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Muggled. Your Thoughts & Tactics


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It's no fun to get muggled. I'm kind of surprised this cache did. GC6HH6N is the only cache I have out now and it isn't easily accessible, it is a premium member only cache, it isn't off of a trail, it is above eye level, you have to reach into a hollow that you can't see into to extract the container (a rubber spider w/ the bison tube hidden in the abdomen)- so I'm a little surprised that it was found and taken. But I'm prepared.

 

Thankfully I bought an army of the critters in case this happened. My question is how many times do you re-hide or replace a cache before relocating? I tried to make it very muggle-proof so maybe back to the drawing board for the design. What's your usual response to getting muggled?

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If it's in a hole in a tree, it could have been crittered by a squirrel.

 

This would be my suspicion as well.

 

Or the hole in the tree is deeper than you realized and it's fallen farther in.

 

Tethering it to the tree with fishing line or something like that might help.

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The disappearance could be a result of any number of reasons

  • Uninitiated members of the public spotting a cacher.
  • childen playing
  • inexperienced cachers who don't know your supposed to leave them where they find them.
  • out of area cachers too lazy to buy/ assemble their own caches who take other peoples instead.
  • animals

 

Solutions could involve

  • hiding a boring plain micro
  • securing the cache with an unbreakable string.

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It's no fun to get muggled. I'm kind of surprised this cache did. GC6HH6N is the only cache I have out now and it isn't easily accessible, it is a premium member only cache, it isn't off of a trail, it is above eye level, you have to reach into a hollow that you can't see into to extract the container (a rubber spider w/ the bison tube hidden in the abdomen)- so I'm a little surprised that it was found and taken. But I'm prepared.

 

Thankfully I bought an army of the critters in case this happened. My question is how many times do you re-hide or replace a cache before relocating? I tried to make it very muggle-proof so maybe back to the drawing board for the design. What's your usual response to getting muggled?

 

Might have been a critter that got rid of it or it might have been someone's kid who thought it was cute.

 

You are the only one who knows how often you feel like replacing it. How much patience do you have? If it happens again, then you need to decide whether it's worth replacing or moving or archiving.

 

You can move your cache up to 528 ft before you need help from the Reviewer.

 

If you do move it, please, please, please use the "updated coordinates" log.

 

Help Center → Hiding a Geocache → Geocache Ownership: A Long-Term Relationship

4.13. How do I update coordinates for my geocache?

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=61

 

Also, make sure you post an "owner maintenance" log to let folks know that you've taken care of any problems.

 

4.10. Managing Your Geocache Listing

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=kb.page&id=234

 

B.

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...is the only cache I have out now and it isn't easily accessible, it is a premium member only cache
Like others, I'd think something else happened to your hide.

- Though 1.5 T should be easily accessible to all but those in wheelchairs.

 

If a simple micro (matchstick holder, bison, etc), we might just replace when needed, as they're the cheapest of the lot.

We'll archive it if it becomes a weekly/monthly thing though.

Ammo cans, we archive if the second one goes bye-bye.

 

Now that you realize pmo might not be the big safety net some claim, if your terrain is raised a bit, it might help. :)

Our higher terrain caches see far less issues than the 1.5-2 caches in small parks and cemetery.

We've never made any pmo. Seen many instances where quality and security just didn't meet the marketing.

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Ok so now I am much more humored... thinking of the squirrel who found this big squeegy spider and thus conquering this Goliath of a foe, he now has some tall tales to tell all of the other squirrel-kin.

 

It is a horizontal hollow, more like a cup in the top of the branch. Interesting thought about the critter-muggle.

 

I bought a half a dozen of the critters so the only limit I have for the time being is the bison tubes - I'm replacing it at lunch today, so that's not a problem.

 

I'd love to find where the thing ran off to, maybe just maybe...

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Great ideas. Thank you all.

You're right, it was most likely taken by an animal. I replaced it and another cacher found the cache and on the way out found the original container about 20' away on the ground. That rubber spider had one heck on an adventure and some forest critter has a tale to tell as well. Muggled my Mother Nature.

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Great ideas. Thank you all.

You're right, it was most likely taken by an animal. I replaced it and another cacher found the cache and on the way out found the original container about 20' away on the ground. That rubber spider had one heck on an adventure and some forest critter has a tale to tell as well. Muggled my Mother Nature.

Glad everything is back to normal with the cache. I once asked Mrs. AuthorityFigures if I could hide a cache similar to yours. I wanted to use a very realistic plastic tarantula spider to house the micro container. she said she would use me to beat the spider to death if she found one like I wanted to hide. I decided against it envisioning an arachnophobic cacher doing it in with a large rock.

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One of the best ways to help deal with muggles is not telling them that the cache is there! DO NOT EVER yell out "I found it" say something else - put in the instructions on you cache page. "Hey! I found a neat bug" "I think I lost my contact" is a much better way to announce it! Hide the cache where there are no Muggles! GO remote! Go out of sight. Be quiet, stealthy, and do not draw attention to your self!

Seekers can do a lot better to help out with the problem!

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One of the best ways to help deal with muggles is not telling them that the cache is there! DO NOT EVER yell out "I found it" say something else - put in the instructions on you cache page. "Hey! I found a neat bug" "I think I lost my contact" is a much better way to announce it! Hide the cache where there are no Muggles! GO remote! Go out of sight. Be quiet, stealthy, and do not draw attention to your self!

Seekers can do a lot better to help out with the problem!

+1

"Ooh, that was a big spider!" was popular with the other 2/3rds for some time. :lol:

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One of the best ways to help deal with muggles is not telling them that the cache is there! DO NOT EVER yell out "I found it" say something else - put in the instructions on you cache page. "Hey! I found a neat bug" "I think I lost my contact" is a much better way to announce it!

 

Unless it's a muggle with a badge. In that case, be honest and explain as best as you can what you're doing.

 

Hide the cache where there are no Muggles! GO remote! Go out of sight. Be quiet, stealthy, and do not draw attention to your self!

Seekers can do a lot better to help out with the problem!

 

This I agree with. Even when a cache is placed with permission, and finders are doing their best to be stealthy, odds are that if a muggle notices someone finding/replacing a cache it's probably not the person from which the CO obtained permission. Speaking from experience, that person could be a muggle with a badge and might not be wearing a uniform.

 

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How inexpensive/accessible are RFID chips these days? I feel like we should be at the point, or at least approaching it, where it would be feasible to put some kind of chip in the container of a cache so that you can track it if it does go missing. I've only just thought of this though, so I've never looked into it. Wonder if anyone else has?

Edited by ZeekLTK
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I feel like we should be at the point, or at least approaching it, where it would be feasible to put some kind of chip in the container of a cache so that you can track it if it does go missing. I've only just thought of this though, so I've never looked into it. Wonder if anyone else has?

 

It wouldn't be feasible. If you have a largeish detector (such as they have in shops/libraries/factories) then you can detect an RFID chip within several feet. If you have a small (handleld) detector then it's down to inches; so a missing cache would need to be taken very close to someone with the technology who knew & cared about geocaches before it got detected and acted upon. I suspect most muggled caches get carried a short distance away, the contents examined/taken and then it's either dumped in a bin, or thrown behind a hedge; anyone who was stealing it to re-use the container would probably remove the RFID chip along with any other identifiable markings.

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How inexpensive/accessible are RFID chips these days? I feel like we should be at the point, or at least approaching it, where it would be feasible to put some kind of chip in the container of a cache so that you can track it if it does go missing. I've only just thought of this though, so I've never looked into it. Wonder if anyone else has?

 

RFID technology can't be used for tracking.

 

It is a passive system and the power for the chip comes from the reader. There ate however GPS systems that can be used for this purpose but they are meant for at least site boxes and wouldn't be feasible for a geocache.

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We early on DNF a cache in a tree kind of like you are explaining. We found some small swagg around it. That CO then replaced it. I guess it was just a plastic film container. I noticed all the rat droppings on all the branches of the tree. I mentioned to him my thoughts that the rats were probably taking it. It went missing again and he archived it. I told him I would come up with a idea for him that the rats wouldn't take. He said we could have the spot. We placed a old army metal first aid kit there. It has been there for years without problems. I would suggest a metal bison tube tied on with some metal wire to stop them from taking it.

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