[Az-Geocaching] What to do if you find a travel bug in a cache that has not yet been logged into that cache? Answer here

[Trisha]

Ken,

These are very good instructions, thanks for making it clear.

Let's just hope that the geocacher who hopped on the plane to Japan
(in your example) isn't TOO disappointed that he/she doesn't get a
chance to "drop" the TB into the cache, a part of their history with
the TB, when they finally get to their computer!

The point I am trying to make is that, if it a recent drop off, maybe
wait a day or two to log it, or email the previous person and wait a
day or two for the answer....just in case it is a matter of a delay in
computer access. This is probably a minority of cases, but it does
happen. Then if you get no answer, your (Ken's) instructions for
logging the bug work great.

I've been in the situation of a delay in computer access (between
Prescott and Reno) and I know I would have been upset if someone
"snagged the TB out of my hands" before I had a chance to log it
properly.

Just a couple pennies,
Trisha "Lightning"
Prescott



On Tue, 12 Aug 2003 19:15:31 -0700 (PDT), Ken Akerman wrote:

Geocachers, 
 
Sometimes you may get a travel bug from a cache, and when you go to
log your retrieval of the travel bug, you note that the geocacher who
put the travel bug in the cache has yet to log the travel bug in the
cache.  This may happen when you grab a travel bug a very short time
after the bug when placed in the cache, or when you grab a travel bug
placed by geocachers from outside the local area who may not have
ready access to the Internet and thus may be unable to log their
geocaching visits for several days.
 
If you simply "grab" the travel bug, the travel bug will not earn
credit for its visit to the cache that you retrieved it from, and thus
the travel bug will not earn credit for the mileage gained.  This will
result in an incomplete log history for the travel bug.  Therefore, I
will present a solution to solve this problem, and I will illustrate
it with an example.
 
Say you visit Have Bug, Will Travel after work one day, and in it you
find the travel bug Ichiro Suzuki Mini BobbleHead Bug which was placed
by a geocacher who then boarded a flight to Japan right after placing
the bug, and thus could not log his visit.  The travel bug is not
shown as being in the cache but is still listed in the possession of
the geocacher who put it there.  
 
Here is what you need to do.  Go to the travel bug page and enter the
six-digit dogtag number for the travel bug before entering your log
entry for Have Bug, Will Travel.  Next, go to the page for Have Bug,
Will Travel and log your visit.  At the bottom of the Log a Find page,
in the section Dropped off a traveller?, select Ichiro Suzuki Mini
BobbleHeadBug from your inventory to place this travel bug in the
cache.  The travel bug will thereby earn credit for its visit to the
cache.
 
Next, go back to the cache page for Have Bug, Will Travel and click on
Ichiro Suzuki Mini BobbleHeadBug under Travel Bugs have been seen in
this cache next to the travel bug symbol in the upper right-hand
corner.  Enter the six-digit dogtag number again to retrieve this
travel bug and put it back in your inventory.  Move the travel bug to
another cache as you normally would.
 
I hope that all geocachers do this to any travel bug that they find in
a cache that has not yet been logged in the cache.  This will
help travel bugs earn credits for all of their visits to caches and
will help ensure that travel bugs have complete travel histories.
Ken Akerman (a.k.a. Highpointer)