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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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The coordinates DO NOT take you to the cache! They take you to the place where the following story transpired. The cache location can be determined by reading the story below. Or you could hang out at the given coordinates and see if the mysterious professor returns.
We were sitting in our favorite Thai restaurant, talking about that darn Otis Pug and his people eating caches. It was unusually crowded in the restaurant that day. We had just finished off our pad Thai and prig king shrimp when a short, gruff looking man wearing leather gloves and a felt hat approached and asked if he could share our table for a few minutes while he waited for his to-go order. We asked him to please sit.
“I could not help but notice your intense looks of concentration”, he said. “May I ask what is on your minds?”
We told him that we’d like to trap ourselves a tricky geocaching pug. “You know, just so we could rub his little head (really hard) in thanks for all the sleepless nights, physical contortions, and brain-racking he’s caused us”, we said sweetly.
“Ah, I think I can help you!” exclaimed the man. “I am Dr. Kay Neinowitz, Pugologist.”
We exchanged glances. “Um, what’s a pugologist?” we asked tentatively.
“Well, obviously I’m a specialist. There’s only three of us pugologists in the world. My PhD is in Canine Intelligence from UCI. The title of my thesis was ‘Wile E. Coyote—Genius or Acme Stooge?’. Three years ago, I started focusing exclusively on pugs. Perhaps you’ve seen my five part series on PBS exploring the relationship between intelligence and mischievousness in canines? Or maybe you’ve read the accompanying book, ‘Sure, I’ll Be A Good Dog When You Leave for Work and Other Myths of the Domesticated Dog’? It was on the NY Times Bestsellers List for 10 weeks!”
We had to admit we missed the show and the book. “We don’t watch much TV”, we explained weakly, trying to not offend this strange man. “And we’re really not into non-fiction. Anyways, you were saying that you could help us catch Otis?”
“Absolutely!” he said, smiling and reaching into his right jacket pocket. “First, you need to build yourself a pug trap. Get down to Home Depot and buy a solar powered motion sensor floodlight, 6 yards of rope, a couple of mouse traps, 8 yards of chicken wire, some Crest Whitening strips, a pot like your Mama cooks corn in…”. He paused to scratch his chin for a moment before continuing. “Eleven Toro sprinkler heads, a Snickers bar in case you get hungry, 7 bags of concrete, a handful Hilti anchor bolts, and a partridge in a pear tree. I believe you’ll find all those materials in their special geocaching aisle. Here, I’ll draw you a blueprint of the actual trap.”
As he sketched out the pug trap, we asked him where we should place the trap.
“Good question!” he responded. “Based on studies done by profilers at the Canine Research Institute based in Lake Forest, I would put it in a suburban area, perhaps in a park that is either heavily wooded or has significant ground cover. Also, put it near a water source if possible. Four out of five dogs prefer running water to still water. And having wildlife in the area would be good to keep Otis distracted. Afterall, despite his deviousness, he’s still a dog at heart.”
“How about camouflage?” we asked.
He thought for a moment. “I wouldn’t camouflage it too much”, he said finally. “I’m guessing this dog is at least three times smarter than the average dog so don’t rouse his suspicions with anything elaborate. An ammo can as bait should do just fine. You want him to walk right up to it without hesitation.”
We studied his blueprint for another 10 minutes and pulled out an Orange County mountain biking guide, a Thomas Guide, and a topo map. We decided to order a couple of Thai teas, looked up, and realized Dr. Kay Neinowitz was gone. A small tuft of something was left in his chair. We looked closer. Dog hair! Could it be? Had we just been bitten by the pug again?!
The End
The cache contains treats and toys for pugs and people. And there’s a camera in there, too. (Just in case we get lucky and trap us a pug.) Please take a pic of yourself and maybe you’ll inadvertently get a shot of Otis sneaking around in the background.
Thanks to Dr. Webe and Ski Bum for their inspiration. This cache would not be possible without their creativity and graciousness.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
1. Bs pbhefr vg'f ba gbc bs n uvyy. Gur MraOnorf cynprq vg.
2. Vs lbh pna urne gur cynpr ohmmvat jvgu raretl, lbh ner pybfr.
3. Vs lbh frr oyhr, lryybj, naq PC86, lbh pna cebonoyl frr gur pnpur, gbb.