Not the usual suspects

“What is the most unusual animal you’ve had to deal with” is a question I’ve heard many times over the years.

While most of my calls involve dogs and cats, you can imagine I’ve seen my share of random other animals in the past 15 years of doing this job.

Responding to a rogue pet pig call last week reminded me that I’ve been meaning to share some of my more unusual suspects with you all.

It always amazes me how many people think that getting a pet pig is a great idea. I blame the internet and the cute pictures of tiny, adorable ‘tea cup pigs’ in rain coats. If they really stayed that small forever, wouldn’t we all have one? I know I would.

Sure they’re cute, and small, at first. But most of these miniature pigs, when fed a healthy diet, grow into 200+ pound behemoths that tear up your yard. Not to mention they are wicked smart and can usually figure out how to get out of an enclosure pretty quickly. That’s where I come in. And if you think this scenario is only found in the countryside you’d be surprised at how many pigs we have chased in the city. Just wait until you catch it and then attempt to pick it up. Oh the screams… the ear piercing screams. The whole neighborhood immediately stares out the window when they hear blood curdling squeals emitted from the small creature as the animal control officer is breathlessly carrying it to the car. I have never encountered a quiet pig.

Fortunately it was posted all over Facebook that someone lost their pet ferret. Just before the end of shift one evening we were sent a call regarding a woman who reported a ferret laying at her back door for most of the day and not leaving. Now it was going to be night soon and she wondered if it was wild, and why it wasn’t leaving. My coworker accompanied me to the call. Sure enough there was the ferret curled up at the womans back door. It was cold and clearly a domestic pet. As my coworker was busying himself putting on leather gloves, looking for a net and retrieving a cat carrier from the truck, I walked up to the little guy. Slowly. He didn’t move. I scooped him up and he immediately seemed relieved. Clearly a house pet who had no business getting lost in the big outdoors. I laughed at my coworker with all his gear and had him hold the carrier open for me. In all my years handling animals I think I used gloves maybe three times. And maybe that’s gross, but I’m still alive. I contacted the ferrets owner who was extremely relieved to know his pet will be safe for the night.

Snakes. Love em or hate em. Most people live blissfully unaware of their presence, but they’re always around. We do get an occasional wild snake call, but the majority of the snakes we deal with are domesticated exotics, and usually involve evictions where pets are left behind. While our animal control department doesn’t handle wildlife, we will respond to the occasional panicked phone call about a snake. Once a woman found a snake in her car while driving. She pulled over on the side of the road and called 911 in a panic. By the time I got there she had all but dismantled the engine block. Of course her car was full of kids toys, food left overs and a trunk overflowing with items. We looked and looked and concluded that it must have vacated the vehicle since she had been sitting here with her doors wide open and hood up for some time now. Not much more I could help her with.

This Eastern Hog-nose snake was found and captured by someone who wasn’t sure if it was venomous or not. Since they located it close to their front door they just wanted to make sure it was safe. I identified it for them and assured the family it is harmless to humans and it would be best to release it nearby.

If you think snake calls can cause a fuss, you’d be right. Case in point, the snake found in the city of Wyoming. I was sent to a call about someone having found a snake in their backyard. It was described to be a 4-foot-long specimen, and possibly dangerous by their estimate. I was also told that police and the fire department would be responding. I’m not joking.

I arrive at the address to find a police officer and several fire department employees on scene… waiting for me. Even though they all responded, no one has attempted capture of the beast, and would rather wait until little ACO Jessica arrives and advises of the plan. I asked if the snake was still there and the homeowner gladly took me to the side of his garage to show me the monster.

I saw a beautiful ball python, curled up on a log attempting to get warm in the sun on this cool spring day. The poor little guy was barely over a foot long and most definitely someone’s pet. I walked over and he didn’t move. I picked him up and felt his little cold body curl around my arm seeking warmth. As I was walking down the driveway my coworker, who hates snakes and stayed away, took this snapshot. While I was carefully wrapping the snake in a pillow case I heard the fire department and police on scene tell my coworker he owes me a beer. The way they all acted I figured they all owe me a beer at this point.

The Walker sheep. That was a fun story. Not so fun was running after this stupid animal for close to two hours attempting to catch it. With no farms nearby it was a mystery where it came from and why it was now running through the city of Walker. I arrived at the address of the caller and located said ram in their back yard. Of course it wouldn’t let me get close, so I called my coworker to assist. It just so happened that my husband, who is a police officer for this department, was also working that day and not busy. So he joined in the fun, as did a few guys from the nearby fire department who had some time on their hands. After multiple close calls, crossing various roads and ending up behind a church, we finally secured the suspect.

The funny part about this story is that earlier that morning Walker police responded to a report of a break in at a nearby business. Someone had noticed broken glass and some blood and called law enforcement. It did not appear to be a regular break in and nothing was taken. There was however some strange chunks of fuzzy wool left behind on the broken window. After reviewing the evidence it was concluded that the ram had broken the window. He must have seen his reflection in the glass and, dumb as they are, smashed his head into it. And sure enough, there was a cut on his nose which explained the blood. Who knew a sheep could end up with a criminal record.

My coworker lives on a farm and took the ram home after no one came to reclaim him. And wouldn’t you know it, his delinquent antics were not complete until he managed to get out of the pen for mere minutes and impregnate her ewe.

We do get calls about the occasional reptile as well and then have the joy of housing them at the shelter until we find somewhere for them to go. One particular blue-tongued skink was put in a kennel that he easily escaped from soon after. Everyone was searching but he seemed to have vanished in the garage. One evening after the shelter staff had left, and it was quiet as we finished our animal control shift, I searched the garage. Found him hiding under some cat carriers and secured him in a better enclosure. Believe it or not, the little guy had an owner that was searching for him, and able to identify him due to the tips of his little toes missing.

A very cold duck one winter became my little rescue story that month. Someone called about their neighbors having moved away and leaving behind a duck in the back yard. Normally this wouldn’t be a huge deal as ducks live outside anyway. But this was a very cold March with deep snow on the ground and temps below freezing and the little guy was alone. There was no fresh water or food for him as he took refuge in a makeshift shelter along the back fence. He was a white domestic duck and easily captured and transported. At the shelter we set up a kennel in the warm garage for him. He was filthy, barely resembling the white duck he was meant to be. We had a plastic kiddy pool that the dogs use to play in the summer and I filled that with water for him. I let him loose in the garage and you should have seen how he immediately dove into that pool. I have never seen a happier duck in all my life. I had posted a video of this on my Facebook page that day. I wish I could remember where I saved it. The water was completely black after the 30 minutes he spent in it. But the duck was white. If a duck could show gratitude, this duck showed it. He was making all sorts of noises and flapping his wings and continued preening himself for hours that day. He hung out in the garage until we found him a suitable home and every time someone was using the hose in the garage, we’d let him join in the fun and he would run around and get sprayed with water and lived his best duck life.

As you can imagine we get calls about the occasional loose cows, horses, goats and whatever else people own. And sometimes we find them and have to secure them, other times we are lucky and find the owners and let them deal with their animals. We also respond to many evictions where pets have been left behind and then end up with snakes, monitor lizards and even the occasional alligator.

Most days are the same monotonous complaints and loose dog calls. But some days you get the more interesting calls that make you glad you don’t have a desk job.