Bear Ridge Ranch Rescue

Lucky is now the Bear Ridge Ranch Rescue mascot. He happily lives a very spoiled life in his own chalet that Jason made for him on our front porch.

When the dogs are outside, Lucky runs around and plays with them. He enjoys nipping at their feet, tails, and especially their dog tags.

He loves to be anywhere his best friend, Fezzik (our Great Dane) is. Lucky adores this big dog and Fezzik is very gentle and patient with his new feathered friend.

He really thinks he is a dog!

One of Lucky’s favorite things to play with…dog tags!

This bonded pair came home with us November 28. They were our first rescue as an official organization. We had just reached out with our contact information to local wildlife rescue centers, humane societies, etc. in San Diego, Orange, and Riverside Counties. One of them, Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Orange County, referred us to a lovely couple of retired professors at UC Irvine. They had just saved this young pair of ducklings that had been dumped at the marshlands surrounding the campus.

Don and Gerry are definitely two young male Welsh Harlequins. We think were possibly 4-6 weeks old when we got them.

UPDATE: Don and Gerry are currently available for adoption!

Don and Gerry are growing up to be gorgeous boys!

Handsome Don!

On 12/11/21 we got a call from a fellow animal lover in Orange County who found a recently dumped trio of white Pekin ducks at a local park.

This trio was being harassed and chased off the pond by the local wildlife. One of the ducks, the female, had an injured leg. This added to the problem of the trio not being safe at the park.

Thanks to the good Samaritans who found and saved this trio, we were able to take them into our care.

The female’s injuries to her neck (missing feathers) seemed to be from over-mating with her two male companions. Her leg injury was either a deformity from birth or an old, healed incident. She gets around just fine with a little limp.

UPDATE: This adorable Pekin trio has been adopted!

They found their forever home at Zephyr Mountain Grove in Wildomar, CA with the Sands family. These lucky ducks get to live the good life on a 20 acre avocado and citrus grove that sits high above the city. They share the grove with dozens of chickens, guinea fowl, dogs, cats, kids, and even Hip Campers.

If you’d like to follow their continuing journey, please check out Zephyr Mountain Grove at https://zephyrmountaingrove.com/

They have some amazing views, yummy avocadoes, and lots of cool events planned for the future!

Two more white Pekin females taken in on 12/30/2021. Each one was an owner surrender from Orange County.

Diane is the larger duck with the darker orange bill. She was given to us by a lovely family in Santa Ana. She is super sweet! We think about one year old. Easy to handle and snuggle. Likes to be carried. She even laid us an egg after her first night with us. Family called her Duckie, so we changed name to Diane. Jason’s idea since the other rescue was named Jack. Get it? From the song “Jack and Diane” by John Cougar Mellencamp.

Jack(ie) was given to us by a nice young college student from Whittier. He had raised her since she was a baby in April. He thought she was a he, so he used the name Jack. Once we got home and got them set up, she started quacking and we realized he was actually a she! Now she’s called Jackie. Also very sweet, friendly, and easy to handle.

For two ducks who had never been around any other poultry, they are getting along famously!

UPDATE: These two have been adopted!

They found their forever home at Zephyr Mountain Grove in Wildomar, CA with the Sands family. These lucky ducks get to live the good life on a 20 acre avocado and citrus grove that sits high above the city. They share the grove with dozens of chickens, guinea fowl, dogs, cats, kids, and even Hip Campers.

If you’d like to follow their continuing journey, please check out Zephyr Mountain Grove at https://zephyrmountaingrove.com/

Our first rescue of the new year.

We got a call on 1/4/22 from a young woman asking for help with a duck that showed up that morning on her grandparent’s front lawn. It spend the entire day in that one spot and they were concerned.

When we arrived it was fairly easy to catch and did not appear injured or ill. We named it Monty, after the SDSU mascot since the home was located near the college and off Montezuma Ave.

UPDATE: Monty is a female! She started laying this week. While she prefers to sleep in her own enclosure, she now spends her days integrated with the flock. Monty likes to swim, forage, and explore. She is getting along well with the other ducks, geese, and chickens. She loves to roost at night.

UPDATE: Monty is no longer available for adoption. She has bonded with our injured goose Henry!

Henry Update February 5, 2022: We had planned to return Henry to his flock and lake on Sunday. However, he has sadly taken a turn for the worse. After the past week of being off all meds and happily roaming free with our flock, his wing began to droop again suddenly on Friday.

We feel it would be irresponsible of us to release Henry at this time. He will need more vet care to treat his wing, so he will remain with us indefinitely. Henry has integrated very well with our flock and we have fallen in love with him. It will be our pleasure to take care of him.

We are taking him back to the wonderful Dr. Jenkins of Avian and Exotic Animal Hospital in San Diego https://www.drexotic.com/

UPDATE 3/7/22: Dr. Jenkins found that Henry’s left wing was also previously injured; it had old fractures at wrist and shoulder, as well as dislocation. This has reduced the range of motion of this wing. Henry actually has more movement in the right wing, which is the droopy one.

Dr. Jenkins came up with the brilliant idea of creating a custom harness of sorts (like a Falcon Bridle) so that Henry doesn’t have to strain to hold up his wing.

Stay tuned! We have a leather-maker who is willing to make this for Henry.

This gorgeous trio of Black Swedish brothers was owner surrendered on 2/21/22. They were purchased in spring of 2021 as young ducklings from a local feed store. That makes them almost one year old.

They were raised by a family whose daughter was involved in 4H, but then graduated high school and left for college.

Since we took them in on Presidents’ Day Holiday, we named them after the family and the two Presidents whom we celebrate.

The brothers will be kept in isolation for the first 10-14 days for biosecurity, then we will introduce them to the flock.

So far, Earl seems to be the alpha. He is the biggest and most assertive of the trio. They all seem to get along well with each other!

UPDATE: The brothers are available for adoption!

This little cutie was found at a park in LA by a nice family. We think it is about 3-4 weeks old, and most likely a Pekin.

Since we cannot determine this cutie’s gender yet, we’re calling them Pickles.

For now they’re living in a brooder in our “nursery” aka master bathroom.

Stay tuned for updates!

UPDATE: Pickles is doing very well. They have imprinted on Jason, and prefers to be snuggled!

Pickles is still living in the house. We’ve discovered they get very upset when left alone, even with their stuffed Bunny. So if we have to leave the house, Pickles gets moved to the great room in a playpen. We put the TV on Animal Planet and make sure the indoor animals are around. This seems to comfort Pickles for a while.

Meet Maverick!

This gorgeous boy is a Muscovy/Magpie hybrid, so we think. Maverick’s parents found him as a young duckling and have cared for him ever since. They are away for the summer, so we are “duck sitting” Mr. Maverick.