THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 3
FRIDAY, JANUARY 2, 2015
Business & Ag
GOODRICH CREEK NEIGHBORS WATCH RARE PERFORMANCE
— Weekly Hay Report —
Cougar and coyote face off
Friday, December 26, 2014 — Eastern Oregon
By Kerry McQuisten
News@TheBakerCountyPress.com
Kathy Sherman of Baker
City says her barking dogs
and the sound of a coyote
yipping first alerted her
and her husband, David,
one morning in December,
to “something” outside
their Goodrich Creek
house.
That something turned
out to be a “huge” cougar
crouched down low in the
large field just 50 yards
from the home, which is
located at the base of the
Elkhorns.
“I told David he just
had to come and look at
this,” said Sherman. “We
couldn’t believe it. That
was one big boy. You usu-
ally don’t see them that
big. I’ll bet he was 160
pounds.”
Until David saw the
cat with his own eyes, he
couldn’t believe a cougar
would just lay out by the
fence in the open that way.
But one was.
Moments later, the Sher-
mans watched the second
animal—the coyote that
had yipped—walk farther
down from the trees into
the snowy field and face
off against the cougar.
“The coyote crouched
down there by the trees,
standing off a few yards
away from that cougar.
Then the cougar started to
slink off by it back up into
the trees. Then that coyote
would break and run up
into the trees after him.”
This dance between
predators continued not for
just a few seconds, but for
minutes.
“We wondered if the
coyote could have pups up
there on the mountain,”
she said.
When asked if she
thought the two animals
might be playing, she an-
swered with an empathic,
“Oh no. They were serious.
It wasn’t friendly.”
While they continued to
watch, the cougar came
running back out of the
trees and into the field,
followed by the coyote.
The pair maintained their
distance, but continued to
repeat the chase pattern.
During this time, the
phone rang, and on the
other end was neighbor
Kristi Sandefur asking if
the Shermans were seeing
the same thing she was
watching.
The Sandefurs’ home is
situated just on the other
side of the field from the
Sherman’s property.
Sandefur and the Sher-
mans discussed shooting
the cougar; however, the
Shermans didn’t have a
large enough firearm handy
and Sandefur herself was
unfamiliar with the rifle
she had on hand, Sherman
said.
According to Sherman,
Sandefur was concerned
about her pen of horses
only a few feet from the
edge of that field, and
about her daughter’s safety
feeding and watering those
horses.
Sandefur confirmed the
Sherman’s story.
“It was a Tuesday morn-
ing,” she said. “I was in
my office at 7:15. We have
Andalusian horses, and we
also have dogs.”
Sandefur said the horses
started acting upset in the
pen. From her deck on the
second floor of her home,
she noticed that her horses
were divided up “into two
tight herds,” not strung out
standing along the fence as
was normal.
Then she heard the coy-
ote yip.
“So from the deck,” she
said, “I can see the lay of
the land. I see this coyote
running into the pasture
from the west. It was run-
ning, spinning through the
air, and almost running
backwards. It was just rais-
ing heck.”
Then Sandefur also saw
“something” coming be-
hind the coyote just 30-40
yards behind.
“I knew from the color
that it was no coyote,”
she said. After grabbing
her binoculars, she said to
herself, “Oh my gosh, it’s
a cat.”
Sandefur added, “That’s
one brazen cat.”
At one point, she
watched the cougar walk
without speeding up or
slowing down, across the
field
Since that time, she has
also noticed repeated dis-
turbances in the behavior
of her horses and in the
wildlife around their home.
A large group of wild
turkeys is known to inhabit
the area. “I watched the
turkeys all sitting together
in a circle. They weren’t
moving or making a
sound,” she said.
Surprisingly, when
Sandefur told the story to
the sitter who sometimes
watches the house for her
and her husband, Eric, the
housesitter had a cougar
story of her own.
(Tons/Price range/Avg.)
Alfalfa: Small Square
Good/Premium 125 210.00-210.00 210.00
USDA Market News Service—AMS.USDA.gov
— Cattle Market Report —
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
Vale, Oregon
(No sale December 24 due to holiday.)
Cattle sold through the auction: 1,428
Kerry McQuisten / The Baker County Press
Kathy Sherman at left plays with a friend in her
backyard before snow fell. The fence and trees
behind her line one side of the field in which the
cougar was seen.
at least $1500 for each
charity. The goal was
reached in 6 of the bank’s
13 participating branches:
La Grande Downtown,
Elgin, Wallowa, Enter-
prise, Joseph, and Milton-
Freewater.
Following are the
amounts the charity orga-
nizations are receiving the
week of Christmas as a
result of the Charity Drive.
Amounts are rounded
to the nearest dollar and
include funds raised in the
branch and the Community
Bank match:
Community Connection
Food Bank (Enterprise &
Joseph branches): $4,634;
Wallowa Food Bank (Wal-
lowa branch): $2,804;
Elgin Food Bank (Elgin
branch): $2,752; Neighbor
Steer Calves
300-400# Bulk 350.00 - 373.00 Top 380.00
400-500# Bulk 273.00 - 338.00 Top 352.50
500-600# Bulk 243.00 - 269.00 Top 294.00
Heifer Calves
300-400# Bulk 271.00 - 323.00 Top 335.00
400-500# Bulk 231.00 - 278.00 Top 285.00
500-600# Bulk 223.00 - 260.00 Top 263.00
Yearling Steers
600-700# Bulk 219.00 - 239.00 Top 240.00
700-800# Bulk 205.00 - 214.00 Top 216.00
800-900# Bulk N/A Top N/A
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Yearling Heifers
600-700# Bulk 170.00 - 213.50 Top 214.00
700-800# Bulk 168.00 - 182.00 Top 192.50
800-900# Bulk 153.00 - 171.00 Top 172.00
900-1,000# Bulk N/A Top N/A
Submitted Photo.
Kristi Sandefur sits with her horses just yards away
from where she witnessed the cougar. More about
her horses and ranch can be found online at
www.goodrichandalusians.com.
Apparently, back during
Thanksgiving, the hous-
esitter had been driving up
to the Sandefurs’ house,
when she came upon the
cougar sitting in the middle
of the road eating one of
those turkeys. As the story
goes, at first the cougar
showed no signs of want-
ing to move, but eventually
took his kill and ambled
off the road.
Sandefur contacted the
Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, and was
told that the cougar hadn’t
yet done enough for them
to take action.
The Shermans said they
were told the same.
“I got on the phone to
Lenny Spooner,” Sandefur
said. “He’s an avid hunter.”
Spooner, who is also the
pastor at the church Sand-
efurs attend, was able to
see the coyotes, but by the
time he arrived, the cougar
had gone.
Just two days ago, added
Sherman, “We saw three
more coyotes come out of
the trees just raising hell.
We think this cougar is just
hanging out around here—
is still hanging out in the
area.”
Cougar tags are avail-
able for those who wish to
hunt the animals, though
in her case, Sandefur did
stress she wouldn’t be very
keen on the idea of giving
strangers permission to
hunt the big cat on the
family’s property.
It is illegal in Oregon to
hunt cougars using hounds.
Should a cat threaten
or endanger a human,
though, it is legal to shoot
the animal, and report it to
ODFW, which requires the
cougar to be turned over to
their office for analysis
Community Bank raises $20K for charity
The annual Charity
Drive was conducted in
all of Community Bank’s
full-service branch loca-
tions November through
December 17th.
The program is an ef-
fort to collect donations
in branches to benefit
charities in that same area.
This season a grand total
of $19,816.05 in dona-
tions and bank matches
were dispersed to charities
assisting local citizens in
need.
Community Bank
matches up to $500 per
branch at $.50 on the
dollar. The goal this year
was to raise a minimum
of $1,000 at each branch
location in order to have
the maximum bank match
achieved and to provide
Prices trended generally steady compared to the
same quality last week with weak demand from the
dairies and particularly the export market which has
seen very little trading with more stringent regula-
tions coming from China. Trade activity was very
light with the holidays coming up and inclement
weather hindering some trade. Several producers
have sold all that they plan to sell for this season
while some have product they are holding onto
until after the new year to sell. (USDA repeated this
report from last week due to the holiday.)
to Neighbor Ministries
Food Bank (La Grande
downtown & Valley
branches): $2,149; Baker
City Food Banks (Baker
City branch): $886.50; Al-
trusa Feed the Child Pro-
gram (Pendleton branch):
$346; Martha’s House
(Hermiston branch): $90;
Neighborhood Center Food
Bank (Heppner branch):
$484; Milton-Freewater
City Light and Power
Energy Assistance Pro-
gram through the Salvation
Army (Milton-Freewater
branch): $3,824; Walla
Walla’s Senior Center,
Center at the Park (Col-
lege Place & Walla Walla
branches): $1,846.
Since 2010 the Com-
munity Bank Charity Drive
has provided over $95,000
to charities in the region.
Community Bank would
like to thank all the people
and clubs that donated to
the fund raising efforts.
“We are thankful for
what these organizations
do for our communities
and glad to assist them
with additional support,”
says Tom Moran, Commu-
nity Bank President/CEO,
“We couldn’t do it without
our generous custom-
ers and communities - so
thank you for your help.”
The Clarkston branch of
Community Bank opted
to facilitate a distinct one
day fundraising event for
the Lewis Clark Animal
Shelter which raised over
$1,000 in donations at their
location.
Thin Shelly Cows 69.00 - 88.00
Butcher Cows 89.00 - 104.00
Butcher Bulls 93.00 - 117.00
Stock Cows 1,325.00 - 1,785.00
ProducersLivestock.com
— Log Price Report —
Price per 1,000 board feet: Northeast Oregon
Delivered to Elgin
Doug Fir / Larch 6”+ $370/m
White Fir/Sp 6”+ $380/m
LPP 6”+ $350/m
Delivered to La Grande
P. Pine 6-11” $290/m
12-17” $340/m
18-23” $390/m
24’+ $420/m
Delivered to Pilot Rock
12-17” $390/m
18-23” $440/m
24’+ $480/m
Delivered pulp
$28/ton to Elgin
$28/ton to La Grande
Courtesy of Arvid Andersen,
Andersen Forestry Consulting
— Precious Metals Report —
Price per ounce, USD
Gold: $1,182.80
Silver: $15.67
Platinum: $1,208.63
Palladium: $797.60
Bloomberg.com
— Ag Commodities —
Corn: $397.00/bu/USD
Wheat: $589.75/bu/USD
Soybeans: $1023.50/bu/USD
Oats: $303.75/bu/USD
Rough Rice: $11.75/cwt/USD
Canola: $439.80 CAD/mwt
Live Cattle: $165.08/lb./USD
Feeder Cattle: $217.95/lb./USD
Lean Hogs: $81.03/lb./USD
Bloomberg.com