COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL | WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, 2019 | 5A
Pet Tips
‘n’ Tales
Betty Kaiser’s Chatter Box:
Fire follows fuel — reduce wildfire risk now
nearby.
Later, we lived in Ventu-
ra, Calif. Again, fire was not
a big worry. Fire hydrants
were on every block and the
kids were drilled at school to
come home and teach their
parents to put up fire alarms
and agree on meeting places
in emergencies.
Nothing about wildfires.
The last couple of sum-
mers, it seemed that the
whole West Coast was on
fire. This year’s Snowmaged-
don really got our attention.
Dangerously dry, huge debris
piles are everywhere and we
all need to take action. Sud-
denly, wildfires are possible
in our own backyard.
Our daughter Kathy, her
husband, their two sons and
daughter-in-law live in East
Ventura. Tim is a 30-year
veteran of the Oxnard Fire
Dept. and he was on duty the
night that the largest fire in
the state’s history broke out
— just a few short miles from
their home. The Thomas Fire
ultimately burned 282,000
acres and was fought by an
army of 8,000 firefighters.
Thomas started in Santa
Paula’s Steckel Park, south
of Aquinas College. It soon
spread west along the foot-
hills powered by the dreaded
Santa Ana winds.
It quickly reached the city
of Ventura where it destroyed
neighborhoods in the hills
above City Hall. The fire
kept going and didn’t stop for
weeks, until it reached Santa
Barbara; lives were lost and
properties destroyed.
That fire and others caused
us to look around and plan
how we could lower our own
fire danger. We have a sprin-
kler system, have knocked
down our tall weeds, keep
our perimeters mowed, have
taken junk to the dump and
removed flammable debris.
But it takes the cooper-
ation of everyone in the
neighborhood to also keep
their properties cleaned up.
Lightning strikes are be-
yond our control.
Justin Patten at his Grange
talk pointed out these im-
portant reminders:
1) The leading cause of hu-
man-caused wildfires in Or-
egon is escaped debris from
backyard burning:
• Check the weather fore-
cast and call your local fire
agency before burning.
• Clear a 10-foot radius
around your burn pile.
• Burn yard debris only
and always stay by your burn
pile with tools on site.
• Make sure your burn pile
is completely out when you
leave.
2) Equipment fires are the
second leading cause of wild-
fires on state-protected lands
in Oregon. Spring is the time
to clean up excess vegetation,
not summer.
Use the right tool for the
job:
• Call first to find out if
equipment use is restricted.
• Use gas-powered equip-
ment early in the day.
• Use a weed trimmer with
plastic line.
• Be sure your tools are in
good working order.
• Keep a fire extinguisher
or water hose nearby.
3) Create a defensible
space around your home free
of combustible material: Fire
follows fuel:
• Clean up dead or dying
plans, branches, leaves and
needles everywhere — decks
too!
• Move wood pile 30 feet
from the home.
• Remove flammable
plants and replace with
fire-resistant species.
• Prune tree branches to a
height of 6-10 feet to remove
ladder fuels.
• Cut grass to less than 4
inches.
• Keep shrubs low and
away from the drip line of
house foundations and trees.
• Maintain driveway clear-
ance that is free of flammable
debris to allow fire engine
access.
• More information at
firewise.org or www.keepor
egongreen.com/preventwild-
fires/at home.
Now we are praying for an
uneventful summer. But just
in case… I would appreciate
it if someone would tell us an
emergency escape route to
London Road and the free-
way.
Graduation Day for the
Crow High School seniors at
7 p.m. Everyone is welcome
for The Sentinel
to come help them celebrate.
• On Friday, June 7, it’s The rest of the Crow-Apple-
gate-Lorane school district
finish, for this school year, on
June 20 with a half-day.
• Lorane Grange meets
Thursday, June 6, at 7 p.m.
The women will serve the
men in honor of Father’s
Day. Many items to discuss,
so grangers be there.
• Wednesday, June 12 is the
Applegate Elementary spring
concert at 7 p.m. in the gym;
June 18, the eighth-graders
will be recognized at 7 p.m.
• The boys and girls track
team qualified eight individ-
uals and a 4x400 relay team
attending state. They brought
home 7 individual medals
and the relay also received a
medal. Most placed between
fourth and 11th. The boys
finished 16th out of 39 and
the girls were 19th out of 39
teams. Congratulations to
our Crow Track Team! It says
a lot about our small school.
• Everyone interested in
playing football next fall,
there are football warmups
each Tuesday, Wednesday
and Thursday at 3:30 p.m. at
CM/HS.
• The ladies of the Lorane
Christian Church thank
all who came to their bake
sale last Saturday. For those
missing it, the goodies were
amazing!
• Applegate Booster Club
will meet again Thursday,
June 13, at Applegate Ele-
mentary. All of their events
and your support have en-
abled them to provide new
listening centers for K-2,
fund a fifth-grade field trip
to the aquarium, plus help
provide subscriptions for
third grade. They will also
purchase OBOB books for
next year’s Oregon Battle of
the Books.
• Our Crow CM/HS
FFA students and the sev-
enth-grade intro to AG
students are really learning
valuable information. Re-
cently, they took part in a
Forestry/Natural Resources
CDE and learning event. Our
students are enjoying amaz-
ing learning opportunities.
• FYI… The 16th Annual
Crow Car Show is planned
for July 14. Pre-registration
is open. For more informa-
tion, contact Marissa Coo-
per at 541-517-6608. They
are looking for volunteers
and donations for this ma-
jor fundraiser by the Booster
Club for all our students.
Betty Kaiser
L
ast month, the London
Grange hosted a pre-
sentation on preparing our
homes and properties for
summer’s upcoming wildfire
conditions. It was followed
by a pulled pork sandwich
meal and scrumptious des-
serts — so you know I just
had to go.
Speaker Justin Patten from
the Oregon Dept. of Forestry
was introduced to the group
by Grange President Alice
Nowicki. For an hour, Patten
shared some helpful firewise
information for those of us
who live in wooded areas.
Until a couple of years ago,
the possibility of a forest fire
in our area had never entered
our minds. We love living in
the forested area across from
Cottage Grove Lake, where
wildlife roam and silence is
golden. We were oblivious
to the fact that there were
no fire hydrants or an escape
route around the lake in case
of fire.
Previously, we had lived
in cities where there were no
wildfire worries. We grew up
in Los Angeles in an era of
vacant lots and citrus groves.
Large, out-of-control fires
were practically unheard of
and, if perchance one broke
out, there was a firehouse
Contact Betty Kaiser’s
Chatterbox at 942-1317 or
email bchatty@bettykaiser.com
LORANE NEWS
Contributed by
Lil Thompson
Preserving
Your
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Memory
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to honor the life of your beloved pet.
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MAINTAINING YOUR VEHICLE AFFORDABLY
By Mary Ellen
“Angel Scribe”
Owl’s Miracle
L
ast week, Pet
Tips ‘n’ Tales
was about an owl
that struck a po-
lice car and once
rehabilitated, was
then released.
What
hap-
pened to another
owl miraculously
ties into that first
story.
In late win-
ter, Berneda was
carefully driving
45 mph along
the dark, moun-
tainous-winding
road to her farm. A specialized raptor veteri-
She had seen narian makes an unexpected
bears, cougars, house call to Berneda and her
bobcats and oth- dog, Heidi’s, farm for an owl’s
er wild animals miracle.
cross the isolated
road and did not want to hit any.
She was a mile from home when something hit her
pickup’s windshield — so hard, in fact, that she thought
it broke the passenger window. Not wanting to stop for
fear of other dangers, she continued home.
Once safely in her driveway, she climbed from the
pickup and saw a dark ball caught up under the wind-
shield’s sunshade. Being a farmer, she was prepared for
almost anything, donning gloves to lift the mysterious
ball free.
To her surprise, she was holding a little-limp Western
Screech Owl. She gently carried the unconscious feath-
er ball into her mud room. The poor winged beauty
appeared dead. Berneda, an animal lover, took off her
gloves, stroked its downy-soft feathers and apologized
for ending its young life.
“It was precious,” said Berneda. “Then to my surprise,
after 10 minutes of holding, petting and chatting to it, I
felt a heartbeat and a slight breath. I continued massag-
ing her chest. After a bit, she reached out and grasped my
little finger with a one-inch razor-like talon. It reached
around my finger and felt scary!”
Amazingly, an hour later, the little ball of feathers was
strong enough to sit up and hold up its head. Berneda
placed the owl in a laundry basket, used a towel to pro-
vide a warm covering, then left the creature to begin the
process of healing.
“At bedtime, I checked in and thankfully the owl ap-
peared stronger,” she said. “The next morning it was
alert, but one eye was slightly swollen.”
Berneda has a 170-acre farm and cattle, so the follow-
ing day was a busy one for the bird’s nurse. But no wor-
ries — the owl was safe and warm in the house.
This is when divine providence that had been set in
motion six weeks earlier manifested in a remarkable out-
come. Berneda saw a stranger’s vehicle stop at the end of
their long driveway. Two people climbed out. She could
not tell what they were doing, but they were up to some-
thing. Luckily, her grandson-in-law, Matt, saw the activ-
ity and jumped on his motorbike to speed down to the
lower fence. He approached the people and questioned
what they were doing.
One of the individuals identified herself as the Cas-
cades Raptor Center’s veterinarian, explaining that six
weeks earlier a Western Screech Owl had struck a police
patrol car and the officer had brought the injured bird to
their center.
“Owls are territorial and this was the closest location
the police officer recalled where the bird was injured,”
Dr. Ulrike told him. “Owls have established home rang-
es and returning them to their own territory is best for
post-release survival.”
To Matt’s delight, he watched the rehabilitated Screech
Owl fly into the evening.
Matt told the vet that her timing could not have been
more perfect because last night another Screech Owl
was struck by a car and resting at his home.
“The vet followed him up the driveway and into my
mudroom,” said Berneda. “She looked at the bird, de-
clared it had a concussion and then she took it for reha-
bilitation at the raptor center.”
Two weeks later, Dr. Ukrike returned with the healthy
bird. She had called ahead so, by the time she arrived,
Berneda had eight family members present for its re-
lease. The group walked to the edge of the forest, Dr. Ul-
rike opened the cage and the healed bird flew out and up
into the tall fir trees.
“It was a happy celebration and we shouted, ‘There
she goes! Stay Safe!’” said Berneda. “I raised my hands
and thanked God for her healing. God watches over his
feathered creatures just like he watches over us.”
It was a miracle that a little bird needing medical help
had a specialized raptor veterinarian make an unexpect-
ed house call!
TIP: Meet 35 rescued raptors in Eugene: Take an hour,
self-guided tour, Tuesday through Sunday, from 10 a.m.
to 6 p.m., along two short outdoor trails on the side of
Spencer’s Butte. For more information, visit www.cas-
cadesraptorcenter.org.
WE LIVE IN THE SAME TOWN WE WORK IN
“WE MAKE SHIFT HAPPEN!”
www.automotivespecialties.biz
DUSTIN TULLAR & RUSS OWENS
541-942-8022 • COTTAGE GROVE
Share your fur-avorite pet memory or adventure at
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