| Rats, those cuddly omnivorous rodents of the genus Rattus, don't have a great reputation in Western culture. They are synonymous with terms such as fink, bum, snitch, scoundrel, loser and creep. And rat-borne parasites are thought to have spread the Black Plague. But at PGE Park, you will find no rats. None. Nada. Zilch. Zero. That is because the park is home to the best exterminators money can buy: Cats. Yes, about 10 to 15 feral cats call PGE Park home, and director of park operations Ken Puckett treats them like any other valuable employee. "They're doing a job here, just like anybody that I pay to work here. They're keeping the rat population down." Puckett set up a feeding station for the cats in 2000, dubbed it "Feral Cat Alley," and constructed a ramp that allows older cats to come and go with relative ease. Puckett also directed the park's sprinkler heads into a water station for the cats so no kitty will get dehydrated. But a word to the wise -- call these cats "kitties" at your own risk. "These are wild cats. They're not lap cats," says Puckett. "They'll rip your eyeballs out." One cat, though, given the name Sylvester by the PGE crew, is on the friendly side. "He'll come out in the morning and lay in the middle of the field and sun himself," says Puckett. "Maybe he just likes watching people." Another member of the PGE colony, a stubby orange cat with a Rocky Balboa complex, as Puckett puts it, seems to be the toughest of the group. He and the other cats grab an occasional pigeon out of midair when the rat and mice quarries get sparse. Puckett and colleague Chris Metz were interviewed by "Fight Club" author Chuck Palahniuk for his offbeat travel guide "Fugitives and Refugees: A Walk in Portland, Oregon."Surprisingly, though, that little bit of publicity hasn't made Feral Cat Alley a popular sightseeing destination among Palahniuk's readership. "This is nothing that we look for publicity on," says Puckett. "It's definitely a partnership. . . . The cats earn their keep, they perform a service for us. We owe them clean water, some food and a nice, warm place to sleep." The Humane Society donates a pallet of food for the cats each month, and a neighborhood woman sets out bowls of cat food on a regular basis (including canned cat food on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Christmas). "When she shows up, they come," says Puckett. "It's kind of like the Pied Piper." In return, the cats keep the stadium rodent-free, and sometimes they interrupt the proceedings of a baseball or soccer game with an ominous shriek or growl. (During one late-night Beavers doubleheader a couple of years ago, the grounds crew had to break up a particularly noisy catfight.) To catch a glimpse of the cats, go to Feral Cat Alley beneath the Fred Meyer Family Deck. Your best chance to see them is at night. Puckett and Metz report run-ins with their feline co-workers on the -- no pun intended -- catwalks outside their fourth floor offices, usually deep into the evening. "Sometimes you can see their eyes glowing," Puckett says. The cats have been residents of the park since at least the early 1920s (Palahniuk's book speculates the cats have been there since the first grandstand was built in 1893), and it's likely they will continue to live there. Abandoned and/or stray cats from surrounding neighborhoods have been drawn to the stadium for years and years, adding a feral subtext to this otherwise domesticated and family-oriented sports venue. No doubt everyone but the rats -- and the occasional pigeon -- is grateful for that. MIKE CADE This article originally appeared in The Oregonian on June 28, 2004. |
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| FERAL CATS OF PGE PARK |