Oxford’s Wild Wolf One

Archived

After being muggled in September 2018, this cache has been archived.

Description

For a brief period during the 1930s, Kidlington was home to Oxford Zoo, a local attraction celebrated by an earlier geocache. Among the zoo’s exhibits in its later years were three Siberian wolves, which were housed in an enclosure at the far end of the site. In January 1937 the wolves escaped, briefly causing chaos in the village and the surrounding area.

This cache is one of a series of three – one for each escaped wolf – following in the pawsteps of the escapees. While the research behind their escapes is genuine, some liberties have had to be taken with the locations in order to ensure that the caches could be appropriately-placed: don’t take the locations of the caches in this series as actual locations of 1937 wolf sightings – they’re meant to be representative, not exact!

Finding this cache

The first wolf was found in a garden on the Oxford-Banbury Road, having jumped over the fence. You’re looking for a small container suitable for swaps and trackables on the smaller side: the laminated card within has more information on this escaped wolf.

Stealth is very-definitely required: GZ is overlooked by several houses and the nearby road attracts significant motor and foot traffic. Please take care to re-hide the cache in its spot at least as well as it was hidden when you found it, and check that it’s not exposed as you depart the GZ.

Limited on-street parking is available at N 51° 49.033′, W 001° 16.942′ and N 51° 49.082′ W 001° 16.867′; be sure to park in the marked bays and obey all posted parking restrictions. If you’re being driven by a non-geocacher, it’s also possible to find the cache and sign the log in less time than it takes for them to queue for and go through the nearby car wash, which presents an alternative, albeit unusual, option.

Logging this cache

You can log this geocache at any or all of the following:

• GC7Q9E6 [geocaching.com]
• OK0457 [opencache.uk]
• This page, by leaving a comment, trackback, or pingback to this web address

Further exploration

• Oxford’s Long-Lost Zoo (GC7Q96B / OK0456), a nearby geocache on site site of the zoo itself
• Oxford’s Wild Wolf Two (GC7Q9FF / OK0458), a nearby geocache commemorating the story of the second of three wolves to escape the zoo
• Oxford’s Wild Wolf Three (GC7QG1Z / OK045A), a nearby geocache commemorating the story of the last of the three wolves to escape the zoo
• Dan’s blog post about the creation of these caches