Here is another photo taken at our fundraiser on Saturday, September 18th, 2010.

Julia Di Sieno and John Corbett

John Corbett and I were both bidding on this gorgeous African lion pendant, donated by POSH.  John later asked me to STOP bidding on it.  Of course I let him bid higher on the item, as I could no longer afford the price range it was headed for.  John bid highest on the pendant then he announced that he got it for me as a gift.  WOW!  He is a wonderful friend!  Here is a photo taken when he gave me the pendant.

I thought this might be a cute piece for the CTAL website… after all it’s a lion, and I am a leo!  Rahrrrrrrrr.

Julia J. Di Sieno
Executive Director
Animal Rescue Team, inc.
www.animalrescueteam.net

Take nothing but photographs. Leave nothing but footprints. Kill nothing but time.

For immediate release
September 23rd 2010
Contact: Julia J. DiSieno
Executive Director
Animal Rescue Team, Inc
(805) 234-3810

Emcee & Auctioneer John Palminteri and Animal Rescue Team Executive Director Julia DiSieno announcing the auction winners.

Local Wildlife Fundraiser a Smash Hit

Animal Rescue Team, Inc. held their fourth annual Wildlife Fundraiser last Saturday (September 18th 2010).

[See the original flier for the Fundraiser]

The event location and part of the food was donated by Manny’s Mexican Restaurant on Mission Drive in Solvang.

Guest enjoyed a live auction hosted by John Palminteri and a spectacular slide show of hundreds of animals rescued and successfully rehabilitated this year. The slide show was created by Animal Rescue Team Advisory Boardmember Arthur White.

Guests enjoying the silent auction with the help of Animal Rescue Team mascot, Romulus, an abused wolf-hybrid rescued and successfully rehabilitated by Ms DiSieno

Notable guests supporting the event were Pedro Nava, 35th District State Assemblyman, his wife Susan Jordon, singer Jim Messina, actor and singer, John Corbett, actress Bo Derek, 24th congressional hopeful Tim Allison, and Animal Rescue Team Co-Founder Michael Behrman, M.D.

Emily Jensen keeping guests entertained with her guitar.

Sponsors for the event included Jordano’s Inc., Arthur Earl Winery, Teri Romero and Emily Jensen.

All monies raise at this event will go to support the important work done by the Animal Rescue Team in the Santa Ynez Valley, California.

For more information about Animal Rescue Team Inc., wildlife care,
or to volunteer, go to:

www.animalrescueteam.net

Injured wildlife in the Santa Ynez Valley should be reported to the Animal Rescue Team’s Hotline at (805) 896-1859.

WOW, Pedro Nava and his dear wife Susan Jordon’s promotion for our event… I am speechless!     — Julia

The Ellen De Generes Show video referred
to above can be viewed here:

For more information about the event, see the post
ART Inc Invites You to Our 4th Annual Fundraiser!

Julia J. Di Sieno
Executive Director
Animal Rescue Team, inc.
805 896-1859
www.animalrescueteam.net

I ask you all to come to the BH Mountain Lion Foundation’s educational talk, held this Saturday in the Northern Hills — an area void of understanding and in desparate need of education regarding predators in general and cougars more specifically.

Tom Huhnerkoch DVM,RN
MOUNTAIN CATS TRUST (501c3)
605-584-1958
ccats@mato.com

An announcement from the Cougar Rewilding Foundation:

Certain PBS affiliate stations across the U.S. will begin airing LORDS OF NATURE in September 2010 — and over the next year. Broadcast dates are listed on the LordsOfNature.org website, organized by state.

Lords of Nature presents the engaging story of a science
now discovering the great carnivores as revitalizing forces
of nature, and a society now learning tolerance for the
beasts they had once banished.

View the TV Schedule

Watch the Trailer

For more information, visit AnimalRescueTeam.net

The Felidae Conservation Fund aims to advance the conservation of wild cats and their habitats planetwide through a combination of groundbreaking research, compelling education and cutting-edge technology.

Felidae collaborates on strategic research studies that clearly define a process to understand human impact on wild cats and wild places. There are important steps we can take now to minimize the devastation. The goal is to prevent further extinction of felidae species, and to preserve complete ecosystems around the world. Our contributions build new outlooks toward wild cats and the preservation of global ‘wildness’.

Felidae Conservation Fund is committed to spawning compelling educational messages through stories, visual media and outreach campaigns that pilot a healthy coexistence of humans and felidae species around the world.

Upcoming Events on September 15th and October 6th:

Folsom Zoo Recap

This past Saturday, MLF hosted its monthly educational booth outside the cougar enclosure at the Folsom Zoo (Sacramento-area, California).  Volunteers handed out free mountain lion postcards to visitors, as well as information on living with lions and fun activity sheets for kids to take home.  These Saturday events are a great way to connect with the community and teach residents in the foothills all about their wild neighbors.  Seeing mountain lions up close in the zoo setting also calms any fear people may have and often brings a new understanding and appreciation for the American lion.

On the Prowl

The two male cougars, Rio and Ventura, were both very active in the morning chasing each other around and chirping a high-pitched “yip” as they played.  When one of the zookeepers arrived with breakfast, they eagerly trotted to the indoor enclosure to enjoy their morning chow (shown in the video clip).  If you listen carefully and ignore the rooster in the background, at the 10 second marker when they are passing each other you can hear a short “yip” chirp from one of the boys.

Flash, the young female (whose controversial rescue story you may remember from last year) spent the day snoozing in her small cave near the front fence.  Perhaps she was annoyed by the rowdy boys, but some visitors wandered if she was mourning the loss of Alder — the zoo’s older female cougar who passed away a few weeks ago and may have served as somewhat of a surrogate mother-figure for Flash.

Remembering Alder

Visitors honored Alder’s memory by sharing their stories of her and coloring paper hearts that will be used to create a memorial display.

Alder will be missed, but everyone took comfort in knowing she was given a good life at the zoo.  Despite health issues and suffering from seizures, Alder was at least twelve years old (an ol’ granny in cougar years!) and maintained her feisty playful attitude until the end.  And looking towards the future, Alder’s passing may now open up a forever home for another orphaned kitten in need.

Join Us

MLF will return to the Folsom Zoo this month for another Saturday outreach event.  New volunteers are welcome to join (you’ll get into the park free) and it’s a great way to learn more about mountain lions.  To get involved, sign up for MLF’s volunteer announcements or send an email to outreach@mountainlion.org.

We hope to see you there!

A special thank you to Estelle, Pat, and Lyn (pictured here from left to right) for helping run the booth.  Great work, ladies!

To learn more about the Mountain Lion Foundation, visit www.MountainLion.org

Mountain Lion Incident Management and Capture and Handling for Natural Resource, Animal Control and Law  Enforcement Professionals

There are increasing confirmations of mountain lions in the Great Plains and Midwest as they naturally disperse from more western areas.  Feral or escaped captive mountain lions, also known as cougars or pumas, are sometimes detected as well.

Though these cats are not normally an immediate threat to humans, First Responders must manage the situation for the safety of all.

How do you do it? What is the appropriate response to a cougar sighting, encounter, or cornered cat?

The Cougar Rewilding Foundation, in cooperation with the American Ecological Research Institute (–AERIE) and Minnesota Zoo, offers the solution.

With its team of cougar experts, the CRF (formerly Eastern Cougar Foundation) is offering a 2-day workshop on the safe and effective management of cougar incidents from the sylvan to the suburban.

This is a must for first responders such as local police officers, animal control personnel and natural resource professionals.

This workshop will:

1) Provide up-to-date scientific information on cougar biology and behavior

2) Provide information on how to identify cougar sign

3) Demonstrate the latest in immobilizing drugs and techniques, with hands-on practice

4) Answer questions on how to handle immobilized animals, precautions needed, monitoring, and what to expect.

5) Provide first hand information on procedures to use for crowd control, media interaction, and development of your First Responder Team

This one-of-a-kind workshop is designed to give First Responders in areas where pumas are showing up the tools they need to handle the situations safely, efficiently, and professionally.  The course faculty includes:

Dr. John W. Laundré, a veteran cougar biologist with over 20 years experience and dozens of peer-reviewed publications

Dr. Jay Tischendorf, an experienced wildlife biologist and veterinarian with 25 years working with cougars, wolves, and other carnivores

Dr. Jim Rasmussen, professional zoo veterinarian, Minnesota Zoo

When: September 14-15, 2010.
Where: Minnesota Zoo – Apple Valley, MN
Registration Fee: $200

If interested in this unique opportunity, please contact:

Jay Tischendorf DVM
Director, American Ecological Research Institute (–AERIE)
Post Office Box 1826
Great Falls, Montana 59403 USA
Cell:  303-328-8414
E-Mail:   TischendorfJ@Hotmail.com or   Jay.Tischendorf@Novartis.com

Thoughts and reflections from OreCat Director Jayne Miller after attending Oregon’s “That Darn Cat! Cougar Meeting” hosted by Rep Sherrie Sprenger, R-Scio.

August 19, 2010

Well, its been a long night.  I’m glad to be back on top of this mountain, in the dark, all alone and with a resident cougar.  Well, ok, I have two dogs that bark at him.  I left this paradise vacation on top of a mountain in the middle of 900 acres of BLM timber and the comfort of a multimillion dollar cabin; to go to Lebanon Oregon and sit with about 100 angry folks who booed me.  But some did come up later and apologized.  That’s ok, I lived with a brother who use to beat up my Raggedy Ann dolls and hang my barbies by their necks from the ceiling lights.   If you can survive that you can learn to live with anything.  After dropping my husband off at the farm, I did get followed for over an hour back to my trial head and then when the vehicle saw how far out they were, flashed their lights at me and left.  It felt safe to get back to my cougar.  This was the first of many meetings to try and get more cougars killed here in Oregon .  It was Representative Sherrie Sprenger, R-Scio, who said she wanted to hear from the public on the issue of cougars and she did a wonderful job conducting tonight’s meeting, however, she sounded in favor of killing them and not much else.  She was afraid her 13 year old son would be attacked by a cougar, although she had not seen one on her property.  This all happened because six sheep were killed on a farm in the area in 2 months…by six cougar.  So I blogged the news sites and then went to the program to speak on the behalf of the cougar and better management plans.

This is what I experienced:  First of all, ODFW is not referenced in any of the news articles I saw, nor did they mention this incident at the meeting.  They simply said nothing about it.  So, I really do not know if this is true or what happened.  I do know this is not the pattern of cougars.  I do know they can be raised in captivity and released.  I do know that if resident cougars are killed, more cougars will come into the territory.  Its’ called a “sink.” What ever happened, I can guarantee you humans played a big role in it happening.  I saw Cindy and her son at the meeting.  It was her farm this all happened on.  To me she seemed afraid to talk to anyone about this and seemed very afraid in general and appeared to just want to get the night over with.  An older man (I missed his name) spoke on her behalf stating she was too shy to talk and he sounded like Hitler as he ranted about killing cougar.  I heard alot of cougar killing stories that were not confirmed by ODFW or their representatives at the meeting.  There was a great deal of anger, story telling, discord and fear in the voices of the parties who spoke.  No one wanted to listen to reason.  They never mentioned the hounds men, but they sure did exploit children as a reason to kill cougar.  That was the worst part of it.   No one wanted to hear that a child had not been killed by a cougar here in Oregon or California for that matter.  California has more people, more livestock, and more cougar than any State in the Union and only 16 people have been attacked by cougar since 1890 to 2007.  5 were fatal, 2 from rabies (1909).  You can look this up on California ‘s Fish and Game website.

Instead they said, “We don’t care!  These are predators and must be killed.  I don’t care if cougars ever exist again!”  And they certainly bashed folks living in Portland and Eugene as not having a right to vote on issues they believe to be their own.  I liked the idea of getting more Oregonians involved with the cost of caring for their wilderness.  I have a good plan about that I hope to share with folks soon!  The hunters claimed they owned the wilderness, and, if I do recall, they owned our ranch every hunting season and we got alot of fences and gates torn down.  I never got to tell them that Oregon belongs to all of us and without any cougars, your children and children’s children will have a much less quality life. I know that is hard to understand, but it is called Tropic Cascadia and is not a good thing to try and live with.  With only a couple of minutes, I had no time to say that your farm feeds the city folks and they in turn supply you with income, and their taxes supply funds to maintain your roads, schools, and infrastructure to sustain your communities.  We are all networked by the streams and rivers that feed our watersheds and the air that is cleaned and made breathable by the forests that sustain us.  I never got to mention that this all happens because of cougars.  Because of their very existence, we exist, the honey bee exists, better deer populations exist and much more.  We Native Americans have known this for thousands of years.  I don’t think folks there tonight wanted to understand the Tropic Cascadia issues vast portions of American and our National Parks are devastated from.  Or the amazing reversals when cougar are reintroduced to these devastated areas.  I don’t think they would understand genetic extinction, anymore than I can understand why ODFW still thinks, after several years of killing more cougar than were killed before M18;  that we have 6000 cougar.  The math does not add up.

Even Jane Goodall has written about Oregon’s devastatingly poor cougar management plan.  Even the Smithsonian has documented this!  We do not have 6000 cougar, we do not have an accurate program that counts them to really know how many we have.   Our numbers are wrong.  We do have a society ill equipped to deal well with cougar.  We as Oregonians lack humanitarian and knowledgeable skills to do so, leaving us to soon be number 37 and then you can say goodbye to OUR wilderness, our quality of water, our vast forests and much much more.  It is my sincerest hope we can remove the polarization, the anger, the fear and the disrespect;  to learn to work together and preserve this great cat.  I am a cattle ranchers daughter, my life has been vested here in Oregon and our agriculture communities all my life and for the rest of my life.  I hear the losses, I’ve experienced them too.  And I know the truth.  I also know from experience that cougars are not that great a threat or that scary.  What was scary to hear and watch was the irrational fear about them.  I wish I could see more of this kind of action against childhood drug issues instead of being wasted on cougars.  From the bottom of my heart I know the that lack of understanding and education causes fear and fear is paralyzing,  and wrong decisions are made from fear. Lets put Oregon on the map by developing a cougar management plan that truly is responsible and is none lethal.  Lets remember that we are all united by the very fact we share the same soil, same water, same air and cities cannot exist without the country and ever more so vis versa.

Kindest regards

Jayne Miller

Fore more information about Jayne and the Oregon Cougar Action Team, visit www.OreCat.org