Missing Travel Bugs?

February 5, 2004

Here in the Richmond Virginia area, seems a few travel bugs have just disappeared from several caches. Does this happen alot? I wonder if some cachers just grab them and don't log them, or maybe they don't care and forget about them. Also seems like some people don't pay attention to the special mission a TB might be on. I hope the missing ones show up soon, but it's been several weeks now. Someone showed me the TB graveyard page, so i see it does happen. What are your thoughts on this?

February 5, 2004

All of the above. At the forums here I've read instances of TB kidnappings, geocachers intending to place them somewhere but never do, people collecting TBs, people moving the TB but never recording what they did online, and cachers doing the complete opposite of the bug's purpose.

Personally, I have visited several caches that were supposed to have bugs. But each time there was none. I've never actually seen one myself...

-Bob

February 5, 2004

i had to go to my cache( needed numbers) and log a TB that someone had drop off and did not post it.

3.1k · February 5, 2004

TB's dissapear a lot. I finally located the copys of my missing TB's and will send them off again, but with a laminated tag which includes goals and the TB number. I'm saving the copys for the next time they go bad on me.

February 6, 2004

Another question is how many weeks is several? I picked up a TB 3 weeks ago and just put it back into the wild. I've seen a couple disappear, only to turn up a couple weeks later. I spoke with someone I knew picked up a TB and he didn't know it was supposed to be logged upon taking it.

So, hopefully they will show up.

F_M

7.2k · February 6, 2004

I've left this one here for a while, but it is time to move it to the appropriate forum, the Travel Bug Forum.

3.1k · February 6, 2004

Now I feel appropriate.

I'm happy if they put the bug out in a month or so. I'll check the users profile and hopefully the next time they cache they place it.

Maybe I'll place a little warning on the TB like, If you are not an experienced Travel Bug mover DO NOT TAKE THIS ITEM

maybe?

8.4k · February 6, 2004

Maybe I'll place a little warning on the TB like, If you are not an experienced Travel Bug mover DO NOT TAKE THIS ITEM

maybe?

Isn't this TB snobbery?

Would they need permission to hunt it too? Does one present you with a resume before logging your bug?

How does a new cacher get the required experience if your idea becomes widely accepted? (Which it won't.)

You actually make a good point, but it's better to hope for an experienced TB mover than to overtly require it.

I had a bad experience with a demanding TB owner once. I dropped his bug in the first available cache and didn't bother to go near the others of his that were floating around town.

It never ceases to amaze me that so much emotion can be invested in a thing. I have 108 TB's. They have no power over my feelings and emotions. Please feel free to throw this back up in my face if I EVER whine about a single one.

Sn gans

3.1k · February 6, 2004

[
Isn't this TB snobbery?

Would they need permission to hunt it too? Does one present you with a resume before logging your bug?

How does a new cacher get the required experience if your idea becomes widely accepted? (Which it won't.)

Yes it is in it's purest form

Yes they would need my permission to hunt it. If they don't meet my approval I will deny their request.

Their lack of experience is not my concern. I own a TB therefor I am.

4k · February 6, 2004

Maybe I'll place a little warning on the TB like, If you are not an experienced Travel Bug mover DO NOT TAKE THIS ITEM

maybe?

Isn't this TB snobbery?

Hmmmm....snobbery....yeah, that's a much nicer word than I was going to use.....thanks, Snoogans!

February 6, 2004

Would they need permission to hunt it too?

absolutely. Personally, I'm waiting for those radio frequency tags to come into wider use. The gov'mnt should require everyone to have one set to your 'clue' level. various activities could be rated as requiring you to have a clue level of X or above. For TB taking you could tag your TB as requiring "at least this much of a clue", or can't take. The remaining list is a long one. driving, parenthood, etc, etc.

3.1k · February 6, 2004

Yeah like you guys think it's a right to move Travel Bugs.

Only the finest people are allowed to move them along.

1.6k · February 6, 2004

Adding a tip to the FAQ for new cachers would be:

Do 5-10 caches, a traditional, a micro, and a virtual before taking a travel bug. Make sure this is the game for you before assuming the responsibility of moving a travel bug. After all, these are someone else's property and given missions that often require travel in a particular direction or to a paticular cache that you might not be able to help them on. Feel free to write down their tag number and make a note of your find on the travel bug page for practice, then when you have some experience, and have some interest in playing this part of the game, enjoy!

1.3k · February 6, 2004

I really hate to be rude but please stop trying to make rules saying who can move my travel bug where or when. I didn't put my bug out there to sit in a box. It doesn't need any more restrictions on movement. And it doesn't need cachers afraid to pick it up because of the beatings this forum seems to love handing out to anyone who dares hold a TB longer than two weeks.

I realize many of you seem to wish your TBs sat in the the same cache without being picked up for months but I don't. I want mine to play, meet new people, wander around, get lost, and have a good laugh over it. And if it dies, it dies. That's part of life. I pay my money, watch the movie, and when the movie is over I go home, happy to have seen the movie. I pay my money, watch my TB, and when it dies, I move it to the graveyard, happy to have watched the cycle of TB life again and again. The cool thing is that even after it dies, I still have the number and I can do something silly with that as long as I want.

If what naturally happens to TBs in the wild upsets you, then perhaps you're not the right person to release a TB. The rest of the world isn't going to change it's nature no matter how many rules you put on this site.

Edited February 6, 2004 by bons

4k · February 6, 2004

Yeah like you guys think it's a right to move Travel Bugs.

Only the finest people are allowed to move them along.

Perhaps we could also institute a $20 cash deposit before taking a bug, refundable only if the bug is placed within 2 weeks. :rolleyes:

9.4k · February 6, 2004

Yeah like you guys think it's a right to move Travel Bugs.

Only the finest people are allowed to move them along.

Perhaps we could also institute a $20 cash deposit before taking a bug, refundable only if the bug is placed within 2 weeks.

I'll collect the "deposits" :lol:

4k · February 6, 2004

Yeah like you guys think it's a right to move Travel Bugs.

Only the finest people are allowed to move them along.

Perhaps we could also institute a $20 cash deposit before taking a bug, refundable only if the bug is placed within 2 weeks.

I'll collect the "deposits"

I just made a "deposit" you can collect! :lol: Oh, I kill me!

February 6, 2004

Sorry about starting topic in the wrong forum, I wasn't paying attention. I don't have a problem with people keeping a TB for a week or two, just log it so we know you have it. If it's just a bug that wants to move around, by all means grab it and move it a mile or two or 1500. I'm hoping that somebody has the missing ones and just hasn't logged them yet, but it's been 3 weeks + now.

8.4k · February 6, 2004

I really hate to be rude but please stop trying to make rules saying who can move my travel bug where or when. I didn't put my bug out there to sit in a box. It doesn't need any more restrictions on movement. And it doesn't need cachers afraid to pick it up because of the beatings this forum seems to love handing out to anyone who dares hold a TB longer than two weeks.

I realize many of you seem to wish your TBs sat in the the same cache without being picked up for months but I don't. I want mine to play, meet new people, wander around, get lost, and have a good laugh over it. And if it dies, it dies. That's part of life. I pay my money, watch the movie, and when the movie is over I go home, happy to have seen the movie. I pay my money, watch my TB, and when it dies, I move it to the graveyard, happy to have watched the cycle of TB life again and again. The cool thing is that even after it dies, I still have the number and I can do something silly with that as long as I want.

If what naturally happens to TBs in the wild upsets you, then perhaps you're not the right person to release a TB. The rest of the world isn't going to change it's nature no matter how many rules you put on this site.

Well said bons. Some of us "get it."

I really like TBs. They are the most fun part of the game for me. It's a shame that an entire forum dedicated to them is not worth spending much time in.

I really think that it should be renamed "The Whining and Unrealistic Expectation Forum." Try to locate a thread in this forum without those two things in it. The 1000 bugs thread is priceless.

Sn :lol: :rolleyes: gans

February 7, 2004

I attach a small laminated card to my bugs. It says in bold red letters, "THIS IS NOT A TRADE ITEM" and then I put info about how to log the bug. So far this has worked just fine. I don't care who finds my bugs...as long as they help move them along. Not all "newbies" to caching are complete morons. I figure as long as I let them know it's not a trade item and give info on how to log the bug on gc.com, it's all good. :rolleyes:

February 7, 2004

I'll say this. I've put out 3 TBs at different times and very different places and all 3 have been lost within 2 months. I wonder sometimes of the intelligence levels of some cachers... this is quite rediculous. Should I start putting directions on how to walk and breathe with the directions I attach as how to log my TBs? :rolleyes: I say why not everyone do what they want as far as what directions they put on their TBs. In my case... I'm not wasting any more money on these god forsaken things...

Edited February 7, 2004 by pnew

8.4k · February 7, 2004

I'll say this. I've put out 3 TBs at different times and very different places and all 3 have been lost within 2 months. I wonder sometimes of the intelligence levels of some cachers... this is quite rediculous. Should I start putting directions on how to walk and breathe with the directions I attach as how to log my TBs? I say why not everyone do what they want as far as what directions they put on their TBs. In my case... I'm not wasting any more money on these god forsaken things...

Does that mean you won't be giving away the Texas Geocoin? I moved B.A. the same day that I picked it up.

Is the mustang lost? I was thinking of going out to grab that one.

Sn :lol: gans

February 8, 2004

I would be the ever scorned newb, mostly just a lurker here, Only 2 caches 2nd one my daughter took a liking to a travel bug(bunny fu fu), with full understanding that it must move on, unforunatly since then we have been dumped on with snow and accessability is a issue.

Now I could take her to a local cache that should be accesable in this weather, but I know I can move her futher in a bit of time, its been a month since we picked her up, properly logged her and emailed the owner.

My point..., I dont know maybe I feel a little guilty for keeping her so long but I think in the end a move of more than afew miles would be better.

Opinions, advice?

Todd

4k · February 9, 2004

I would be the ever scorned newb, mostly just a lurker here, Only 2 caches 2nd one my daughter took a liking to a travel bug(bunny fu fu), with full understanding that it must move on, unforunatly since then we have been dumped on with snow and accessability is a issue.
Now I could take her to a local cache that should be accesable in this weather, but I know I can move her futher in a bit of time, its been a month since we picked her up, properly logged her and emailed the owner.

My point..., I dont know maybe I feel a little guilty for keeping her so long but I think in the end a move of more than afew miles would be better.

Opinions, advice?

Todd

If it were my bug, a few miles is better than nothing....but, if you had also emailed me with your intentions, I would be ok with you holding it a bit longer for it to make a bigger leap. I love picking up TB's, and have picked up everyone I've found so far. Only once did I keep one longer than a couple of weeks, and I emailed the owner, let them know what was up, then finally placed it in my newest cache. Some die-hard from near here found it yesterday and picked up the bug, so now it's on it's way elsewhere....the same person dropped another bug I've been wanting to get my hands on, but it was already picked up again today by another cacher, who, in turn, left yet another TB in my cache....dang, was that long-winded, or what?

Anyway, like I said in the first line, a small move is better than none, but some owners are ok with holding the TB for a longer jump.

Missing Travel Bugs?

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