Travel Bug Disappointments

[wzbt03]

For whatever reasons, I decided back some time ago to launch 9 travel bugs- here is the status update (not promising):

Spike the Dog – was doing fine and then got stuck in MDKJL2 Gang from Wisconsin – when I wrote them about moving it on I got a rather terse reply and supposidly dropped off and it has never been seen since.

Birdie – in someone hands since March 19 – not moved on (OOS).

Kristin the Troll – again in someones hands since 4/12 and not moved on (OOS).

Island Nedra – in someones hands since 5/27 never moved on (OOS).

Lyin King – in someones hands since 5/31 – never moved on (OOS).

Clayton the Catcher – in someone hands since 7/12 never moved on (OOS).

Alicia the Troll – lost in a non-cache location (probably taken) (OOS)

On Wisconsin I – still moving as of 8/12

On Wisconsin II – still moving as of 8/10

Not a very good track record for travel bugs!

OOS = Out of state

Seems a shame to have to ask people to move them on when they clearly should have access to that type of info to find them in the first place.

Such a fine concept lost in the hands of cachers who should know better.

[SkreeminWeezul]

I agree. I seem to be having the same track record… but, fortunately I only have two out there and my husband has one. One said he was taking it to a big event… said this 2 months ago and still waiting! The other one my husband had suggested to put Ireland as a destination since he is a leprechaun. Well, someone took him to Holland and he moved a bit in the beginning, now has been sitting. Yesterday I get a notification that he moved… woo hoo… I get to the bug site and the person logged that they found him. Then logged that they put him back in the same cache! I dont understand that one! I guess TB’s are the same as caches… ya gotta roll with the punches because there are jerks out there that dont abide by rules and dont care! Still waiting for my husband’s to move also… I sent a note to the person and received no reply.

Another one that irritated me was that we put someone else’s TB that wanted to go to Germany at a cache next to the EAA fly in figuring they would most likely take it there. Someone pulls it out a week before the fly in and says he is going to put it at a Chicago airport cache and it would most likely go off to Germany. Well, that person still hasnt placed the bug and I looked at the Osh Stash… and there were lots of people there during the fly in.

[Geoffnsara]

We haven’t had the best of luck in OOS caches with our TB’s. One was stolen around the Kentucky area at a TB only cache and the other two haven’t moved much either. We’ve found that in areas that aren’t highly populated, people are caching at a more leisurely pace and DO hang on to them for longer periods of time. Whenever we pick up a bug, we try to move it within two weeks. We’ll even drop it off at a nearby cache so that someone else can pick it up and move it if we unexpectedly find ourselves too busy to get out. We feel really guilty holding on to them for too long.

[Ray]

We have released several TBs as well. One of our most successful was just picked up a few weeks ago. Two are in never land, two are inactive but appear to still be viable and our least sucessful is still in it’s owners hands after 14 months. We haven’t really dwelled on their success or failure since we released them hoping for the best and expecting the worst. So far our success with travel bugs is considerably better than a ring toss at a church festival.

Enjoy the game, forget your disappointments and relish in your successes.
tb

[This message has been edited by Trudy & the beast (edited 08-22-2003).]

[Cheesehead Dave]

Well, it’s not all bad news for travel bugs.

Here’s one that made its way through the area and actually reached its goal! Good for Tucker!

[pogopod]

I have 16 out there and only one has gone missing. I include a tag that explains the concept of a bug and how it works. I put the bug and the attached laminated tag in a ziplock bag and put the name of the bug and its goal on the outside of the bag. Maybe I have just been lucky, but since January two of the sixteen have made their goal and the rest seem to be moving along. (Except for the one that lasted only one day) I have had over 400 bugs in my possesion. Each time I find one I put it in a bag with its name and goal on the outside of the bag. I think it helps keep the newbies from taking the bug and thinking it is only a trinket like the rest of the stuff in the cache.

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