Cache container swapped by someone else

[+pollyapfel]

Hi. We excitedly hid 2 new caches less than a week ago. In one of the first dozen or so logs, someone mentioned the container might not be waterproof. We were surprised as the hide was in an official geocache micro key ring container. On checking the hide today we found someone has taken our container and we now find our log book in a plastic sweet container. We’re really disappointed in this, our son hid the cache. What should we do next? Feel like disabling the cache, really sad - does this happen often?

[Coumpter]

I don't know I have only hide 1 geoache and it has never been swapped

[+Goldenwattle]

17 minutes ago, pollyapfel said:

Hi. We excitedly hid 2 new caches less than a week ago. In one of the first dozen or so logs, someone mentioned the container might not be waterproof. We were surprised as the hide was in an official geocache micro key ring container. On checking the hide today we found someone has taken our container and we now find our log book in a plastic sweet container. We’re really disappointed in this, our son hid the cache. What should we do next? Feel like disabling the cache, really sad - does this happen often?

That's disappointing. That's never happened to me yet and I hope it doesn't.

I did though years ago have a very cute tortoise cache disappear, but that could have been someone who wasn't a geocacher, or a dog.

[geoawareUSA9]

It's frustrating. It doesn't happen often, no, but when it's your cache, one time is too many.

 

Without doing some sort of surveillance, we can't know if your cache was taken by a geocacher or by a muggle who thought the container was neat and swapped it for the candy container. So while it's going to be tempting to try to figure out who took it, it's going to be hard to prove.

 

I have had the same thing happen with nice ammo cans replaced with glass jars. They also had notes inside that geocaching was littering, so I knew I had some sort of anti-cache vigilante. (Either that, or someone wanted my good containers badly enough to pretend they were an anti-cache vigilante.)

 

My ammo cans were part of a series, and they weren't the only containers stolen, just the nicest. So the first thing I did was to remove what shoddy containers were left behind and archive those cache listings. Once a muggle or cache thief knows about a geocache, they can return.

 

For a while, I made my subsequent hides premium member only, because I'd noticed that the higher terrain and higher difficulty caches in the area hadn't been touched - which means it was perhaps a basic member using the app. I later hid an entire series in another area about twenty minutes away, using ammo cans, but premium members only, and none were stolen.

 

But premium members can be thieves, too. Years ago, there was a cacher arrested in Rome, NY, who was a prolific cache thief.

 

Anyway. I am now back to having my caches available to all members. So far, so good.

Edited February 11 by geoawareUSA9
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[+Max and 99]

50 minutes ago, pollyapfel said:

Hi. We excitedly hid 2 new caches less than a week ago. In one of the first dozen or so logs, someone mentioned the container might not be waterproof. We were surprised as the hide was in an official geocache micro key ring container. On checking the hide today we found someone has taken our container and we now find our log book in a plastic sweet container. We’re really disappointed in this, our son hid the cache. What should we do next? Feel like disabling the cache, really sad - does this happen often?

That has never happened to me and I'd be very disappointed if it did. 

 

[+x7Kevin]

4 hours ago, pollyapfel said:

What should we do next? Feel like disabling the cache, really sad - does this happen often?

 

The cache going missing or being swapped doesn't happen too often in my area, but sometimes. It seems like your caches are in busy spots too, almost being logged everyday so far. 

 

If I'm hiding any type of unique container I usually try and have two ready to go. One to hide initially and a spare if it needs to be replaced. If I hid a second replacement (3rd container) and that went missing within a year or so, I would probably archive or slightly rework the hide. 

 

It seems like a lot of people are enjoying your hides though, hopefully one person doesn't ruin the fun, either intentionally or by accident. You could also try making them premium only for a while.  

[+cerberus1]

5 hours ago, pollyapfel said:

Hi. We excitedly hid 2 new caches less than a week ago. In one of the first dozen or so logs, someone mentioned the container might not be waterproof. We were surprised as the hide was in an official geocache micro key ring container. On checking the hide today we found someone has taken our container and we now find our log book in a plastic sweet container. We’re really disappointed in this, our son hid the cache. What should we do next? Feel like disabling the cache, really sad - does this happen often?

Bison Tube?  No real way to know who did it unless admitted in a log.  Replace it or keep the "sweet container" there until you think about location and another hide type, I guess.  

It doesn't happen often but remember we're dealing with people we don't know.  Anyone can play...

Many years ago a friend had their ammo cans replaced by plastic coffee cans.

Hunting one day and get a call, a fellow cacher/hunter spotted her from his tree stand.  I caught up to her in the parking lot and crying, she handed that one to me.  A long-time, "respected" premium member of the caching community.   She quit the hobby that day...

When we first started, a premium member only went after ammo cans. We got sucked into it because we either DNF them after they got swiped, or someone else DNF them after we found it.  Accused by many, an ugly time for us...

I caught him, and he not only was a PM but a college intern working for our game lands.   Not all PMs are honest n caring...

[+JL_HSTRE]

A missing container could be taken by muggles or animals or bad weather. 

 

A container swapped out for an inferior container, with the log and other contents transferred to the new container, is rare. Especially for a mundane micro (when this happens it's usually an ammo can).

[+lee737]

On 2/12/2024 at 11:44 PM, JL_HSTRE said:

A container swapped out for an inferior container, with the log and other contents transferred to the new container, is rare. Especially for a mundane micro (when this happens it's usually an ammo can).

What bothers me about this situation, is that it seems to suggests the container thief could be a cacher.....