Love Bug-Muleshoe Blue Black Glass

For a US-based trackable, this one is unusual for its longevity and movement. In the six-year period, 2010-15, the owner released a total of 2168 trackables in the United States (96%) and Europe (4%). This trackable is one of the 5% of the total that circulated for at least 5 years and had been moved at least 25 times. That is a target rate of at least five drops per year for five years, or a drop every 73 days. As of 13-Jan-22 this particular trackable had survived for 8.2 years and had been moved by 31 cachers, for an average release every 96 days. Keep it moving!

Please drop it in a Premium Member only OR a rural cache near a busy trail or road. Do not place it in an urban cache or abandon it at a caching event where there is no security. 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. No permission is needed to leave the U.S.

This is one of a series of heart-shaped items obtained from different places and converted into travel bugs. They are named either for the places of their origin or for Texas Panhandle-South Plains towns with interesting names or histories.  

Muleshoe is a small city in and the county seat of Bailey County. It was founded in 1913 when the Pecos and Northern Texas Railway built an 88-mile line from Farwell to Lubbock through northern Bailey County. Muleshoe was incorporated in 1926. The population was 5,158 at the 2010 census. The name Muleshoe can be traced in the region to Henry Black who registered a brand on November 12, 1860. In 1877, Black purchased three houses on a 40,000 acres in Stephens County, naming it Muleshoe Ranch, supposedly for having found a mule shoe on the property. On the main street is a highly prized statue of a mule, a memorial to the animal's contributions in World War I. The city also hosts the World Championship Muleshoe Pitching Contest on the Fourth of July.