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For immediate release
CACHE LINE HEADQUARTERS -- Weeks before the Fall Fest Mega Event in Ontario Canada, while preparations were still underway, Cache Line HQ faced an unexpected challenge: a mob of animals - parents and baby critters - had appeared in the area and begun wandering toward nearby geocaches.
Where the animals came from remains a mystery that CLHQ continues to investigate. But for now, there was a much more immediate concern: they needed to be rounded up.
The animals' curiosity posed a very real potential threat for nearby geocaches. Some geocaches may unfortunately contain things placed by past finders carrying interesting scents and odors. Food remnants, in particular, can be irresistible to an inquisitive young animal. The Treasure Troops do their best to find and remove them as part of their ongoing mission.
Even so, sometimes a critter's curiosity simply gets the better of them - but a whole menagerie of animals could be another matter entirely: Nibbling, pawing, dragging, knocking over, or otherwise disturbing caches could create a wave of unnecessary maintenance for geocachers. But CLHQ was already watching something much more sinister develop.
CLHQ's Cloud Sentry stations began detecting increasing readings of the Blue's signature presence closing in around the geocache locations most likely to attract the wandering animals.
The Blue wasn't interested in the critters though - it was interested in the potential consequences.
Every cache requiring unexpected maintenance represents an opportunity for frustration. Frustration can diminish the joy of geocaching, and diminished joy creates exactly the sort of negative energy that the Blue seeks to exploit.
The roundup had to happen quickly.
With Fall Fest nearing, and having a rodeo stampede theme, CLHQ saw an excellent opportunity to contact the event with a special request: We need Max!
The beloved Fall Fest mascot was recruited to serve as ring leader of the 'great critter roundup', bringing his unique brand of determination to an operation that was becoming increasingly urgent.
The Treasure Troops took to the field, searching trails, clearings, brush, and the areas surrounding vulnerable geocaches. Ruby Rover led one of the search teams, reporting critter sightings and locations back to Cache Line HQ.
Calves and foals were gathered. Baby badgers were coaxed from hiding. Prairie critters were redirected away from caches.
And then came the discovery of one particularly stubborn nomad: A rogue baby flamingo.
The little pink troublemaker had apparently decided that a dense forest was a much better place to exist than anywhere Max wanted it to be. Quite possibly, this was an untimely traveller from the Flingoverse.
The Treasure Troops tracked it down and reported its location. Then Max arrived, and the chase was on! After a tense series of evasive maneuvers, the baby flamingo was finally wrangled into the roundup.
One by one, the remaining animals were secured and returned to safety.
As the final critters were gathered, CLHQ's instruments showed the Blue signatures beginning to subside around the areas of the subject geocaches.
No major cache damage had occurred. No widespread maintenance crisis developed. But what to do with the critters?
CLHQ credits the Treasure Troops with locating the wandering animals, with accolades given to Ruby Rover's outstanding tracking - but there is little doubt about who became the hero of the operation.
Max.
"Max didn't just round up some animals," said Sir Tiny Tim, Line Keeper at CLHQ. "Max helped prevent a potential cascade of problems that the Blue could have exploited. That's what makes this such an important victory."
The critters are safe. The caches are safe. And the Blue has been denied another foothold.
With the operation successfully concluded, CLHQ has transformed the debacle into a new collectible release for Cache Hunters.
The Fall Wrangler card set celebrates the menagerie of parents and babies, the Treasure Troops who tracked them, the geocaches caught in the middle, and Max-the hero who brought them all back in.
As for where the animals originally came from, and where they should go? CLHQ has questions. Lots of them. But that investigation is for another day. And CLHQ has some extra pets to care for for a while.
For now, Headquarters has a much more important message: THE CRITTERS ARE ROUNDED UP. THE CACHES ARE SAFE. THE BLUE HAS BEEN PUSHED BACK.
And you can continue to fight the Blue by obtaining the booster cards for your catalogue!
Order booster packs: Fall Wrangler (Booster, Legendary, Ultimate Supporter Packs) Event details: Fall Fest 2026 Mega
Arch Team is a pair of CLHQ Agents tasked with archaeological exploration of the farther reaches of the CLD, with the intentional focus on locating oddities and seeking out potential risks and dangers that might face the Treasure Troops while they carry out their own missions.
The two agents as of this writing are Iowa Jones and Louisianna Rose, a couple who have adventured and explored extensively together in their passion for archeological discoveries.
The Treasure Troops is a small corps of specialized toys recruited to help boost energy in the CLD by improving the quality of experience enjoyed by people finding geocaches. The troops target geocaches that have a shortage of swag within the container, transporting via Cloud Portals through the CLD along cache lines to the destination target, then find the geocache and call in a selection of swag from back at CLHQ. They depart the scene swiftly before the target geocache is found again by a geocacher.
Increased swag has shown to boost the positive energy emitted within the CLD by the geocacher; especially in younger children who are prone to see things in geocaches as treasure. The Treasure Troops take pride in their missions to improve the geocaching experience for finders.
The Treasure Troops are led by the head Line Keeper, Sir Tiny Tim.
More information: clhq.net/about