IEW #8: Pat or Pie?
This cache was previously known simply as Pat or Pie and has now been incorporated as the 8th cache in the 20 cache IEW Series which takes you around some of the beautiful countryside immediately east of Ilkley.
See GC8PCW2 Ilkley East Wander ~1: Intro and . . . Prick!? for information on the series and waypoints. See Gallery for an annotated map with cache locations and parking spots.
The cache, a small camo-taped screw-topped sample tube, is hidden just off a public footpath running across the fields from Burley to Ben Rhydding or up to the Ilkley-Menston road running past the Cow & Calf.
To reach the cache location:
If doing in IEW Series sequence: from IEW#7 continue down the path until it meets the private extension of Ben Rhydding Drive (BRD). Follow this right and down to the end where it meets the main BRD coming up from Ben Rhydding. Cross over and locate the Public Footpath sign and gate giving access to the cache location.
If doing as a one-off: carefully park at N 53 55.121 W 1 47.147 on the west side of Ben Rhydding Drive and locate the Public Footpath signpost on the east side which gives access to the path through the fields (and other caches!) and this cache nearby.
Having returned from finding Santos L Helper's GC1Q33G Denton View cache, as I was admiring the lovely evening view across the valley and looking for a suitable hiding place for my cache, I moved to one side to get a better position for a photo and - despite seeing many scattered around the field and especially around this apparently well-favoured spot . . . squelch . . . I had stepped right in it - a cow-pat.
After the initial shock and instinctive uttering of the traditional phrase used in such circumstances, for the next few moments my attention was diverted away from the view and to the small matter of removing the bovine deposit from my right boot - which I was able to do without too much difficulty using the required and readily available grassy resources. It was definitely a pat as of course a pie has a crust . . . and part of the 200 million tons produced annually by UK farm animals - mostly by cows!
This material - despite its yukkiness and occasional inconvenience - may be very useful . . .
It is usually a dark brown color and (usually combined with soiled bedding and urine) is most often used as manure (agricultural fertilizer). If not collected and removed or recycled into the soil by creatures such as earthworms and dung beetles, it can dry out and remain on pasture, creating an area of grazing land which is unpalatable to livestock.
In many parts of the developing world, and in the past in mountainous parts of Europe, caked and dried cow dung is used as fuel.
It may also be collected and used to produce biogas to generate electricity and heat. See here for an interactive UK biogas map. The gas is rich in methane and is used in rural areas of India and Pakistan and elsewhere to provide a renewable and stable source of electricity.
In central Africa, Maasai may burn cow dung inside their manyattas and grass huts to repel mosquitos. In some cold places in Africa, cow dung is used to line the walls of rustic houses as a cheap thermal insulator.
Many villagers in India spray fresh cow dung mixed with water in front of their houses to repel insects. It is also dried into cake like shapes and used as replacement for firewood.
Cow dung (mixed with lime) is also an optional ingredient in the manufacture of adobe mud brick (or cob) housing.
In USA a deposit of cow dung is called a 'cow chip' or 'meadow muffin' and when dry, is used for competitive 'cow chip throwing' which started in Beaver, Oklahoma in 1970. In 21 May 2015, Drew Russell of Edmond OK (but a native of Beaver), set the world record with a distance of 188 feet 6 inches (57.45 m) beating the previous record set in 2001 by 13 inches. See here for 'Holy Cow', an entertaining short video about the annual World Cow Chip Throwing Contest in held in Beaver and here for the Iowa State Fair contest in 2008.
Cow dung is also used in Hindu Yajna - a sacred fire ritual - as an important ingredient and cow dung cakes for this purpose can even be ordered online. Cow dung soap is made in India and regarded as having medicinal (antibacterial) value as part of the Ayurvedic medicine system.
In 2015, an Italian farmer and his architect friend, apart from producing electricity from cow dung to run his farm and sell any not used, opened Il Museo Della Merda a Castelbosco (S*** Museum) in Lombardy which has paintings, objects, video art about poop, a display about the dung beetle (also the museum’s logo) and a giant coprolite. The museum also makes 
items such as vases, flowerpots, coffee mugs and plates out of merdacotta (Italian for 'baked s***') - a compound of baked manure and clay. 'The S*** Evolution' a show of some of the museum’s goods and installations won 1st prize in the 2016 Milano Design Award.
The National Poo Museum opened in March 2016 at the Isle of Wight Zoo and has 20 examples of animal faeces which are desiccated and preserved in plexiglas. It has relics such as freeze-dried poo, poop hanging from the ceiling and poop from various different species such as meerkats, foxes, cows, owls and even human babies. Poop is dried on a specially built machine and viewers can illuminate each preserved exhibit at the touch of a button. Planning is underway for a 2017 national tour of the 'exhibit'.
2007 findings from oncology research teams at the University of Bristol and University College London show that treatment of mice with a 'friendly' bacteria, normally found in the soil, altered their behaviour in a way similar to antidepressants! The organism Mycobacterium vaccae [latin for 'cows'] extracted from cow dung appears to be an effective mood enhancing agent. It activates a group of neurons in the brain that produce serotonin – a neurotransmitter that contributes to feelings of well being and happiness.
Dr Chris Lowry, lead author on the paper, said: 'These studies . . . leave us wondering if we shouldn’t all be spending more time playing in the dirt.'
So, it is indeed messy and smelly - but also useful, quite interesting - and may even make you feel good!