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About Illinois Valley news. (Cave City, Oregon) 1937-current | View Entire Issue (July 12, 2017)
Page A-8 Illinois Valley News, Cave Junction, Ore. Wednesday, July 12, 2017 Winding Trails: by Al Hobart Thursday, July13, 1967 Illinois Valley News Bandido Every evening I have company. Bandido, the masked bandit, never fails to show up for the feast he knows will be laid out for him on the porch just outside the front door. Bandido, a sleeker, younger replica of his predecessor, Old Barney, who for some mysterious reason seems to have permanently departed the premises, is a raccoon. The name Bandido is from the Spanish common noun of the same spelling, which means bandit. The name, as applied to my semi-domesticated visitor, is subject to change in case Bandido should show up some happy day – with a bevy of wee bandidlings in tow. In that event the name’s last letter will have to be changed from o to a, thus transforming the name from the masculine Bandido to the feminine Bandida. As a matter of fact, judging from, my scientific observation through the front window over a period of some weeks, I strongly suspect that the name will soon have to be changed along the lines indicated above. Basing my suspicions that a not fully matured coon’s length should increase at approximately the same rate as its girth, my assumption seems definitely justified: the little rascal is ballooning at a rate that simply doesn’t seem explicable in terms of food consumption alone. But, regardless of the name’s form and PATROL ... Continued from A-7 *Between 9-9:51 a.m., loud amped music in the 9300 block of Takilma Road was causing a nearby resident to suffer a headache. The noise complaint was logged as BAR at 12:30 p.m. *Citizens in the 9300 block of Takilma Road apparently believe that persistence pays. At 12:32 p.m. they reported a neighbor on Meadows Road who was banging on his amplified bass guitar and drumming at odd hours of the day, and between 10-11 p.m. Again, BAR. *Ten people were transporting large amounts of heavy equipment to their marijuana garden, and traveling without permission through private property in the 3300 block of Rockydale Road. The resident conducted the animal’s strangely developing dimensions, the pleasure I get from watching Bandido’s late evening performances overshadows all other considerations. Sometimes he comes after dark and I miss the show, but more often he shows up during- daylight and I watch him through the window till he cleans up all his food to the last morsel and retires to his lair till darkness and time for his night prowling comes. He seems to relish anything he can get his teeth into. He gets all the table scraps, bones, milk or cream gone sour; anything at all he accepts gratefully. If I don’t have any fish or meat scraps (his favorite handouts) he’ll put away potatoes, beans or bread with apparently equal gusto. I always add some bread smeared with old apple butter or jam that failed to thicken. When he eats his way to the bottom of his little blue pan it’s fun to watch him handle that runny gook that settled to the bottom. A coon’s front feet are little black hands, and he uses them almost the way we use ours, in spite of the lack of an opposable thumb. Bandidio doesn’t do much, dish-licking, his long nose seeming to interfere. So he pats his hands into the soft sweet muck, then licks them, first the palm, then the individual fingers. To corral the last of the goo he runs one hand around the bottom of the dish, then scoops up the concentrated dessert and polishes it off. In his little white side dish I put a small handful of wheat and sweeten it up with some old syrup I intended to throwaway. That he really goes for. When he cleans up both a title search, and wants to negotiate easement rights with the new land owner. At 2:41 p.m. he was advised that this was a civil matter, and provided with an incident number for future reference. It was suggested that he lock his gates. *A fellow in a gray Ford pickup truck was pulled over in the 3100 block of Rockydale Road at 2:52 p.m. He had the correct license plates; he just couldn’t remove the old plate due to rusted bolts. A helpful deputy removed and seized the invalid plate. *Law enforcement investigated the 600 block of Frederick Court at 3:14 p.m. *Ryan Paul Jantz, 42, was detained in Josephine County Jail after being taken into custody at 4:23 p.m. in the 100 block of Warren Road. Jantz was arrested on felony warrants from JCSO, Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and Grants Pass Dept. of Public Safety. Charges for failure to appear include felon in possession of weapon, dangerous drugs, and possession of meth. Two firearms without serial numbers were seized during a consent search of his residence. One was a Remington .22 rifle and the other was a 1908 rifle. *At 5:49 p.m. a resident in the 400 block of Reagor Lane was worried about fire safety because his neighbors were shooting in the heat. He was informed that it is legal to shoot in a safe manner in the county. Tuesday, July 4 *Three mixed-breed pit bulls attacked a fellow at 9:05 a.m. when he was closing a gate in the 28400 block of Redwood Hwy. He was transported to Three Rivers his dishes he leisurely climbs up onto the porch railing (a 2-by-4, placed flat-wise) and proceeds to help himself to the bird’s chickfeed I put there every morning. He doesn’t just walk along the rail licking up the feed. Nothing so crude as that. He reaches up ahead, first with one hand, then the other, and scrapes the fine grain in neat little piles. A very clever and tidy gentleman (or lady) is Bandido. Before Bandido got wise to that the fact that he is one of the family, and came around only after dark, I decided to get a flash picture of him at his table. I set up the camera some distance from his dish, focused it for the proper distance and led the long tube-release inside the cabin. When I heard the tell-tale noises, long after dark, I tiptoed over to thekitchen window; and peered cautiously out. There he was at his dish, plain in the window-light, his mind wholly occupied with the business at hand. I squeezed the rubber bulb attached to the release tube. Tire flash went off along with the shutter’s click –and all heck broke loose. The instant the night exploded, Bandido left the 2 feet high porch in a sideways flight through the air, landing 8 feet out in the yard. Even in the air he turned his head to see what had leaped at him out of the darkness, and the startled look in his bulging eyes was so funny I couldn’thelp insulting him with my uncontrolled applause: I haven’t laughed so hard and so long in years. At the moment of his record leap Bandido’s hands were in his pan selecting the Community Hospital in Grants Pass. Medical records and photos were requested to document the extent of the injury. Josephine County Animal Control removed the animals from the residence. The dogs’ owners were cooperative, but were unaware of their canines ever being aggressive. *A shed in the 500 block of Samarkand Drive was broken into overnight, and a solar system converter box was taken. When the former home owner passed away, a fellow demanded various items from the heirs of the property. Coincidentally, items which turned up missing during the past few months were noted on his wish list. An incident number was provided at 1:49 p.m. *Joseph Carl Sallman, 30, was transported to the OSP office in Grants Pass on a temporary felony warrant, morsel he’d just decided on. At take-off the force of the retro-action threw the pan halfway across the porch, scattering his food all over the place. As soon as I was able to make an innocent and dignified appearance I went out and started collecting the spilt food, and before I had it all picked up Bandido was back on the end of the porch watching me. The look he gave me was a mosaic of doubt, suspicion and mild reproach. But well-fed bandits are forgiving souls. We tacitly agreed to ignore the incident, and our relationship since has been one of ever- increasing mutual admiration and a tightening of the undying bond of friendship that exists between us. Some of the world’s rambunctious bigwigs might do well to copy from the book whose inspiring dictums have been a guiding light to Bandido and me. (Photo by Al Hobart, for the Illinois Valley News) charged with attempted homicide. Sallman was apprehended after being located near Speedy Mart in Selma at 18398 Redwood Hwy. at 10:40 a.m. *On July 3, a gal reported that someone entered her home in the 25100 block of Redwood Hwy. on either June 28 or 29. She claimed that the hooligans stole $60, damaged a locked storage box, and destroyed a no- trespassing sign on her front gate. *A thief was confronted by an employee at 110 Deer Creek Road July 2 because he was seen placing cookies in his pants. (That’s the way the cookie crumbles.) As the shoplifter left, he threatened to teach employees to mess with him. He returned at 7:45 p.m., irate and demanding to know the name of a witness. He left when police were summoned, and will be Bandito trespassed from the store. *The operator of a black Chevy pickup truck was warned for speeding near Redwood Hwy. and Laurel Road at 3:01 p.m. *A motorcyclist was warned regarding operating on roadway with no registration or insurance. He was pulled over in the 100 block of N. Old Stage Road at 3:06 p.m. because there were no plates on the bike. *Jubilee Park was patrolled at 3:12 p.m. *A gal cursed and said, “I need them here now” before she hung up on a 911 call at 5:58 p.m. from the 300 block of S. Kerby Avenue. When the dispatcher called back, the gal said that her ex- boyfriend left. She no longer needed assistance from law enforcement, and she hung up on 911 because her ex was disrespecting her mother. (Oh no, he didn’t. 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