Follow our journey as a 501(c)3 non-profit rescue and rehabilitation ranch for native and exotic wil
Johnson City, TX
78636
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Wild Things Rescue Ranch, Inc. is a 501(c)3 state permitted wildlife rescue and rehabilitation facility nestled in the heart of the Texas Hill Country, regularly serving about 25 counties. We’re a veteran family, organized with a group of rehabbers and volunteers that work hard for our wildlife! We live in such a rich, beautiful, ecologically sensitive area, with an abundance of native and exotic species living in the wild who need our help every day. Our mission is to meet the needs of local wildlife that are in trouble due to human impact, injury, abandonment, or other situations. We’re currently creating youth and disabled veterans educational outreach programs that you can read about on our Programs page. We are so blessed to have a community that supports our efforts, but as we grow, we’ll need more support now than ever! Please see our contribution page to find out the different ways you you can help, too!
Infant formula, enclosures, medical supplies, and veterinary care are expensive! Wild Things Rescue Ranch is run solely on donations and the love in our hearts! Rehabilitating wildlife is expensive, there is no state or federal funding available to wildlife rehabilitators, and the job doesn't pay! Please consider donating to help feed babies or sponsor new enclosures so we can grow! We also welcome any donations of building materials. Donate directly to our Paypal link. or purchase Amazon Wishlist items here.
Our humble beginning: Our lives took an “about-face” in 2016 after Zeb medically retired from civilian law enforcement due to disabling combat war injuries received in Iraq, during his fifth tour to the middle east. We relocated onto a family ranch in search of healing, but we got far more than we bargained for! Service runs thick in our blood, and we soon developed a way to contribute meaningful work that could still somehow serve our community, since military and civilian law enforcement was no longer an option. Through this work, an incredibly beautiful and healing experience started to unfold; what began as an initial effort to “just” rescue wildlife in need, quickly turned into a vision to be able to share this experience with other veterans and local community members through outreach programs and education presentations. Due to the high volume of orphaned and injured animals in need, we very quickly outgrew our humble beginning. We host volunteers, community service hour requirements, as well as youth earning volunteer service hour credits for local high schools. We’ve also been happy to have current veterinary students out from Texas A&M, who’ve come to learn about wildlife care and medicine.
Moving forward, one of our biggest motivators is the desire to reach other veterans and touch their lives in the way ours has been. We’ve had exciting and encouraging conversations with organizations, politicians, and the National Park Service about what type of veterans programming needs are out there. There are several great success stories with disabled veterans and equine therapy, but nothing with wildlife rehabilitation so far. We know first hand that there’s a special peace and understanding of value for life that takes place when you get involved with the care of amputation, abandonment, blindness and injury cases, and experience how your love can affect them. There are no words to describe how the unconditional love of an animal can affect our hearts, especially when you’ve been through similar trauma. Our long term goal is to build a couple of ADA compliant cottages located in our serene wild setting, where veterans and their family members can come be apart of our future program.
