having a pallet to play with, and they came up "missing" mostly during an "Intro" app around '14 or so.

The newbs thought they were supposed take them and then re-hide.  Most were found easily along trails, exposed.

 

 

[+GeoTrekker26]

Have you considered etching the GC number into the ammo can?

[+barefootjeff]

5 hours ago, cerberus1 said:

But...  we've looked to place caches in the oddest of places (and distant...) to find signs that others outside this hobby went there too. 

 

Yes. The final of one of my multis, a T4 rock scramble and bush-bash through a few hundred metres of thick scrub to a cliff-top vantage point, seemed pretty remote and untouched, well, until I came across the remains of a muggle campfire about 50 metres from the cache, complete with the obligatory broken beer bottle.

 

 

A couple of months prior to placing that one, I'd been exploring another area nearby. I'd been trying to get to a line of cliffs above the creek but the scrub was too thick, but just outside the national park boundary I stumbled across a large outcrop of rock which, although it didn't offer much in the way of views, held possibilities for a cache. Yet as I was searching for potential hiding places, I came across a rock cairn someone had made.

 

 

I reckon if I can find some out-of-the-way place to put a cache, there's every chance that, at some time, muggles will have done the same thing looking for places to barbecue their steak, drink their beer and smash their bottles.

Edited February 10, 2022 by barefootjeff

[+Viajero Perdido]

2 hours ago, barefootjeff said:

muggle campfire

 

Caches are often hidden under a UPS (unnatural pile of sticks), as we all know, right? 

 

That's indistinguishable from a UPF (unnatural pile of firewood), unfortunately. 

[+colleda]

On 1/23/2022 at 4:15 AM, Hoppili said:

Hello Geocaching community,
after a long time I started geocaching again, and I immediately noticed why I stopped. That was because I have twice hidden a geocache which disappeared (stolen by animals, people (haters) or so. What is the motivation to hide geocaches when they are stolen anyway? The maintenance of geocaches is easy but to always build a new one when the old one is destroyed I find also kind of stupid.
What is your experience or opinion on this subject?
Greetings from
Hoppili

 

Did you happen to mention, in the description, the cache as being an ammo can? I saw that one of your cache finders posted a image of signing the log with the can in full view.

I have a few ammo cans out but I'm careful not to identify them as such. I did replace one today that was taken but that was after a bush fire four months ago that exposed it. Probably taken by fire crews cleaning up. There's just enough regrowth now to shield it from a walking/cycling track about 10 metres away.

Fernleigh Track #9 Traditional Geocache

GC4ATZ8

[+G0ldNugget]

I have some family-friendly themed caches in a fun spot. They are high maintenance. I've replaced one several times and need to head out there again to check on them. So many new players and they don't always return them properly to their hiding place. Some days I swear I'm just going to archive them...

Despite the hassle, I enjoy these caches as they generate lots of traffic and I know they are fun finds for families and new players. I get lots of pics of smiling kids.

 

Most of my caches are more remote and they tend to be fine for long periods, but then they don't get many visitors. Its a trade off.

[+TeamRabbitRun]

On 2/10/2022 at 12:06 AM, colleda said:

Did you happen to mention, in the description, the cache as being an ammo can? I saw that one of your cache finders posted a image of signing the log with the can in full view.

I have a few ammo cans out but I'm careful not to identify them as such. I did replace one today that was taken but that was after a bush fire four months ago that exposed it. Probably taken by fire crews cleaning up. There's just enough regrowth now to shield it from a walking/cycling track about 10 metres away.

Fernleigh Track #9 Traditional Geocache

GC4ATZ8

 

A number of the finders of my ammo can caches have logged about it, as in "Great to see an AMMO CAN cache out here!"

<sigh>

[+colleda]

1 hour ago, TeamRabbitRun said:

 

A number of the finders of my ammo can caches have logged about it, as in "Great to see an AMMO CAN cache out here!"

<sigh>

I get that too occasionally.

[+Harry Dolphin]

Quote

This is my favorite type of cache. A nice walk, a great view and an ammo can to boot! We had some free time this afternoon and decided to come up here. I'm glad we did it was a good way to end the week. Thanks for a great hide

 

[+captnemo]

After logging a cache with the words "ammo cache" in the log I got an email from the CO asking me to edit my log and remove those words as they had several ammo cans stolen.  Of course I did.

 

 

[+cerberus1]

15 hours ago, captnemo said:

After logging a cache with the words "ammo cache" in the log I got an email from the CO asking me to edit my log and remove those words as they had several ammo cans stolen.  Of course I did.

 

Yeah...  Odd thing though, is we've never seen a cache called "(name of cacher's) Golden Ammo Can" stolen.  Go figure...

[+Lostboy1966]

A lot is about the location being in an area where a civilian is less likely to stumble upon the container, but sometimes bum luck just comes into play. I had a hide (not an ammo can) placed in what I thought was a remote area in a preserve, and one day it was reported as laying next to a newly constructed fire pit littered with beer cans, partially melted next to the ashes. Stuff happens sometimes. It’s a hazard of being a cache hider I suppose. Keep the faith!

Edited February 16, 2022 by Lostboy1966
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