Cottage Grove Sentinel
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THURSDAY | DECEMBER 31, 2020
Pet Tips
‘n’ Tales
Humor at the Speed of Life
James Kazad — (Remembrances of life before COVID)
Don’t forget the cat
when taking down
the Christmas tree
F
or our family, pack-
ing up the Christ-
mas decorations is never
easy. Not only because it
means the official end of
the holiday season, but
also because it means it’s
time to pry the cat out of
the Christmas tree.
What makes this pro-
cess especially difficult
is sap. You see, it’s not
until after spending the
better part of December
attached to the mid-sec-
tion of our tree that our
cat realizes she can no
longer retract her claws.
Several years ago, this
actually resulted in a
front page story in the
National Inquirer under
the headline:
Holiday Tree sprouts
CAT TUMOR!
It’s not like we haven’t
tried to keep this tragedy
from happening. In fact,
we’ve even taken our cat
to a pet psychologist,
thinking that maybe she
suffers from a traumatic
experience that is some-
how triggered by the site
of Christmas trees —
such as an unresolved
conflict with a strand of
tinsel.
After six weeks of
therapy (equal to eight
years in cat time), the
only thing the doctor
was able to tell us for
certain was that our cat
had been Shirley Ma-
cLaine in a previous
life, which, according to
him, isn’t all that unusu-
al.
In short: He had no
explanation for her be-
havior.
This, of course, lead to
my own — admittedly
less scientific — diagno-
sis, which is that our cat
is just freaking crazy.
This forced us to take
drastic measures this
year in hopes of avoid-
ing another appearance
in the tabloids.
To achieve this, we
came up with the idea of
spraying our entire tree
with WD-40.
Initially, this seemed
to be the answer as we
watched our cat slide
down the trunk and
By Mary Ellen
“Angel Scribe”
Wayne’s World of Pets
into the water bowl. But
as we soon discovered,
while WD-40 kept our
cat out of the tree, it
also kept any ornaments
from staying on for
more than six seconds.
This left us with a
handful of desperate
ideas, such as moving
one of our stereo speak-
ers under the tree and
playing “Dogs Barking
Jingle Bells” 24 hours a
day.
That idea was dropped
pretty quickly.
After six barks, to be
exact.
We also toyed with
the idea of decorating a
dogwood tree, the logic
being that a cat wouldn’t
go near a tree with the
word “dog” in its name.
That suggestion was
nixed after realizing we’d
first have to teach our
cat to read.
What all of this is
leading up to is some-
thing you’ve probably
already guessed, which
is that, once again, the
Christmas tree in our
living room will remain
there until it is com-
pletely brown and with-
ered, and the sap has
weakened enough that
our cat can safely be de-
tached.
In the meantime, we
have already begun
planning for next year,
when we’ll try to coax
our cat to move high
enough on the tree that
we can use her as a top
ornament…
Fundraiser for Singing Creek Education Center continues
Singing Creek Edu-
cational Center (SCEC)
provides unique and
immersive experiences
for children of all ages,
and their families.
This year, due to
COVID, the non profit
has taken a huge finan-
cial hit and is making
an appeal to the com-
munity to help keep
the doors open with a
fundraising campaign.
Detais are online at
www.charity.gofund
me.com/o/en/cam-
paign/keep-the-doors-
open-for-singing-
creek-ctr
SCEC is located in-
side the historic Dr.
Snapp House in Cot-
tage Grove, and enjoys
a special relationship
with the Golddiggers
and Prospectors Club
that owns the house.
“We are so fortunate
to be located in Cottage
Grove, where there is a
big community focus
on history,” says Karen
Rainsong, the Execu-
tive Director.
With a mission to
inspire appreciation of
local history through
hands-on education,
SCEC provides year
long programs includ-
ing homeschool, sum-
mer camps, school field
trips,
in-classroom
presentations,
out-
door school, and eve-
ning “Homestead Arts”
classes.
Many of its students
return year after year
for the engaging pro-
grams and events that
focus on local history.
This year they launched
a new summer camp
about Opal Whiteley,
which featured nature
studies and journaling.
Donations are tax
deductible as allowed
by law and each donor
(over $50) will receive a
special thank you gift in
the mail. Gifts include
handmade quilts and
can be seen at www.
singingcreekcenter.org/
thank-you-gifts.
To learn more visit
www.singingcreekcen-
ter.org and click the
link to the fundraiser.
Prospectors, Gold Diggers Club appeal to public for assistance
Most Grovers know
the Prospectors and
Gold Diggers Club
for its famous Min-
ers Breakfast on The
Mountain during Bohe-
mia Mining Days, or its
unique Christmas Ba-
zaar in the historic Dr.
Snapp House on South
River Road.
Or maybe its hosting
of the Old Schoolmates
Breakfast each August.
Or the annual scholar-
ships it provides to Cot-
tage Grove High School
graduates.
The club also main-
tains the historic house
year-round showcasing
early medical practices
in Cottage Grove and
hosts the Singing Creek
Educational
Center’s
history-focused activi-
ties for kids.
Club Secretary Al-
ice Nowicki said the
COVID-19 restrictions
prevented these signifi-
cant annual fundraisers
from happening this
year.
“For 60 years, the
Prospectors and Gold
Diggers club members
have worked to preserve
our local history and
fulfill our mission to
‘prospect better things
for Cottage Grove,’” No-
wicki said. “We hope the
community responds
generously to our re-
quest for end-of-the-
year donations so we can
meet our organization’s
basic needs in 2021.”
Send a tax deductible
contribution to P.O. Box
415, Cottage Grove, OR
97424.
Make checks and
money orders payable
to Prospectors & Gold
Diggers Club.
For more information
call Alice Nowicki at
541-942-6148.
Good luck in school
in the new year.
• This year is com-
ing to an end. Tonight
is New Year’s Eve. Take
time to look back over
the year and count your
many blessings.
It’s
been a long,
strange year, but most
of us made it through.
So, Happy New Year to
everyone! Here’s hoping
2021 brings more joy,
laughter, good health
and lots of family time.
LORANE COUNTRY NEWS
Contributed by
Lil Thompson
for The Sentinel
• As of now, Lorane
Grange hopes to meet
again Jan. 21 at 7 p.m.
This depends on the
govenor’s guidlines.
Lorane Grange will re-
turn to meeting the first
Thursday of the month
in February.
• CAL students return
to distance learning
classes Jan. 4, 2021.
Speak your peace.
Write a Letter to the Editor today.
Email Editor@CGSentinel.com
Wayne and his kitty, Sasha, share their opinions
about the world of birds.
M
eet my fascinating new cousin, Wayne! We live 3,000
miles apart — but Ancestry DNA introduced us!
Our animal loving gene runs deep as he has also dedicated
his life to animal welfare.
Wayne and his wife, Kate’s, lives changed when they
bought two Zebra finches “just for pets” who “present-ed”
them with eggs. The couple researched a $7 book on how to
raise their feathered babies and a few months later they had
35 Zebras — birds that is.
They had dived headfirst into the world of feather crazy.
They bought a green-cheeked Conure parrot, then an-
other and another then switched to cockatoos. They had a
big home and filled the basement with 30 species of birds,
100 parrots. It was a noisy house with baby birds that need-
ed around the clock feeding every two hours. One African
Grey they acquired had its previous owner’s English accent.
But in a few weeks, the bird sounded exactly like Wayne,
frustrating Kate who never knew who was talking.
“After a few years, I was president of our local parrot club
and VP of the Parrot Association of Canada,” said Wayne.”
Birds kept the couple on their toes.
“We had to change their cage locks because they learned
to let themselves out. One day, we found four pairs of Gof-
fin cockatoos who had escaped, then flown into each other’s
cages. They changed mates to the ones they preferred and
started laying eggs.”
Never underestimate the intelligence of parrots, Wayne
said, who believes it often outweighs those of humans. One
African Grey had an incredible vocabulary and used words
correctly in conversation.
One bird took after their cat, Sasha. The cat flew past one
of their dogs and batted it for good measure, not under-
standing where the attack came from — or maybe he was
tagging the dog to help him out like a running race?
“Then one day, Niagara Falls Bird Kingdom Zoo’s cura-
tor phoned asking me to be their Senior Keeper. I soon ad-
vanced to their Curator,” said Wayne.
It is Canada’s largest Avery and the largest free flying in-
door aviary in the world. It has a half million cubic feet with
400 birds. They would go wild with El Nino or when the
barometric pressure rose indicating the rainy season.
“I named EVERYTHING ‘Fluffy’ just for fun. We had a
very tame bearded dragon that sat on my shoulder,” Wayne
said.
Her name?
Fluffy, of course!
The bird-eating spider that was the size of a dinner plate?
Yup: Fluffy!
“While banding birds of prey like eagles and falcons, we
had to be careful as they would drive their talons through
our arms,” said Wayne.
And a fun fact: Did you know that when you hear an ea-
gle’s cry on TV or a movie, it is not an eagle as the directors
deem a Red-Tailed hawk’s screech more majestic? An eagle
sounds like a crow/seagull combination.
When the adventuresome couple retired, it took them six
months to rehome their birds. Now they opt for a quieter
hobby collecting silent fossils which they donate to muse-
ums. They did adopt a royal standard poodle, an Afghan,
and a Siamese cat. These pets sleep a lot, not like the birds.
Also, there is not much room on their bed at night, but
the house is much quieter without 100 squawking birds!
TIPS:
• Migratory birds eat insects. Wayne is not a fan of bug
zappers. “Insects make our environment healthier,” said
Wayne. “Encouraging birds and bats is wise as they con-
sume more bugs than any bird zapper and they need the
fuel for flying and their babies.”
• Wayne cautions against bird buying without education
as they often get aggressive as they age or are in their breed-
ing season. “Research bird breeds before you purchase or
adopt,” suggests Wayne. “The best family birds are budgies
and cockatiels as they are inexpensive and don’t live 90
years.”
I would love to do an article on your pet!
Email: angelscribe@msn.com
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