Kotje Piepers and Maria Butterbille

The Kotje Piepersbos was purchased in 1953 by the then municipal council of Westouter. This forest owes its name to the village figure Cyriel Vanuxem, better known as Kotje Piepers. Cyriel and Maria lived and worked in a small house - field just before the forest. The house has now been demolished and the land is currently spontaneously reforested. Before you were allowed to enter the forest, you first had to give him a 'squeaker' or kiss. Like many other residents of the region, Kotje Piepers and his wife Maria Lenoir did not have a lot of money. To bring in a little money, Maria smuggled butter over the Schreve. She made pockets in her wide skirt in which she put the packets of butter, in the summer sometimes things went wrong when the butter started to melt: hence her nickname Maria Butterbille.

In the path to the forest you will find a common ash tree that has a spectacular shape. And, how about that black poplar, in this beautiful hedge remnant, which is rare in Flanders. A black poplar is not always easy to distinguish from a Canada poplar. In Canada poplar, the twigs are usually angular, grooved and set with mouldings, while those of the black poplar are rather round. The foliage of a black poplar is diamond-shaped, that of a Canada poplar is triangular to diamond-shaped. The presence of galls on the petiole is mainly a characteristic of black poplar.

Agentschap voor Natuur en Bos