Skip to content

Animal shit (formerly Animal house, Wooden Trunk) Traditional Geocache

Hidden : 9/25/2011
Difficulty:
2 out of 5
Terrain:
2 out of 5

Size: Size:   other (other)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:

You can park your car at N 51.36.865, E 006.00.515. No need to leave the path until you are around 10 meters from the cache. Please place the cache back in such a way that it cannot be seen from the path. Spoiler photo is from first cache container. Also the next container (named Animal house) was destroyed and replaced and all that was left from Animal house was Animial shit .Current cache has a different look and recently even the fake shit was stolen.

The cache is situated in Groeningse Bergen that is part of the “Maasheggen”. You can park your car at N 51.36.865, E 006.00.515. To reach the cache you can follow the cycling path in the south east direction and after ± 600 meters or so (N 51.36.755, E 006.00.880) you can follow a walking path at your left hand (NNE). This is part of the Pieterpad marked with red/white signs. There is no need to leave the path until you are around 10 m. from the cache. The cache is not far from the wooden bench (maybe 25 meters). Please place the cache back just as you found it and place it back in such a way that it cannot be seen from the path. Please close it with the hook. You can return following the same route or you can continue the Pieterpad as of the wooden bench in the NNE direction and turn left at a sandy road with sandy cycling path (N51.36.943, E 006.00.698). The spoiler photo is from first cache container that has been replaced twice. Also the next container named Animal House was destroyed and replaced and all that was left from Animal house was Animial shit. And in may 2020 even the shit was stolen.Current cache has a different look . It is just a box. The word “Maasheggen” exists of the word “Maas” that refers to the river and the word “heggen” that means hedges. The Maasheggen is ± 20 km long and a few kilometers wide and starts at Well and ends at Cuijk. It is a nice piece of nature that is divided by hedges. Characteristic is that many of the hedges are braided which results in long impenetrable hedges. In the Maasheggen the braided hedges are used as cattle fence. We know that already in 50 before Christ the same technique has been used by the Belgians. However they used it for defense purposes. They braided hedges in the woods surrounding their villages. Therewith the Belgians guarded themselves against raids on the part of their neighbors. See Julius Caesar his famous book “The Conquest of Gaul”(“Commentarii de Bello Gallico”). Each year during the second Sunday in March there is a championship “Maasheggenvlechten” in Oeffelt (nearby village). Of course most people attending are Dutch but you will also find participants from abroad. The site where you are on now is called “Groeningse Bergen”. These elevations in the landscape are formed during the mini ice age from 10.700 – 9.500 before Christ. At that time the river Maas brought a lot of sand to the Netherlands. The dry climate and heavy winds contributed to the formation of “river dunes “. The Groeningse Bergen are the remains of some of these river dunes. Of course such river dunes were already inhabited at an early stage because these were save places of refuge when the water was raising. As of 1900 the Groeningse Bergen was covered more and more with threes. The wooden bench that you will see nearby the cache is situated there because the Long Distance Walk “Pieterpad” is passing overthere. The white/red sign marks the Pieterpad. The Pieterpad is not, like many people think, a kind of pelgrimage. It is set up as a long distance walk in the period 1975-1981 and connects Pieterburen in the North of the Netherlands and the Sint Pietersberg in the South of the Netherlands, altogether 492 km. As of the Sint Pietersberg you can pick up GR 5 to the Mediterranean. Consider checking the hint if you have no time to come back. Spoiler photo is from first cache container that has been replaced. Current cache has a different look.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

1) Ybbx qbja. Vg vf pybfr gb n ovg ovttre gerr. Ab arrq gb qvt.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)