This Cache is placed as part of the New York State Park Saratoga/Capital District Regional Geocache Challenge. There are 52 geocaches hidden within 16 state parks and historic sites in this parks region, and geocachers finding 35 or more will be eligible to enter their names in a drawing for valuable prizes. The first 75 people to find 35 or more caches will receive a special geocache challenge coin. If you are interested in taking up the challenge, you can pick up a geocache passport at any of the participating parks and sites or download it at www.nysparks.com
This cache contains a unique stamp which must stay with the cache. Use this stamp to stamp your passport. This stamp is NOT a trade item. Some of the items in the cache are park souvenirs and do not need to be replaced with a trade item.
Closest Parking Coordinates: N 42°56.307’ W 073°18.202’
Take Route 67 to the Bennington Battlefield Historic Site. Park in the lower lot at the Battlefield and walk back along the road. Find the young tree with a hole near its base.
We humans may think we are clever for hiding all of these caches for others to find, but animals have been doing it for ages! In this little hollow at the base of a tree you can see pieces of Acorn shells. This is called a midden, a pile of scraps left behind after an animal has had a meal. The most frequently seen middens are those made by squirrels and chipmunks. This particular pile seems to have been left by an Eastern Grey Squirrel. Eastern Grey Squirrels usually only “cache” a small amount of nuts in any one place and prefer to leave them in tree hollows. They are also partial to Acorns and Hickory nuts, as opposed to Red Squirrels who adore seeds found in pine cones. Just be sure that you do not leave any scraps behind as you look for the human-made cache.