I have to agree with Jim. What is the determination of “overrun by Golden Mantles and mice plus assorted chipmunks?”
A non-native predator (cat) on the run is really not acceptable in the setting of the High Desert Museum. Cats don’t just “keep the rodents within limit” but also prey on birds, reptiles and amphibians. The HDM landscaping attracts a diversity of wildlife that would be vulnerable to cat predation. Our 1880 forefathers didn’t have knowledge of ecological principles and the situation of some greatly diminished wildlife populations that we are faced with today.
Might I suggested a stuffed cat for the display if the presence of a cat is need for authenticity, and keeping all food sources secure and restrict small mammal access to the cabin to reduce “rodent” contamination.
Larry Pecenka, ODFW Habitat Biologist
Bend
This article appears in Jun 5-11, 2008.
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Lighten up. Rodents, mantles, chipmunks, bobcats, cougar, coyote, bear and deer, to name a few; most have higher populations now than before man came along, all out of balance with the natural order, due to the meddling of ‘educated’ know-nothings like yourself who have interfered with the natural process to the detriment of the habitat. I don’t think a cat makes a whole hell of a lot of difference. If you insist on balancing it out, shoot a bobcat or coyote, call it even.
Don’t you have bigger fish to screw up?
Isn’t ODFW that assemblage of idiots who spent millions when they decided to make sluice boxes out of all the creeks, streams and brooks so that “the fish could migrate more easily,” and then had to spend millions putting all the detritus back into the creeks because that was the worlds stupidest idea? The common sense God gave a gopher would have indicated that the way creeks were before man came along, when you could walk across a creek on the backs of fish without getting your feet wet, was probably a good way to leave them. I’m sure you’ll say, “Oh, that was then. We know better now.” And I would respond, “Yes. But that’s exactly what you said then. And you didn’t know better. Perhaps in ten or twenty years you’ll figure out you don’t know better now, either.” If you’ve got time to waste, dealing with a single cat named Ellie Mae, you obviously don’t have enough going on at ODFW to keep you busy.