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About The Baker County press. (Baker City, Ore.) 2014-current | View Entire Issue (March 4, 2016)
FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2016 THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7 Outdoor Rec / Sports Letting the cats out ... away, were hit by a vehicle, or were pos- sibly shot. Two im- mediate ex- amples come to mind: my motley crew of five consists of Harry, Jr. and Harriet, the accidental THE OUTDOOR COLUMN father and mother (also By Todd Arriola brother and Observing the emer- sister), and gence of new, colorful life their three miracles of breathed into our environ- parenting gone wrong- ment, prompted by the -Abby and Little Girl, the arrival of Spring, caused two females, and Dylan, me to reflect on a domestic the male. Harry, Jr.’s uncle situation, one that’s been a (I think), Harry, one of my concern all Winter: my cats brother, Ryan’s, and sister- need to go outside. in-law, Anje’s cats, has This isn’t to say they— been missing, as well as all five of them—stayed Harriet, though, they went indoors the whole season, missing at different points because, that would cause in time. me to be labeled insane, When Harry, Jr. was and them anti-social younger, he would play freaks. with and hang around Har- I did have a few consid- riet, a calico, frequently, erations, though, includ- sort of her “protector,” and ing how to remedy the since birth, he looked like issue of their water being a lion, compared to Har- a constant chunk of ice in riet, with her small, skinny the bowl, with freezing frame. Actually, Harry, temperatures outside. I Jr. looked like a lion, didn’t resolve that annoy- compared to the rest of ance, because I don’t have them, too. Anyway, they one of those fancy, heated both came home with me, water bowls. and the other kittens went Another obvious concern elsewhere, since there were was, and is, that for what- simply too many total cats ever reason(s), pets haven’t for Ryan and Anje to keep had the best track record, around. when it comes to survival Both Harry, Jr. and Har- in that area. I’ve seen too riet are accomplished hunt- many simply “disappear” ers, so I didn’t really worry out there, whether they about their lack of outdoor were picked up and taken skills, in that respect, away as “strays,” had run anyway. Before the duo Basketball CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 On the boys’ side it came down to a head-to- head competition between Cove and Powder Valley. At the half it was Powder Valley 17 and Cove 10. During the 3rd quarter Cove came out strong and drove the score up to 24 but couldn’t hold back Powder Valley who took the trophy home with a final score of Cove 24 and Powder Valley 30. Trophies were given out as follows: Girls First: Powder Valley; Second: Cove; Third: Jordan Valley Consolation: Prairie City Boys First: Powder Valley; Second: Jordan Valley; Third: Cove; Consolation: Prairie City Sportsmanship Award: Willow Creek All-star Awards Girls: #22 Emily Ennis Prairie City, #1 Ashley Jacobs Willow Creek, #33 Derrick Rothenberger Hunting- ton, #10 Sydney Johnson Harper, #25 Josie Clark Adrian, #4 Madilyn Neil Cove, #20 Tylie Garfield Huntington, #21 Josie Krieger Powder Val- ley, #14 Autumn Davis Powder Valley, #20 Kiana Quintero Jordan Valley, #14 Baylee Davis Jordan Valley. Boys: #22 Lucas McKinley Prairie City, #33 Derrick Rothenberger Hunting- ton, #15 Riley Bradford Adrian, #15 Ethan Lunt came to live with me, one day, I noticed Harry, Jr. growling and chewing on what was left of a squirrel- -its tail. Harriet can be just as tough, if not more so. They taught their children how to hunt, too, and they don’t appear to be slackers, either. It should be noted that I haven’t clipped any of their claws at any point. Everything in the house, including my skin, is testa- ment to that fact. All five display some odd quirks. One notable one, mentioned by my wonder- ful, and startled girlfriend, Brandi, was practiced in true family fashion, early each morning. I had no doubt that cats can practically annoy one to death with their varying meowing, and general self- ish attitudes. I expected that. What I didn’t expect is for the group-clearly at Harry, Jr.’s prompting--to sprint down the hallway, in order to form a feline battering ram, in multiple attempts to open my door. Sometimes, without prop- erly closing the door, they would succeed. Harry, Jr. was stationed as the head of the ram, I would assume. The others must have been there for morale. Brandi, who adores the tribe, is also the one who mentioned that I didn’t really have names, or, the proper ones, anyway, for two of the three kittens. Little Girl, as may be assumed, is the little female, a bit shy, straight haired, and mostly white, with some orange. She’s the only one I had truly named, and hers remains the same. Abby and Dylan are named as such, cour- tesy of Brandi. I incor- rectly identified Abby, the cuddly one, who is basi- cally a clone in personality, and hairy looks somewhat, of Harry, Jr., as a male at first (it helps to actually check the gender). The sole male, destined to be eternally tormented by his sisters, all orange, hairy, and gentle, was crowned Dylan. Noting little concern with current temperatures, though, still aware that this is eastern Oregon, and anything can happen, I’m able to keep a full water bowl outside for the group, mostly unfrozen, daily. They supplement their daily dose of cat food with multiple-course meals of mice, moles, birds, and squirrels (and whatever else is within range of their paws and mouths). I’m “cautiously optimis- tic” regarding Harriet’s eventual return to her family. Anje’s cat, Simba, had returned at some point, after an extended absence of a year and a half, I was told, so, there may yet be hope. Maybe, Har- riet wanted to get away from the kids, see the rest of the County, and make new friends. Who knows. Brandi asks periodically if Harriet is back yet, and I dread relaying the news that the absentee mother hasn’t called, or, even texted. Maybe, I can help fa- cilitate a reunion with the group, as I let the others wander outside this Spring, as my father would say, to “blow the stink off...” Eileen Driver / The Baker County Press A healthy crowd turned out for the tournament this year. Harper, #2 Braden Gregory Willow Creek, #20 Kort Skinner Jordan Valley, #21 Gannon Carreiro Cove, #4 Dawson Gaertner Cove, #24 Reece Dixon Powder Valley, #33 Roper Bing- ham Powder Valley. Huntington School Principal Scott Bullock, who was honored to give out the awards, expressed his thanks to Amy Jones for co ordinating the event, to Shellie Guerri for her hard work at the event, to Chuck Guerri for making the ranking boards and helping at the event and the Lion’s Club along with community volunteers for manning the gates year after year. Swimming: Empire short- course championships Submitted Photo. Riana Scott. The La Grande Swim Club brought eight swimmers to Moses Lake, Washington February 26-28 for the Inland Empire Swimming Short Course Championships. About 300 swimmers from Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washing- ton and Northern Idaho competed. All swimmers at the meet were required to make qualifying times to compete. This is the final meet of the short course season for most swimmers. Here are results: Riana Scott (13-14 girls): 3rd 500 free (5:29.15), 3rd 400 individual medley (4:48.66), 2nd 200 individual medley (2:17.10), 4th 100 breast (1:11.89), 3rd 200 free (2:04.30), 3rd 200 back (2:16.54), 4th 100 free (57.41), 4th 200 breast (2:37.19) The girls 14 and under 400 medley relay (K Jensen, R Scott, L Ricker, R. Ricker), placed 6th with a time of 4:47.32. The girls 14 and under 400 freestyle relay (K. Jensen, R. Scott, L Ricker, R. Ricker) placed 4th with a time of 4:08.99. Kids now need fishing license at age 12 As families venture to the outdoors this spring, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife remind parents that youths between the ages of 12 and 17 need a license if they plan to hunt, fish or shellfish. Although fishing now requires a license two years earli- er than in the past—at age 12 instead of age 14—the cost of the license is significantly less than it was in years past. Now a combination youth hunting/fishing/shell fishing license costs just $10. For just $5 more, youngsters can also purchase a tag that will allow them to catch salmon, steelhead, sturgeon and halibut. The $15 combined cost of a youth license and tag in 2016 compares to a cost of $41.75 last year, a cost reduction of 64 percent. The youth license was developed to simplify the youth license requirements for hunting and fishing. “There was way too much complexity involved for parents to get hunting and fishing licenses for their kids,” said Rick Har- grave, administrator of ODFW’s Information and Educa- tion Division. “We ... came up with a single, significantly discounted,youth combination license for kids 12-17.” Under the new fee structure, a single license permits youth license holders to take part in all three activities – hunting, fishing and shell fishing. Previously, a separate license was required for each of these activities. There is no distinction in the fee structure between resi- dent and nonresident youths.
