Adopted adventurer becomes feline poster child in Ohiopyle
Tonto is a bit of a celebrity in Ohiopyle.
The four-legged adventurer accompanies tourists on their trips around the Ferncliff Trail or down the bike trail.
Tail held high, ears eager to be scratched, Tonto the cat wanders around his new home in the busy borough and spacious state park.
“He hangs out on the bridge and waits for people, and then goes on full-on hikes, all the way around Ferncliff,” said Pam Kruse, adoptive feline mother and owner of Falls Market. “I don’t know what he’s seeing in a person, but he’s going on adventures with them.”
It’s not a rare sight to see him perched on a rock across from the main Youghiogheny River falls, or bedded in the brush near the old train station, or sprawled out on the grass beside a family’s picnic, enticing smiles from tourists.
“Sometimes, meeting a little friend along your way can be the best thing ever,” Kruse said with a laugh.
There are new sites and smells every day for him to discover and new friends to make along the way.
“I say this is just like living on the farm — it’s just a bigger farm,” she added.
The feline celebrity has come a long way from his humble, cold beginnings.
Tonto, an orange tabby, was one of four kittens left on the side of the road near the state park campground on a frigid January night.
“They were maybe a month and a half old — way too little to be out on their own, especially in January,” Kruse said. “We’re big animal lovers. You don’t want to find an animal and just leave it to starve along the side of the road. We at least want to get it shelter and food, then figure it out.”
It’s a problem that’s all too common in the small borough. Cats and dogs are dropped off and abandoned by owners who maybe assume someone there in the steady stream of locals or tourists will care for it.
Unfixed strays meander the borough alleys and streets to reproduce. Feral cats have become a growing concern for the borough, Kruse said.
Ken Bisbee, Ohiopyle State Park manager, said it’s a problem at most state parks.
“It is a problem. People just tend to drop off whatever pet they don’t want anymore,” said Bisbee, who has spent the last 37 years working for six different state parks. “It’s a problem at every place.”
Over a busy summer, rangers find about two animals per month. Dogs are held at kennels at the park before they’re either recovered by missing owners or taken to a shelter. They use a microchip reader and check for collars, should they be a lost pet.
Cats, though, present more of a challenge. It’s not long before they become wild and feral and fend for themselves.
“They cause more long-term problems to our native wildlife,” Bisbee said, referring to feral cats that often hide from humans.
In Kruse’s time in Ohiopyle, she’s helped rescue more than a dozen cats and three dogs. Though she’s always been a big advocate of spaying/neutering pets, Tonto has become a feline poster child for a problem that most are unaware of.
“Tonto has made me more aware of how to come up with a good solution,” Kruse noted. “We’re working on it.”
Recently, through a dialogue with the borough council, feral cat programs and solutions have been addressed.
After talking with officials at Nemacolin Woofland’s Pet Resort and Spa, Kruse said the Ohiopyle Stray Cat Fund was launched last week.
Woofland officials will accept donations and distribute vouchers as needed for the feral cats.
“I was so happy,” Kruse said, referring to finding out the Nemacolin agreed to be a part of the solution. “It’s a big problem, and we’re trying to fix it.”
Feral and stray cats that are caught in the borough will be spayed or neutered, and their ears will be clipped to indicate they’ve been fixed.
They won’t be open for adoption, though, because of their wild nature, according to Kruse.
“You have to realize that they’re not going to be happy living in an apartment. You can’t just take home a feral cat. It will run away — it’s just looking to get back to its territory,” she said.
Because Tonto was taken in at such a young age, he’s quite friendly and acclimated to his “big farm.”
“Our plan is to get him fixed and let him live his life. He has shelter and food — he’s a really happy cat,” Kruse said.