FRIDAY, JULY 8, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
Outdoor Rec / Local
Fireworks and felines
greens, the
what-have-
yous, out of
sync with the
inevitable,
accompany-
ing sounds,
distant
enough to
give me
some sense
of relief, but
still close
enough to
worry the
THE OUTDOOR COLUMN
animals.
The sound
By Todd Arriola
of fireworks
This past weekend, I
from a dis-
made note of the various
tance seems to be rivaled
activities associated with
by the sound of thunder,
the celebration of Inde-
which certainly causes
pendence Day: rodeos,
anxiety among critters.
barbecues, and parades,
Case in point: some years
among other pursuits.
ago, my brother was out
I was content to watch
in a hay field, which was
and hear the Haines Stam-
irrigated with a pivot
pede Rodeo’s fireworks
sprinkler system. His
on Monday night, from a
dog, Molly, was with him,
comfortable position miles and the weather started to
away from all of the ac-
turn, including moments
tion, but my furry, motley
of thunder and lightning.
feline family reminded
Molly took off running,
me of an often-neglected
and we haven’t seen her
point: animals don’t care
since.
too much for noise.
The inspiration for an
From my position of
article about outdoor noise
security (I don’t care for
came from the strangest
the noise, either), I could
incident: a stolen lawn
still hear and “feel” the
sprinkler. This isn’t an
mini-explosions, which,
ordinary sprinkler, but a
no doubt, wooed the die-
Nelson Rain Train travel-
hard crowd, left to enjoy
ing model--yellow, with
the show, after the sun
white wheels, resembling
had gone down, and the
a tractor.
festivities of the day had
Expensive by sprinkler
concluded.
standards, cast iron, and
I saw the variety of
a great stand-in as a boat
bright colors—the reds,
anchor, this particular one
the whites, the blues, the
was taken from a City
residence most likely the
night of the 4th, complete
with the insult-to-injury of
a cut garden hose, rather
than disconnecting the
hose from the sprinkler,
apparently considered a
waste of precious time to
the thief(s).
This topic led to dis-
cussions also about the
constant and intermittent
fireworks insanity at all
hours of the day and night
in the City, up to, and after
the 4th, which led to said
inspiration about the topic
of noise.
I’ve seen animals cause
injuries to themselves,
in order to escape loud
noises, such as fireworks,
or thunder, and the sub-
sequent veterinarian bills
hardly add a pleasing post-
script to the situation.
My own personal injury
could be laughed at later
(mostly by others): when
I was younger, some rela-
tives were launching fire-
works, and, trying to get
away from the noise while
my palms covered my ears,
I ran into a nearby parked
car, which quickly diverted
my attention to damaged
limbs. I don’t know if any-
one noticed.
My little crew of furballs
hardly made any noise
themselves for the longest
time outside, and that
makes sense, because in
the wild, an animal call-
ing attention to itself can
be targeted more easily,
and killed by predators.
We humans basically
have forced domesticated
animals to be the “squeaky
wheel that gets the grease,”
and to loudly express their
opinions, including when
they believe it’s meal time
(all the time, I suppose?).
That’s what it takes to get
attention around us, human
or not: be loud and direct.
Sometimes, though, cats
go a bit overboard with
expressing emotions. A
dog loves you when you
return from a trip, because
it misses you; a cat hates
you, because you left in the
first place.
Anyway, as far as any
advice for calming pets
down goes, in my humble
opinion, the best action is
to get them away from the
noise, if possible. Or, at
least, limit the exposure.
I had an advantage
with mine, because they
were already many miles
away from the fireworks,
to begin with, but there
are many in the City who
became very anxious this
holiday weekend. Calming
them down during scenar-
ios with loud noise helps,
via petting, etc.
I’m not sure I’m quite
sold on the compression
sweater, vest, or whatever
it is, because I’ve never
tried it, so I can’t really
comment there.
Whatever we can do to
help limit the noise expo-
sure for our furry friends
(and, I might add, combat
veterans, among others)
would, no doubt, be greatly
appreciated...
Linemen perform ‘pole top’ exercises
Submitted Photo.
Submitted Photo.
Rich Eskew, Casey Mitchell, Nick Simmons.
Rod Wolf.
With blue skies above it
was a perfect day for Ore-
gon Trail Electric Coopera-
tive’s line crews to buckle
on fall-restraint equipment
belts, dig into utility poles
and begin their annual pole
top rescue exercises.
As an OSHA man-
dated safety training
requirement, the course is
designed to evaluate each
lineman on their ability to
properly rescue an injured
and/or stranded lineman.
Each lineman must balance
their skills with safety,
climb a pole and rescue
a 185 lb. training man-
nequin. The lineman must
then secure the mannequin
aspect of the training were
real with a focus on the
safe and efficient methods
with which the rescue is
accomplished.”
In addition to safety
training for employees,
OTEC continuously raises
awareness of electrical
safety in its four county
service territory by per-
forming demonstrations at
local schools and offering
free trainings with vol-
unteer fire departments,
emergency medical teams
and sheriff’s departments
on a regular basis.
“We work within our
communities to show our
members just how easy
using ropes and pulleys
and safely deliver them
back down to the ground.
OTEC linemen are re-
quired to pass this training
to maintain employment
with the cooperative. And
while OTEC has never
had to perform a pole top
rescue in the field, the
training is an opportunity
for the linemen to prepare
and hone their skills if the
need should ever arise.
“No electricity is running
through the lines,” said
OTEC’s Manager of Loss
Control Jeff Anderson.
“But, attention to detail re-
mains key and the linemen
are evaluated as if every
it is for an accident to
occur when working with
electricity,” said Anderson.
“Learning how to prevent
these dangerous, and
sometimes deadly mishaps
helps to keep service men
and women, as well mem-
bers of the community,
safe.”
“OTEC continuously
places safety first,” said
Anderson. “By performing
these annual trainings, the
cooperative is assuring that
our linemen and communi-
ty members in service are
properly trained to handle
nearly any situation.”
WWNF RAC meeting scheduled
Members of the
Northeast Oregon For-
ests Resource Advisory
Committee (RAC) will
meet in Baker City, July
14-15, to recommend
proposed Title II projects
for the Malheur, Umatilla
and Wallowa-Whitman
National Forests. Title II
projects are covered under
Public Law 110-343, H.R.
1424, the Reauthoriza-
tion of the Secure Rural
Schools and community
Self-Determination Act of
2000, also called “Pay-
ments to States” Act.
According to Jeff Tomac,
Whitman District Ranger
on the Wallowa-Whitman
National Forest and
designated federal official
for the Northeast Oregon
Forests RAC, this will be
the sixth meeting of the
Committee since reau-
thorization of Public Law
106-393. The meeting
will be held on July 14
and 15, from 9:30 a.m. to
4:00 p.m. at the Whitman
Ranger District, Baker
Work Center at 3285 11th
St. in Baker City.
The open public meeting
will focus on reviewing
and recommending 2015-
2016 project proposals
that meet the intent of the
Payments to States Act.
Objectives of the proposed
projects are to protect,
restore, and enhance
fish and wildlife habitat;
improve the maintenance
of existing Forest Service
infrastructure; protect and
enhance ecosystems on
the national forests; and
restore and improve land
health and water quality.
Members of the public
wishing to provide com-
ment to the committee
during the meeting should
submit a request in writing,
no later than July 7, 2016.
Requests can be submitted
to Jeff Tomac by mail to
1550 Dewey Avenue-Suite
A, Baker City, OR 97814,
by email to jtomac@fs.fed.
us, or by FAX to 541-523-
6395.
For additional informa-
tion, contact Jeff Tomac at
541-523-1301.
Free fishing
day tomorrow
The second annual Family Fishing Event at Anthony
Lake will be held Saturday, July 9, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00
p.m. and is open to kids 14 years old and younger. This
year’s event is sponsored by the Oregon Department of
Fish and Wildlife, Powder Basin Watershed Council and
the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest.
Children participating in this event must be accom-
panied by an adult and those 12 years of age and older
must have a valid fishing license. The lake will be freshly
stocked and loaner fishing rods will be available to par-
ticipants. People will be on hand to help youth and adults
with tips on basic rigging, fish identification and cast-
ing. A biggest fish contest will be offered with prizes in
several age brackets.
Ladies golf
The June 19 Quail Ridge Ladies Golf Winners are:
1st Flight: 1st Judy Karstens
2nd flight: 1st Margo Kenworthy
3d Flight: 1st Carol Irvine
Bridge Winners: 1st Carol Stevens; 2nd Dianne Elling-
son; 3rd Kathy Eidson
Folk music
played at
Interpretive
Center
Popular northwest folk singer and storyteller Hank
Cramer will present his program “Wanderin’ Minstrel”
July 15-17 at the National Historic Oregon Trail Interpre-
tive Center. Daily performances are at 11 a.m., 12:30, and
2 p.m. All performances are inside in the air conditioned
Leo Adler Theater.
Cramer will be joined by duo Clinton and Sarah Carter
of Spokane, known as Carter Junction, bringing together
Clinton's deep baritone voice with Sarah's angelic yet
earthy tone in folk and western music.
Cramer’s repertoire is a mix of original, traditional, and
contemporary folk songs telling the stories of pioneers,
cowboys, sailors, soldiers, miners, and adventurers of
the old west. He is an avid historian and presents educa-
tional programs which weave together music, history, and
cultural traditions.
Blacksmithing demonstrations are also scheduled for
July 16 and 17 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Call (541) 523-1843 for updates on programs and
events.