Success Stories

Bobcat

Fox

In 2020, areas surrounding The Pond Digger Ranch were devastated by two terrible fires, together burning over sixty thousand acres. These fires brought us the first burn victims we had ever treated. A couple of foxes, one adult, one subadult, and an adult bobcat. These animals were lucky enough to be near houses and were seen by residents that called in help.

One was locked in a garage by a quick minded homeowner, but the other two had to be caught with a trap. The problem was, both of these animals were so severely emaciated from being unable to hunt, that they were not heavy enough to set the traps off. A wonderful volunteer sat nearby with a string tied to the release on the trap.

Treating burns on these poor guys was a dangerous situation, as they were all three of an age to clearly recognize that we were the enemy. No Disney movie moments here, they would take any chance they could to inflict damage on us. We are happy to report that careful navigation at treatment times kept us all safe.

Several weeks of rehabilitation had all three of these beauties back to the areas they called home. We were happy to see them run to freedom.

Golden Eagle

Not every success story ends in a release. This Golden Eagle was found with a shattered wing. We suspected that he had been hit by a car. In most cases, a bird with a compound fracture would be immediately euthanized, but critically endangered species can sometimes be placed in breeding programs.

Mourning Dove

A small mourning dove came to us with severe injuries from a cat. It was missing a larger piece from his breast. Due to the bacteria in a cat’s mouth, it is not unusual for birds to die from infections, when they’ve been attacked by a cat. Miraculously, we were able to help this rescue and let him recover from his injuries and he was released a few months later.