Bear-Smokey Bear TB

I maintain records on my trackables. They have the goal to circulate more than five years and to be moved by at least 25 cachers. That is a target rate of five drops per year for five years, or a drop every 73 days. The average drop rate of my trackables in the US is 124 days, in Europe it is 71 days. As of 29-Feb-24 this trackable had survived for 9.0 years but it had been moved by only 16 cachers, for an average drop every 205 days, or 1.8 drops per year. Please keep it moving, then drop it in a safe place!

No permission is needed to leave the U.S. While in the U.S., please drop it at an event, in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban, non-premium cache. Transport the bug in the original plastic bag for as long as the bag lasts; the bag keeps the trackable clean and dry, protects the number and prevents tangling with other items. Otherwise, take the trackable anywhere you wish.

This “Bear” series of travel bugs are each named for fictional bears of children’s literature, comic books, cartoons, mythology and animated shorts or features. 

Smokey Bear (or Smokey the Bear) is an advertising mascot created to educate the public about the dangers of forest fires. An advertising campaign featuring Smokey was created in 1944 with the slogan, "Smokey Says – Care Will Prevent 9 out of 10 Forest Fires".  Smokey Bear's later slogan, "Remember... Only YOU Can Prevent Forest Fires", was created in 1947 by The Advertising Council.  In April 2001, the message was updated to "Only You Can Prevent Wildfires".  According to the Ad Council, Smokey Bear and his message are recognized by 95% of adults and 77% of children.

The living symbol of Smokey Bear was an American black bear cub who in the spring of 1950 was caught in the Capitan Gap fire, a wildfire that burned 17,000 acres (69 km2) in the Lincoln National Forest, in the Capitan Mountains of New Mexico.  Smokey had climbed a tree to escape the blaze, but his paws and hind legs had been burned. According to some stories, he was rescued by a game warden after the fire, but according to the New Mexico State Forestry Division, it was actually a group of soldiers from Fort Bliss, Texas, who had come to help fight the fire, that discovered the bear cub and brought him back to the camp.