The Park

 I went to the park yesterday with my friend.  I was aching for human contact.  She goes every day and so I left my car at her place and rode with her there.  It's only a few miles from her place.

There's drama going on there.  What else is new?

First the Loop B camp hosts were fired.  Fired is a loose term.  Camp hosts aren't paid.  They are given a site to live in with the RV or trailer and expected, in return, to do work there, like restroom cleaning, mowing, campsite cleaning, all that.  Its a good deal really, given the cost of housing now, and finding somewhere you can park an RV or trailer legally is near impossible.  Campsites there cost a lot per night too, or anywhere now.   So if you have a trailer and nowhere to park it and its your place to live, its really a good option.  

I don't know why the Loop B hosts were fired.   None of my business.  They'd been there a long time.  They had two cats I got fixed for them.  One of them was Starla who they couldn't get contained before they had to be out.  So I loaned the trap and she was caught and returned to them.  I'd seen that black male for the first time, when setting the trap for Starla.  The next time I saw him he was in the trap meant for Starla, so I took him to be fixed.  The vet said he had a healing sliced tongue.  I knew what that meant.  Someone had been feeding him by plopping down an open cat food can.  The edge inside, where the aluminum top meets, is razor sharp.  I don't know why people try to feed cats by just plopping down an open can of cat food without emptying it out onto something.   Not only can they slice their tongues on that sharp inner edge, but their whiskers are sensitive detection organs and trying to force their face down into a cat food can irritates their whiskers. It's a pet peeve of mine.

Anyhow, now the Loop A hosts, also long timers, are being told they have to move to another park to host there, out at the Reservoir.  But, they said, there's no cell service there and they'd be located by the boat ramp parking lot which is crazy busy in summer and be responsible for policing the public, in following rules.   The campsite they'd have would require they get their big trailer up and over a curb to get in.  They're older with health issues but he still works in Lebanon and that would mean a long commute to work besides the other work at the campground.

FYI:  there are lots of people living in trailers, cars, basically homeless, who work full time but still cannot afford rent.  It's common around here.

They're pretty desperate over it all, panicked more like it.  I feel for them.  It's a lot of work to up and move, even if you just live in a trailer.  Then to adjust to new responsibilities, new place, and not have cell service for emergencies or just to use the internet, to stay connected and entertained.  That campground, day use area is also known for some rowdy vile behavior.    We can't visit them after they move either, because of the rules there.You have to fork out bucks now, to even go past the little entrance booth.  I tried to show my neighbor the camping area last summer and we were told to turn around, we couldn't even go look at the camping area without paying.   

Anyhow, she came over to talk to us when we were there, for a couple minutes and warned us a cougar was seen near the lower boat ramp and campground Saturday or maybe it was Friday night.   She said she wasn't sure if the cougar didn't get one of the park cats because she'd heard a ruckus and some strange animal noises early in the morning.

We went walking into the woods the area she said it came from and found nothing.  Its dense brush mostly though.   M said, 'you realize if there was a cougar it could be hiding in the brush out here.'  "Yup," I said.  The story hadn't quite jived with me though.   The sound she imitated hearing was raccoon.   She said the camper who saw the cougar said it was up in a tree.  There was only one tree in that area that might support an adult cougar's weight.  Cougars usually don't go up trees unless threatened or chased.   So the "verify" light in my brain was blinking rapidly.   All kinds of animals fight during mating season and the sounds can be horrific, including cat fights, coon fights, you name it, the boys fight.  

Anyhow, don't know what went on. It's quite possible a cougar came through.  A dog got killed a week ago in Sweet Home by a cougar.   State trapper said he found evidence of two male cougars near their house.   It's prime area around there and right now, not too many campers although the park is highly used by frisbee golf people and dog walkers.  She said she'd try to trap the one true park cat left--Cumi, if he's still alive, before she leaves.  I said "thanks" although I don't know where he could go.  He's an old boy now, was born in that park, and does deserve an easier time of it.   

I went and checked a shelter out there, placed almost ten years ago, by a different group, when there were dozens of cats there.   It's unbelievable its still there and hasn't fallen apart from age.  Anyhow, inside it I found a long deceased possum.  Last time I checked that was last fall, maybe October, changed out the straw bedding.   So we took it, dumped out the remains, and last night I cleaned it, repainted the outside, reinsulated it and the park lady will put it back tomorrow.   That had been the one last park cats favorite sleeper. 

 They need some cats there, because the park's over run in ground squirrels.  Cumi is a fantastic ground squirrel hunter.  So was Starla, when she was there.    When we were young, we called them Gray Diggers.   

Last real park cat--Cumi