Yeah, how come dropped parts always bounce, or end up in a completely different area to that which they seemed to go!!??!!
I tend to use a mini torch to scan the carpet, a bit like CSI!
I've spent ages looking for things that I thought I'd dropped on the floor and then having given up, "found" them on my workbench!
Re Wizzel's suggestion, about regularly vacc'ing the carpet is sound advice... but there's always the danger of vacc'ing up parts you might not have realised were there!
Biggles