February 1, 2019
T he C olumbia P ress
Senior Moments
with Emma Edwards
After last week’s column,
several of you mentioned
how much you like tomato
aspic gelatin salad.
So I decided to check its
history. Believe it or not, it
dates to the middle ages, with
recipes written as far back as
1375. Back then, making gela-
tin was an incredibly time-in-
tensive process that required
boiling animal bones and
hooves to extract collagen.
Longer cooking turns it into
glue. The broth had to sim-
mer for several hours until
it was “protein-rich and vel-
vety.” Next it was clarified,
cooled and eventually turned
into gelatin as we think of it
today.
American industrialist Pe-
ter Cooper patented a pow-
dered gelatin in 1845. How-
ever, it wasn’t until the 1950s
that aspic recipes became
popular.
After learning about mak-
ing gelatin, I will forever
have a new respect for that
amazing little box of Jell-O.
And you don’t want to know
what it takes to make today’s
gelatin!
But I’m still making tomato
aspic salad for my next occa-
sion.
By the way, a recurring
problem for us seniors is de-
hydration. The simple cure is
to drink more water. I wish it
could be that simple, really!
Actually, two common ail-
ments diagnosed during trips
to the emergency room for us
elderly folk are dehydration
and/or anxiety. Surprisingly,
our daily habits and lifestyle
can result in both dehydra-
tion and anxiety.
Some causes of dehydration
are skipping meals, consum-
ing too much caffeine, drink-
ing alcohol and smoking.
Oregon’s cougar management needs reworking
b y J iM a kenson
Good health is a few sips away
A simple formula for ward-
ing off dehydration is to take
one-third of your body weight
in pounds and drink the
equivalent number of ounces
of water daily.
For example, a 150-pound
person would need 50 ounc-
es of water daily, or about six
eight-ounce glasses of water.
Most of us are pretty good
about watering our plants
and seeing to it that our pet’s
water dish is full, but we ne-
glect to water ourselves.
And if we haven’t been
drinking enough water, we
need to gradually build our
intake up to the recommend-
ed ounces.
There seems to be debate
about whether we can count
ounces of coffee as water, but
in reading several pros and
cons, this is the conclusion
that makes most sense to me:
Coffee is a diuretic, causing
more trips to the facilities
than necessary and so we
need to drink more water to
compensate.
Of course, ask your doctor if
you suspect coffee will affect
you in the wrong way.
There’s so much to learn
and so little time.
Voltaire is famous for this
statement: God gave us the
gift of life; it is up to us to
give ourselves the gift of liv-
ing well.
7
Oregon Hunters Association
The fatal cougar attack on
a hiker in the Mount Hood
National Forest last year was
a tragic thing. Evidence eval-
uation indicated the cougar
was a female in good health.
Is this a surprise? Not really.
Cougar numbers are at all-
time highs for our state, and
the distribution of these cats
encompasses the entire state.
What accounts for this cou-
gar population expansion
from an estimation of less
than 3,000 in the mid-1990s
to well over 6,000 today?
Some of the answer is bi-
ological, some is social, and
much is connected to man-
agement capabilities and
practices. We need to find a
way to return to this socio-bi-
ological balance, and looking
to the recent past might just
be the best bet – back to a
time when hound hunting
was a legal and effective man-
agement tool in Oregon.
What are the consequences
of so many cougars in Ore-
gon? It affects prey animals,
specifically deer, which relo-
cate to human development
areas to avoid a higher preda-
tion risk. The relocation also
draws in cougars that will go
where the next meal can be
found.
Many hunters and state
wildlife managers report that
deer are now less abundant
in the wilder mountain, high
desert, and canyon regions of
Senior lunch menu
Monday, Feb. 4: Ham, potatoes au gratin, carrots, tomato
soup, pumpkin pie.
Thursday, Feb. 7: Shepherd’s pie, mashed potatoes, broccoli,
navy bean soup, chocolate cake..
The Warrenton senior lunch program is at noon (doors
open at 10:30 a.m.) Mondays and Thursdays at Warrenton
Community Center, 170 SW Third St. Suggested donation is
$5 for ages 55 and older; $7 for those younger. For more
information, call 503-861-3502.
In My
Opinion
Oregon De-
partment of
Fish and Wild-
life removed
this cougar
that returned
to the scene of
a fatal attack
on an Oregon
hiker in Sep-
tember.
Courtesy ODFW
our state. Meanwhile, Oregon
cities are wrestling with the
number of deer inhabiting
city limits, and cougars are
showing up in back yards and
school yards.
As cougars become more
comfortable in human-al-
tered landscapes, the proba-
bility of negative encounters
with humans, as well as pets
and livestock, increases.
So, what is the solution? Bi-
ologically, it is plain and sim-
ple – more intensive cougar
management through vari-
ous hunting techniques. With
an estimated population of
6,400 cougars, and roughly
14,000 people hunting cou-
gars and harvesting from 250
to 300 cats per year, this only
equals a harvest rate of 4 per-
cent, which is not enough to
even flatten the ever-rising
cougar population curve.
According to the 2017 Or-
egon Cougar Management
Plan, the success rate for
2016 cougar hunters was 1.9
percent, with 13,879 people
reporting that they hunted
cougars. Contrast that with
1994 data, the last year that
dogs were allowed in lim-
ited-entry cougar hunting,
showing 358 people hunted
cougars and harvested 144
for a success rate of 40.2 per-
cent.
Bottom line: hunting effi-
ciency with dogs is dramat-
ically higher, and provides
wildlife managers a reliable
tool for maintaining the cou-
gar population within its
management objectives.
Oregon’s cougar manage-
ment and record keeping are
divided into six zones, each
of which is assigned a desired
harvest quota to keep the
population in balance with
the varied activities of all Or-
egonians.
Employing the current lim-
ited management methods,
only one of the six zones has
met the harvest quota in re-
cent years. A criterion for
quota establishment is com-
plaint frequency.
By far the most complaints
about cougars are recorded
west of the Cascades, includ-
ing the coast. This is also
where the bulk of the human
population lives.
Oregon does have a legisla-
tively authorized agent pro-
gram wherein highly vetted
houndsmen are permitted to
lethally remove cats to reduce
human conflict and bolster
deer and elk survival.
These agents work closely
with ODFW district biolo-
gists. Even with this program
in place, cougars are increas-
ing.
Jim Akenson is a wildlife
biologist, book author and
Conservation Director for
the Oregon Hunters Associ-
ation.