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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 20, 2005)
Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, OR Wednesday, July 20, 2005 Page 14 Great Cats Park near CJ roaring good time By CHRISTINA HILL Correspondent At Great Cats of the World Park, a short distance south of Cave Junction on Hwy. 199, business has leaped from purring along to a full-bore roar -- all in just a few months. With some 10 acres and 29 cats of 15 different spe- cies, including jaguars, snow leopards, black pan- thers, ocelots, tigers, Yukon Lynxs and lions, the park is already one of the largest cat parks in the world, said the body else does in the world. I’m in there with Amur leopards, black panthers, tigers, doing demonstra- tions. I can count on one hand how many people in the world do the kind of work that I do with leopards, and they declaw the leop- ards. I don’t,” he added. Despite the fact that leopards are the most dan- gerous cats in the world, Wagoner said that he con- ducts demonstrations with fully armored leopards all the time, making him truly cats you see in magazines, calendars, books and posters are my cats,” he noted. “I have an Amur leop- ard, ‘Meiki,’ who is the most-photographed cat in the world. He has his own line of bedspreads, wall hangings, floor mats, posters and so much more. He’s in 25 different publications this year, including the front cover of the National Geo- graphic calendar,” Wagoner exclaimed. Getting to where he is now hasn’t been easy, Wag- CRAIG WAGONER and ‘MEIKI,’ an Amur leopard (Photo by Christina Hill) owner, Craig Wagoner. “Eventually, we’ll have 70 cats of 28 different spe- cies,” he said. “Then we’ll be the largest cat park in the world,” said Wagoner, the park’s exclusive cat trainer. Wagoner prides his cats and the park on the fact that people get an up-close and personal experience with the cats and that, “They’re not just sleeping in a little cage like you see at the zoo. “We have lions belting it out, and tigers that’ll do deep growls that will put the fear of God in you. “We’ll have 500-pound tigers who’ll be playing and start sparring, and I’ll go in there and break it up when they get serious and tell them to go to their corners, and people are on the edge of their seats,” Wagoner said, laughing. “I do stuff here that no- one-of-a-kind. But his long list of achievements doesn’t stop there. Before he started building the park 18 months ago, Wagoner presented shows with his cats at Wild- life Safari at Winston, where he attracted 90,000 people a year, he said. “I’ve done segments with the crocodile hunter; I've trained cats for Sieg- fried and Roy in Las Ve- gas,” said Wagoner. “I’ve been on the Letterman show, Conan O'Brian and Newton's Apple. I’ve worked with Glenn Close and Peter Mathiason; and in 2000 I trained two snow leopards for the movie, ‘Vertical Limits’ by Colum- bia Pictures,” Wagoner said. Wagoner may be a ce- lebrity in his line of work, but so are his cats, he said. “Sixty percent of the oner said. It’s been more than two decades since Wagoner first realized that he was destined to work with cats. His journey to the present has been a long and bumpy ride filled with many cuts, scrapes and three near- death experiences, he said. “I used to run a very successful restaurant in Minnesota,” he said. “I was driving home from work one day when I saw a rick- ety old sign on a tree that read, ‘Cougars for sale next exit,’ so I checked it out and was amazed that you could buy these things. “But that was 20 years ago. I got one, and decided that this was what I wanted to do. “I gave my ex-wife the choice of the restaurant or the farm, and she, of course, chose the restaurant since it was the money-maker, and the farm was a payment, a liability,” said Wagoner. “I moved into a granary with no plumbing, water or heat for a couple years,” he recalled. “It took me about six or seven years to under- stand the cats enough to start working with them, and it took me a full 12 years until I really understood them.” During the course of the past few decades, Wagoner has undergone 25 hours of major surgeries. He has had 350 stitches and staples, and more than 1,000 holes punc- tured in his body by the cats. But, he said, it’s been worth it, since they are his “kids,” and when they’re young “they’re like four- year-olds with fangs.” Wagoner said that he’s able to do the kind of work he does with cats because he has no fear. If he did, he said, the cats would sense it and kill him in a heartbeat. Wagoner’s love for the cats and his passion for the park are obvious through the state-of-the-art, clean set-up he’s built for his “kids.” Plans for the park in- clude adding the largest salt- water aquarium in South- western Oregon inside the gift shop; and adding a full- service restaurant featuring a delicatessen from around the world. He also wants to in- stall bleachers for audiences to watch demonstrations, and a lot of landscaping. “We have two years to go until we really have it set up,” he said. “I designed the entire park, and I’m not an architect. It took me many months sitting out here at night with a beer and a clip- board figuring out exactly where the lines needed to go, and how I was going to set it up. “I just did the bare mini- mum, what I thought we had to do to open. Me and an- other guy, Chris -- he’s a really hard worker -- are constantly working. We never get a break. We put in 17 hours a day times seven days a week for several months,” Wagoner said. Wagoner stated that once the park becomes well established, a percentage of the gate will go toward habi- tat and research projects. The park is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., seven days a week. For more information, phone 592-2957. Mediators in training to help resolve disputes Through a partnership of the Josephine County Community Justice Dept. and Illinois Valley Family Coalition (IVFC) in Cave Junction, 24 persons under- went mediation training. A need for the training was identified because of an alarming increase in calls from valley residents to law enforcement asking for help in resolving disputes, said Carol Ronan, IVFC execu- tive director. “With the current status of law enforcement in Illi- nois Valley being in ques- tion, we hope that this will be even a more valuable service,” said Ronan. After completing train- ing, participants will per- form volunteer dispute me- diation in Illinois Valley for a year. The partners received funding from the Meyer Memorial Trust to conduct the training at the I.V. Re- source Center on E. River Street. Tina Stafford is coordi- nator for the Community Dispute Resolution Program in Grants Pass, plus serving AWAITING GRAPES - Bob Kerivan, of Bridgeview Vine- yards Winery in Cave Junction, checks part of a recent 40-acre planting of Riesling Grapes in O’Brien. Fifty- three percent of Bridgeview’s business comes from Riesling, he said, and the CJ business is the eighth- largest producer of Riesling in the United States. The O’Brien planting employed 20 people for a solid week, and they placed 1,500 plants in each acre. Wine made from the grapes to come will carry a 2008 vintage. ‘We’re real proud of what we’re doing,’ said Kerivan in noting the winery’s constant efforts to stay current and the fact that its annual payroll of approximately $900,000 helps support Illinois Valley. (Photo by ‘Illinois Valley News’) Cool Bluegrass on tap Bands are in tune for the second annual Siskiyou Bluegrass Festival, a family event and fund-raiser for the Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce, a nonprofit or- ganization. The event will be held Saturday, July 30 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. at Lake Sel- mac. Last year’s event was sold out. Featured performers for this year’s program: “Joe Ross/Roots of Bluegrass,” “Siskiyou Summit,” “Moon Mountain Ramblers,” “Gold River,” “Jefferson,” Swing State,” and “Blue Biscuit.” There also will be “two great kids bands” -- “The Emmons Sisters” and the “Goldman Family,” with “Kuzins,” and Nancy Spencer and musical saw. Other features will in- clude a Kids’ Jam at 2:15 The SOB’s invite you to a full moon concert with special guests Dave Angus, G-Dub & Rubalicious Please join us! Benefit Concert for Lorna Byrne Boys & Girls Basketball Teams Saturday, July 23, 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Practice field at IVHS $5 per person Pay at the gate Hot dogs, chips & soda will be sold on premises. Role-playing was part of the training. (‘Illinois Valley News’ photo) as coordinator for the I.V. mediation training. She was able to secure the services of Michael Bel- sky, who holds a doctorate in education, and is a li- censed professional coun- selor (LPC). He conducted the train- ing for the 24 individuals who enrolled. Belsky has more than 15 years experience as pro- fessional mediator, LPC, and facilitator and educator. The first half of the train- ing was conducted during the first week of July. The last two days were Friday and Saturday, July 15-16. “The report from atten- dees has been overwhelm- ingly positive,” said Ronan. “They state that they re- ceived valuable lessons in interpersonal relations, legal matters, negotiating skills, and becoming proficient in problem-solving.” Said Stafford: “This training program has been so successful that we have plans to conduct future training to assure that the program can be sustained in Illinois Valley.” Watch next week’s issue for the Community Calendar, appearing monthly. p.m. And there will be food, beverages, and dessert booths. Tickets will be available at the gate. Concert-goers should bring chairs; and be prepared for hot weather. There is a playground on- site. Dogs will be allowed, but only on leashes. Camping and RV hook- ups are available through Josephine County Parks Dept. or Lake Selmac Re- sort. Pam Cooper is show chairman for the chamber. Performer details are avail- able from her at nowcoop@msn.com or (541) 610-4055. Or phone Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce for general de- tails at 592-3326. Digital photos from last year are available by request at nowcoop@msn.com.
