Muggled! (and in a nasty way)

[shine_like_a_star]

I got an email this morning saying that one of my favorite caches had been muggled. I’ve had caches gone missing before, but this just made me really sad. 🙁 🙁

“Summer School ’07, Session 2, 4 Students
Schmeekle was beautiful. We saw 4 deer at Schmeekle and 1 at Iverson. however……
Sadly, we found the cache muggled! Toys were sprawled and burned and the ammo box was peed in. We cleaned everything up and left the ammo box open to air out. Nothing was left but the ammo box. You may want to consider re-hiding it.”

We’ll go collect the wreckage tomorrow and will probably have to disable the cache and mark the TB and geocoin as MIA. 🙁 🙁

Just wanted to vent a little. I know you guys would understand.

[RSplash40]

yup, i can understand, 3 of my easy hides went the same way….

[I M WU]

Sorry to read that. My TB’s end up muggled-send out reinforcements they end up missing, one cache was emptied out with a scribbled note left, my red jeep may be muggled, I’m thinking of quitting geocaching and continue on with just waymarking…

[Folk Trakers]

We can understand. Our first ever cache lasted a while, then was muggled. It appeared that someone found it while searching for firewood for a bonfire—they must have found our cache too and burned the logbook and some of the items in it, sprawling the rest out all over. We found the remnants of the bonfire not far from the cache. Although we do expect caches to muggled occasionally, it was particularly sad to not have the logbook of our first cache! 🙁

[Thraxman]

@I M W/U wrote:

Sorry to read that. My TB’s end up muggled-send out reinforcements they end up missing, one cache was emptied out with a scribbled note left, my red jeep may be muggled, I’m thinking of quitting geocaching and continue on with just waymarking…

Sad to hear that. But consider this: TBs have always been high-risk. I lost one of my own, and once I had one in my possession when I stopped Geo-caching for a few years (had good intentions, but forgot about it). By their very nature they will tend to eventually vanish. They are small objects that change hands many times. They can be lost, stolen, or disappear when a cache is plundered. TBs should be considered disposable, and the fun is in seeing how far they go, kinda like letting a balloon with a note drift off in the wind.

As for the caches themselves, yeah, some get vandalized. But most don’t. Usually when one is vandalized, it means that a “muggle” happened upon it (the WRONG muggle for that matter). If the hide is good, this should not happen very often. That doesn’t mean the box should be impossible to find. Rather, only a cacher should be the only one to look there. When the cache is visible from the trail, or stashed near an area littered with beer cans, the risk is high 🙂

As long as they allow degenerates in the parks, they WILL stumble across our caches, and they WILL do nasty things to them. Personally, I see this as a reason to CONTINUE caching. If I am caching, I might, just MAYBE catch some of these idiots red-handed. And you can bet I won’t just walk away.

[wittman]

I know how you feel!! I have not had much luck hiding caches. My first cache was muggled 3 times in the first month. It makes me so angry. Why would someone do such a thing.

[Ray]

@shine_like_a_star wrote:

I got an email this morning saying that one of my favorite caches had been muggled. I’ve had caches gone missing before, but this just made me really sad. 🙁 🙁

If my memory serves me correctly, it seems that there were problems with a particularly malicious muggle in this same area a few years ago…
I wonder if it is the same malanthrope?

[TyeDyeSkyGuy]

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

[GeoPink]

On the positive side of this issue, I ran into the (friends of, supposedly) muggles who had just plain stolen my cache, GCJPG0. I spoke with them and they just “happened to remember it being there”, and they “were pretty sure they knew the guy that took it”. I asked them kindly to talk to him and see if he could return it because it was a game that we played and other folks were going to be coming to look for it and sign the log. They mentioned that they “had signed the log, too, when they found it”. Is told them that was great, I didn’t mind them recording their nearby fish adventures in the log, but “the cache was mine and I really needed it back”.

Having no real faith in ever seeing that cache again I didn’t come to check on it in a week like I had told them I would; but eventually got around to checking the area as I was checking for remnants of another nearby cache, too. Lo and behold, there in a willow tree was the cache; returned safe and sound.

I do have to say that little things like that tend to restore my faith in the youth of today. 🙂

[cheezehead]

I had to replace 2 of my caches this month cuz of “WILD Muggles” Not sure if it was a bear, raccoon, rabid squirrel or what. Yes, the cache containers were 1 large mayo container and one of those 3 cup zip lock contains. Teeth marks and everything. There was even a big tooth mark in the log book but I left it for character.

I don’t think too many caches up here have been muggled. I did go find a mico that was missing last month for another cacher but on the most part, most of the caches up here, the only way you are going to find them is if you are looking for them and then ya still can’t find them.

[kent1915]

Both Bobcatw98 and I had caches that were wasted in. Err rather, they became really Crappy caches… Not sure how you could do that either. Not really containers large enough to sit on… Never mind. You get the idea.

[Trekkin and Birdin]

Not really containers large enough to sit on… Never mind. You get the idea.

Ewww! You gotta wonder about people sometimes.

[djwini]

@kent1915 wrote:

Both Bobcatw98 and I had caches that were wasted in. Err rather, they became really Crappy caches… Not sure how you could do that either. Not really containers large enough to sit on… Never mind. You get the idea.

yep same thing happened to one of mine. ewwww

[Grandma & Grandpa]

I once got an email from a non-cacher advising me he had ‘happened’ upon one of our multi caches out in the forests of Oconto County, and that it was busted up. Sure enough, when I checked it, it looked as tho somebody had used it for target practice with a .22.

I have always wondered if this was his sublime way of bragging about shooting up our cache… On the other hand, we did appreciate knowing it needed attention. The next two times one of the legs of the multi got muggled, we did not know it until the next cacher found it. BTW, these mugglings must have been done by somebody informed, as everything was well off the beaten path and quite unlikely to have been discovered accidently.

TB’s? Out of a group of four, 2 have just plain disappeared, and one was swept away in a flood. The other is still going, and has >12,000 miles on it. Go figure, eh?

cYa, Jim & Chris

[rogheff]

I recently discovered an interesting muggling while doing maintenance on one of my caches. It had a camera in it.

The cache was sitting right where it should be, the contents in good shape, just a little note in the log (from the muggle) telling me to look at the camera images.

It seems during hunting season, he was in his deer stand and saw some folks walk up to the tree, nose around for a while and then leave. He was bored and curious, so he checked out the situation.

Oh, he found the cache, wrote his (very nice actually) note and took his picture.

I never realized just how hairy the moon was.

Needless to say, the camera is gone, the log book page is also gone. I’ll have to disable it for hunting season.

[Author]

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