Saving Alice: A Ranch Built On Second Chances

A starving lab named Happy and a fragile calf named Alice don’t just make for good stories—they redefine what we owe each other. We sit with Jeremy Sons, better known around town as the Denton Spider-Man, to explore how a simple habit of pulling over for strays became Clear Creek Adventure Ranch, a 501(c)(3) sanctuary where 60-plus animals—many with special needs—get a second chance and a lot of love.

We go inside the daily rhythm: sunrise turnouts for goats and birds, bottle feeds and diapers for the fragile ones, endless scooping and fresh hay, then hours of building habitats before evening rounds. The goal is simple and relentless: reduce stress, increase safety, and put animals first. That’s why their “Meet the Animals” experiences happen only at the ranch. Visitors brush, feed, and sometimes bottle-feed in a calm home environment, while hearing the rescue stories that turned skeptics into believers. Alice, rescued at death’s door, became a life-changing mirror for Jeremy—if you wouldn’t harm the beings you know, why accept harm to the ones you haven’t met?

Education is the ranch’s other heartbeat. Jeremy’s wife, a veteran elementary teacher, is stepping in full-time to design hands-on learning that gets kids off screens and into the trees. They teach calm handling, reading body language, and what coexistence looks like when llamas, donkeys, emus, goats, and a very sweet calf share the same pasture. That theme of coexistence extends to the urgent conservation fight just beyond their fence line. A proposed six-lane tollway threatens to sever the Clear Creek wildlife corridor. Jeremy documents bald eagles and whooping cranes, speaks up at public meetings, and invites neighbors to stand for smarter planning that preserves habitat and movement.

It costs over a hundred dollars a day to feed the animals, and special-needs cases require expensive vet care, surgeries, and wheelchairs. If you want to help, book a private, animal-first tour, donate supplies or funds at clearcreekadventureranch.org, or share their story so more people find their way to the creek. If this conversation moved you, subscribe, leave a review, and tell a friend why second chances matter.

You have been listening to The 266 Express, the official podcast of Sanger, TX.  IF you have comments or suggestions, please send them to dgreen@sangertexas.org

Transcript

Meet Jeremy And The Ranch Origin

SPEAKER_01 0:06

Welcome to the 266 Express. I'm John Knoblett here with my co-host Donna Green. Donna, who do we have with us today?

SPEAKER_03 0:15

Today we're excited to welcome Jeremy Sons. He's the founder of Clear Creek Adventure Ranch. It's a one-of-a-kind sanctuary focused on rescuing and rehabilitating and caring for animals while offering hands-on experiences for the community, and it's right here in Sanger. So but you know, something a side note that I didn't know until just recently. Most people probably know uh Jeremy, but in a different capacity. And uh that's as the Denton Spider-Man. So I didn't know that, but that's pretty cool if you've and his his Spider-Man trucks outside.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

You just gave out my secret identity. You know, that's the number one rule about being a superhero. You just jeopardized so many people.

SPEAKER_01 0:58

I mean, he's straight up gonna walk into the green goblin as he exits the door. It's all your fault, Donovan.

SPEAKER_00 1:04

Well, it's all your fault. Why would you do that?

SPEAKER_03 1:06

Well, I mean, it's quite okay. I mean, I was hoping he could introduce me to Batman or something. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:12

Bat Batman. Batman, Smackman, right? So Spider-Man. Well, Jeremy, tell us a little bit about how the Clear Creek Adventure Ranch began and what what really was your inspiration to get it started?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

Well, um, it wasn't a necessarily, well, not necessarily at all. It wasn't planned at all. And um, it's something that me and my wife have always done. Before I even met my wife, she's always been someone, she sees a dog on the side of the road, uh, even from a small child, that was her dog, you know. If it needed a home, she brought them in. And that's how I've always been. Um, uh, whether it was wildlife, um, animals, rabbits, raccoons, possums, whatever it was, you know, if it needed help, I was gonna take it in, care for it. And uh been like that since I was a child. And my wife and I started um rescuing dogs, uh, and we built up quite a collection uh because as you know, it's pretty much I mean, it's a serious problem everywhere because so many people get puppies, they're little animals, and and they're awesome for the first month or two or three, and but then they become like, uh, well, I don't need this animal. And whether they re-home them or uh abandon them on the side of the road, there's just so many animals that uh need help always, every day. And uh, and so

Rescues, Happy The Pet Mayor, And Early Chaos

SPEAKER_02 2:38

we would find animals, whether they're on the creek that got abandoned or running down the road. Um train for ultramarathon, so I did a lot of running. So I'd find dogs on the side of the road, and and um, and uh so we we have 10 dogs now, and um and one of our interesting dogs I found on uh on Clear Creek that someone I ended up finding out the the real story later on, but someone was gonna kill him, but instead of shooting them, he just dumped them on the dirt road. And uh we found him a couple weeks later, just starving to death, just skin and bones, little black lab, sweet as he could be. And um we took him in, started feeding them, putting weight on them, taking him to the vet. And uh that same week, Ditton was doing a pet election uh for the mayor, the pet mayor of Ditton. And I was like, Well, I'm gonna get this dog the mayor. You know, he's already been through a lot. And uh and so I ran a full campaign, uh, put stickers on the side of my car going into every business, and and uh we got Happy. Uh that's his name. Uh we got him, uh he's the mayor Ditton. And uh and they had this election every couple years, and uh, but since Happy was the mayor, they they quit doing the election and didn't. He's the last of the last because I even received death threats almost. I'm not exaggerating. It was chaos. These are grown adults, these are not children, grown adults, 50-year-old women uh cussing me out online because uh they thought I was cheating to get happy the mayor. Oh yeah. Uh and so uh regular election. There is no hope. No hope in a regular election. If if if people can have a pet election without chaos, oh no. Human elections are just uh so yeah, and um and so that's one of our interesting

Mission: Special Needs Animals And New Options

SPEAKER_02 4:37

talks. But um we started uh we got some, we rescued some goats outside of our normal rescue, and we got some goats, and then we rescued some donkeys, and then rescued some llamas and and emus, and and and then we started just having all these animals, and then people started asking, I was like, Well, y'all should maybe open up a nonprofit and you could be able to do more. And uh, we never even thought about that. We just were just helping animals. And um, and so um, yeah, that's how it it all started. And uh we uh opened up a nonprofit, Clear Creek Adventure Ranch, uh rescue and education, and uh basically it's just uh give animals uh a second chance that would otherwise be euthanized, maybe, and uh um and just share that experience with um with other people because I I mean these animals are life-changing. They really have been for me and my wife, and and I just don't want to um keep that experience to myself. I want to share it with other people. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 5:42

So uh tell us what does the mission of the ranch mean to you personally and how has it evolved since day one?

SPEAKER_02 5:49

Well, I I think that by giving pe giving animals um showing that there's other options, and uh a lot of times that if an animal's hurt or blind or or has special needs in some sort of way, um, the option is to put them down. There's no other option. Why do what what other option is there? But there is other options. Um animals aren't like people. What they don't feel sorry for themselves, they don't go, wow, I'm missing an arm. I wish I'd had an you know what my friend has. He has four legs and I only have three. No, they just get up and live life, eat poop, and have fun, and uh and they don't mess around. Um we have um blind animals and uh Willie the kid, and he is he gets around better than any animal with with full site, and he has he can't see zero percent, but he does anything and everything he wants to do. You cannot, you don't have to like, come on, Willie, come on, Willie. You can tiptoe and try to sneak, and he's right on and you can go and anywhere and everywhere, and it's just inspiring to watch because it's not a sad story, it's an awesome story. And um, you know, a lot of times, you know, um we've got to put that animal down. Uh what kind of life is that? But I always say that if an animal could talk, they'd be like, oh, hold on now. Uh I'm good. I'm good not being able to see me. I'm good missing a leg. Hold up with that bullet, you know. Uh, you know, so and that's the truth. It's not just a funny thing. I really truly believe that. And so um just showing that there's other options and giving children um and adults alike, showing them that um letting them experience these animals, because a lot of times we see the animals in a pasture somewhere or from a distance, and or if we try to go up to them, they they spook and run from us. But all our animals, we have 60 plus animals, and all of them are sweet, want to be hugged, want to be loved, want to be pet on. And uh and it and it's not because they're unlike other animals, other animals just have the instinct of of being safe. And so when you walk by them, they're like, hey, I need to protect myself, so I need to lash it out at you or or run from you. But all of our animals know that people are not threats. And so once they realize you're not a threat, they're just like a dog. And uh no difference, zero difference. And the only reason we think a lot of times it's different is because, well, I seen this guy try to pet it and it ran from you. I seen this, whatever it is. They're not like my dog, but once they realize that you're not a threat, they are 100% just as sweet as your dogs, or maybe even sweeter.

SPEAKER_01 8:45

Um I mean, Willie the kid, right? I'm a fan. If we if you don't have a fan club yet, and I'm sure you do, I will start one. Okay. Uh the

Meet The Herd: Personalities And Species

SPEAKER_01 8:57

uh so I mean you said you've got 60, 60 plus animals out there. What kind of animals do you have on site now?

SPEAKER_02 9:04

Well, um, we got see if I can put it all in my head right now. We got 10 dogs, 11 cats, a bearded dragon, a tortoise, uh, a coat of mundy, a pig, four, five goats, two baby doll sheep, two donkeys, two emus, two turkeys, five chickens, and a portrait juniper, two peacocks, um, two Sissible geese, um, two llamas, a pony, and Alice, our sweetest cow in the entire planet.

unknown 9:52

Nice.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Wow. Nice. That's a lot.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

I have a question that goes, it says this. Who's your favorite? And I'm like, they're they're all your they're all your babies, right? We don't have favorites, do we?

SPEAKER_03 10:06

Well of course you do. I have favorites.

SPEAKER_02 10:09

They are 100% all unique and they all have what's awesome about them, they all have interesting, all animals have their own story.

SPEAKER_05 10:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 10:18

And uh they all have their own personalities. Uh whether they could be the twins, obviously the same breed in twins, but our twin baby doll sheep, twin brothers, and and have totally different personalities. So all animals uh are unique in that way. But as far as favorites, uh it would be I'd hurt somebody's feeling by saying uh one of our animals' feelings by saying I had a favorite, but Alice is the sweetest cow on planet Earth. Yeah. Uh she's uh seven, almost eight months old. Um her mama was a Brahmin, one of those cows with the hump on the back. And we don't know what her dad was, but um she was bought um when she

Alice The Calf: A Life-Changing Rescue

SPEAKER_02 11:00

was two days old in an auction. Her and her mom were bought together, and uh the story that was told to me by the man that bought her said that Alice wasn't eating, wasn't uh nursing on her mom, and so she he thought Alice was gonna die. And so he went ahead and sold Alice's mom when Alice was less than a week old. And for the next almost three weeks, Alice lived in a I mean a just about as twice the size of this room we're in right here, just a small little gated area uh where he was feeding her one bottle a day at his own omission uh because he didn't have time. And um I mean, which for a one-week old calf, that's I mean, just barely enough at best to keep him alive. Um and so she was skin and bones. We got her when she was a month old. Uh, I found her. Um, and uh you would think in a situation like this that I'd be like, oh, here you go. No, we still had to pay pretty good money for her uh to bring her home. And um and everybody that we talked to that we knew a lot of people in the cow business and and whatnot, and they said, Don't waste your time. No matter how hard you try, she's too far gone. Uh, she's just not gonna, I mean, you said you're gonna get your heart broke. It's just not we've done it time and time again, that she's not gonna make it. And I told my wife, just plain and simple, I said, man, if we don't try, I get emotionally even thinking about it, but if we don't try, who will? And um, and just to have somebody stand up for us, you know, just and that's what we wanted to do for her. So we went and got her and brought her home, and and and as soon as I opened up the trailer to get her out, she had collapsed on the ground, and uh, you know, uh, her eyes rolled back, and then I had to, you know, reach in her mouth to grab her tongue from swallowing it, and and it was a whole ordeal. We didn't think we thought I was gonna have to do CPR just right there. And but we ended up getting her up and and got her to the vet the next day and and um you know and just nursed her back to health after a lot of different issues she's had in the first month or two. But golly, man, she has literally changed her life uh because I never knew a cow to be this have this much personality, this much love, this much, you know, just you can tell that um she has emotions, she has she's she she gets scared, she gets happy, you know, and this is a cow. This is um what I've killed thousands of in my life, not me personally, but I've participated in because I've ate thousands of them. And uh and I'm like, wow, what the crap. I said, there's nothing I could do to that would make me ever kill Alice to get a few meals out of her. Nothing. And uh I said, well, well, if I met the cows that I'm pro that I'm eating, I'd probably like them too. And so I said, Well, crap. I said, Well, I ain't gonna participate in that either. And I said, Well, there's nothing I could do to make me want to kill Marty McFly or Large Marge or turkeys. I wasn't gonna kill them to get a couple meals out of them. I said, Well, I ain't gonna kill no one else's turkeys to get a couple meals out of their turkeys either. And I said the same thing with all our animals. I said, uh, there's nothing I can do uh that would make me want to kill them. So what kind of hypocrite am I to kill other people's animals? And uh because they want to live, you know, God made them, they put them here for a reason, and you know, and I know the different reasons, but um if I don't have to, I don't want to. And uh, and so in a survival situation, sure, there's different different things that might happen, but I'm not gonna eat them for a snack, you know, and uh to kill something that wants to be here. And so I want to I want everything that God made to be happy it met Jeremy. And that's just uh I'm 45 years old, and and anybody that necessarily probably talked like this when I was younger, I'd be like, man, you you hippie sissy, you know. You know, but now I'm that person, and uh, and and that's something just kind of just switch, and just once you see something uh a certain way, you can't unsee it, and and uh and so yeah, yeah. So Alice would be, she's definitely a life changer. So I don't know favorite, but she's definitely a life changer. Oh, you just don't let them listen to the podcast, you'll probably be good.

SPEAKER_03 15:52

Yeah, give them way from a channel.

SPEAKER_01 15:54

You're all my favorite.

SPEAKER_03 15:56

And all the kids. The kids can't listen to it either, at least not the first part. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Somebody messed that up. Spider Man. So yeah. So can you walk us through what's a typical day look like for you?

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Well, the it's a lot of the same. A lot of the same. It's it's wake up uh bright and early, and uh and we got to let out our sheep. Uh certain animals we we put up at night uh to protect them, keep them safe from predators, and uh some animals that we we let run free, and they're they're protectors and bigger animals that we don't have to worry about. But we let out the little animals, all the birds, the sheep, the goats, the uh uh letting the dogs out, go to the bathroom, uh scooping a lot of poop. There's a lot of poop to scoop, and you gotta do that multiple times a day or it'll be chaos. So that's uh that's part of it. And um, and then make sure everybody's got hay and water that morning, and and then I have my cup of coffee. That takes about an hour to get everything going. Bottle, well, we gotta bottle feed different animals, we gotta change different diapers on different animals. Um, and um, and then that puts me about about 8:30 a.m. right there. And so then after all of that, I um a lot of times right now we're building a lot of shelters and habitats and trying to stay ahead of the winter. This is our first winter to have um uh Clear Creek Adventure Ranch. And so we're just trying to stay ahead of the winter, any sort of bad weather, even though it's bad weather's right on our doorsteps right now. But uh uh so it's a lot of building right now, a lot of building. And and then uh and then about 5 p.m., 4 p.m., that's when we start the nighttime chores, and that's a lot of feeding, a lot of more poop scooping, a lot of putting animals up. Uh, and so I mean it's a it's a full, full, full day. Um there we joke with my wife that if someone came to us and said, Oh, you got you a free trip to Hawaii for 10

A Day On The Ranch And No-Days-Off Reality

SPEAKER_02 18:06

days, all expenses paid, uh, we'd have to say, thanks, but no thanks. There's a the possibility of a vacation anywhere in our distant decade future uh is probably not there uh because just to be away for an hour just puts a little bit of stress in our body because our job as shepherds uh as um is to protect the animals and we can't protect them when you're away. And uh we do everything we possibly can to make sure, but um there's a million things that could go wrong um if no one's there. And so being hands-on all the time is important um um for us. So yeah.

SPEAKER_01 18:54

So work and ranch is what it is. A lot of work and a lot of ranch. Well, tell us about your Meet the Animals tour. I mean, what uh what what can people expect uh on a Meet the Animals tour?

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Well, um we we do offer the Meet the Animal tours, a private tour. Um, one way that um we can have people out to experience the animals. When I we first decided on doing that, I wanted to make sure 100% that the animals are put first. You know, it's gotta be beneficial for the animals um first and not beneficial for us first or or other people first. And so, and with taking the animals to like a petting zoo type

Tours Built For Animal Wellbeing

SPEAKER_02 19:42

situation, I I don't believe personally that that's great for the animals because you're trailing them up, you're stressing them out, you're taking them somewhere else. Uh, they're not happy about that. And and and so we didn't want to participate in that. So having people there at a rent. Animals are not stressed because they're at their their home. And I thought it would benefit the animals because more love the better. And to have people out. And so when people come out, they are able to be hands-on with all 60 plus animals. Pet, feed, brush, love on all our animals. Here are all their stories. Bottle feed babies when available. We have a lot of bottle babies. And then just to be able to experience the ranch, we uh we're right there on Clear Creek with these big 60-foot trees, and we have tree houses and zip lines and tree climbs and everything a kid or a grown adult kid would like. My nephews that live right up the road, I bought it for them. They um they did good for about three days. I had them on a point system. Yeah. And uh and they hadn't got a point, I think, after three days. I love it.

SPEAKER_03 21:21

So you mentioned zip lines, but so what are other activities that you have? I know you do education.

SPEAKER_02 21:27

So

Education, Coexistence, And Nature For Kids

SPEAKER_02 21:28

yeah, uh, and so my wife is a school teacher. She's an elementary school teacher. She uh teaches in Slide L. Uh, she's taught for about 15 years, and uh, and so that's just something that's uh came natural for what we wanted to do. She actually just uh put in her resignation after almost 15 years of teaching uh just last week, and she's gonna finish out this uh this year. And then um we just believe the good Lord is is is opened up a door that we uh a new chapter in our life that we're just trying to step through. And um and so she's gonna be doing full time giving it uh to this and um and it's uh gonna be able to I believe if we step fully into it and give our our full effort that we can um make a difference in children and and animals alike and even adults um by just sharing stories, uh showing that all animals are different, they're all you know, their personalities, and um and just for my example, uh I could have went my whole life and you could have told me all these stories would have went one ear and out the other. It took an experience to change me, and uh that's the difference what we're trying to offer. Not like going to a zoo where you see this breed of animal and this little habitat and this breed of animal and this habitat, and everybody's in cages and everybody's in their own separate um enclosure. All of our animals, that's one thing that I feel like it's either luck or God designed it this way. They they all coexist, you know. They're from different parts of the planet, they don't look alike, smell alike, eat the same, you know, but they all uh are together, all of our animals together. And I've never seen that, and I love it very much because that's important to us. Um and uh and I feel like it's just sharing those experiences and educating um along the way is is important. And being out in nature, getting away from a phone and climb a tree, you know, those are all things that I I think that's that benefit kids. And and I took it for granted because that's the way I grew up. I grew up right there right at a ranch. Uh John George, the name of the road, was my great-grandfather that came here. Uh he was born in 1899. Him and grandma lived here in Sanger their their whole life. Uh they came here in a covered wagon. And um they were married 70 something years, died months apart in their 90s. I've been married since they were 14 years old. And and so that's where I I that's where I I grew up. That's that's where I um my childhood was. And and when growing up, I always wished I could be in in Sanger with my friends, riding skateboards and their bikes, and and here I'm out in the country, and you know, all I got is the creek. And uh, but now I look back on it and go, wow, that that's that might be the missing link for some people, you know, just to to be out in nature and and and and even Sanger always being country, it's less and less country. And uh, and and and there's a lot of wheels in motion right now that's even making it even more or less here in Sanger. And uh and but having that wildlife experience, being right there on the creek, having that corridor, you know, it might not always be there. And um, you know, so we're we we are fighting a few battles right now, trying to keep the poly out of our backyard uh uh and different things. And uh because I think that's important. If you if you if you go on a map and you back off the map and you see

Access, Safety, And Booking Visits

SPEAKER_02 25:20

all that green area, well that green area is where animals live. You take away the green area, those animals don't live there no more. There's they won't be able to pass freely uh through those areas and they'll be island in two little spots. Well, they'll just fade away because of food resources and and just they'll just fade away. And uh, oh what happened to the animals? They're all just gone. And uh and um and we're trying to fight that battle before that happens because we it's just it's just plain and simple. It's just take away the green, animals gone.

SPEAKER_01 25:57

Yeah. Better ways to coexist, right? Better ways to coexist. I agree. I agree. Now, is that is the ranch open for regular public visits? Is it mostly by appointment? How are and if it is, how can people schedule to come out and see what you've got going?

SPEAKER_02 26:10

Well, right now we are in the beginning stages. A lot of time is being used to to build it, um, get everything uh as safe and as um as it can be. We're in the process of building, getting some fence done to put big seven-foot-tall game fence around it, uh, because keeping animals out and keeping animals in is high priority. And uh living on the creek, there's a lot of coats and bobcats and and and hogs and everything else that could uh potentially hurt your critters. So uh I ain't uh so our job is to uh protect them and uh and it's not to be mad at the bobcats for wanting to kill them. I know they want to kill them, so my job is to tour them before they do that. And so uh and uh but to have people out um um um uh all they have to do is just send us a message at uh clearcreek adventure ranch.org or go to my Facebook. Um we are all on social medias and whatnot, and just send us a message and we offer the private tours uh right now where they can schedule and come out. Um and then while we also offer where people can um uh come out and maybe have their birthday party or business event um uh out there. And um and in the future we plan on having different uh uh options available um when we get more um all our fencing and everything else put into place. Right.

SPEAKER_03 27:47

Wow. So um are there any costs associated with visiting or taking part in the tour or events?

Costs, Donations, And Nonprofit Status

SPEAKER_02 27:54

Well, um it it it cost us a little over $100 a day to feed the animals. And uh and so it the expense is uh and that's just to feed the animals, and we're nonstop taking animals to the vet. We just took uh uh our coat of money to the vet yesterday that had to have part of her tail amputated, and uh and uh we have um animals, we have one animal that spent a month at Texas AM Medical Hospital, had multiple surgeries, and um and we've we have multiple animals in in wheelchairs and and and so there's a lot of expenses with these special, special needs, especially special needs animals. And so to um help with those expenses, we have we can't do it alone. Uh we just can't. And uh, but I have super faith that the good Lord always provides, and so we just keep doing what we're doing and and and try not to worry about things we can't control. And so we always think the needs will be met and uh if we're doing the right thing. And so we do um uh uh um ask a hundred dollar minimum uh donation for people to come out for the private tours, and then there's different other um, we have different other rates for the different party packages that we offer. And uh yeah.

SPEAKER_01 29:20

What if somebody just wanted to contribute, right? Um how would how would they go about that? Say maybe they they they out of town, uh uh don't don't you know they're not really close to the facility. Um do you have do you have a site or uh that they can donate directly to?

SPEAKER_02 29:38

Yes, sir. Uh it's ClearCreek Adventure Ranch.org. Uh we have um uh all our donation options on there, uh whether it's um through credit card or Venmo or PayPal or or Zill or whatnot, uh, but there's also a link uh that lists different food supplies, uh different feeds and different needs that uh are continuous uh that people are able to just uh click on and and it'll just be shipped right to the ranch. Yeah. And you're a 501c. Yes, we are. Uh is it 5013 or C3? C3 tax tax deductible number. So yeah. Yes, sir. Uh yeah, we uh had an official uh nonprofit as of um about six months ago. Congratulations. And uh yeah, and so that's just opened up a lot of different possibilities. When once we acquired that, someone says, well, you know, there's you're now um uh you can get grants or or you know, apply for grants. I'm like, knew nothing about this. And so uh we haven't started that yet, but I know that that is a possibility. Um, you know, so we're just trying to, you know, with taking care of animals and especially a lot of animals, especially animals with special needs, that um it takes a lot of time, effort, and money. And if you take one of those three out of the equation, the animal, you know, they're not maybe not gonna make it, you know, it takes time, money, and effort. And um, and so trying to acquire all those three, I can take care of two of those pretty easily, time and effort. And uh um, and so having community support, you know, is everything and um and um makes me happiest to give out to the community because I believe the more that you put out, the more good you put out, the more good comes back. Sure. The more crap you put out, the more crap comes back. And so we try to put out good. We try to put out good.

SPEAKER_03 31:46

So um what's the biggest challenge so far?

Heartbreak, Hope, And The One Percent Rule

SPEAKER_02 31:52

Um, well, I don't know what the biggest challenge is, but I tell you what, I I seem to cry a lot. And so that's uh that's a challenge because there's a lot of emotional things that happen. Um, you know, so many of our animals that, you know, our veterinarians, educated men, you know, doctors that have told us this animal has a 10% chance, a 15% chance, uh, multiple about different animals. And to hear that, you know, is heartbreaking. But I I always have the same thought process when they they give us these low percentages on these animals that we uh that we get. Um that as long as there's one percent, that's all you need. One percent, dude, you can fight back from one percent. That's all you need. And so long as the vet says one percent, that's that's enough to fight for. And uh, and I hope that there would be someone in my life that would fight for me, you know, in that same situation. And uh with these animals, they only have the life that we give them, you know, whether it's our animals or anybody's animals. The animals only have the life that we give them. We can go out, we can go to Dallas, we can go on vacation, we can go out and do whatever we want to do. Animals only get to do what we give to them, provide to them. And so our job is just to give what God would be happy with us giving them. God made these animals, he didn't do it by mistake, he wanted them here and he made them awesome. If he didn't, he would have made them all buttholes. And uh, oh you don't want to like these are all he made them sweet for a reason, right? They're not just by chance sweet. And so we just try to do what's right, and that's what feels right to us. So the the hardest thing is just being I don't know if your brain or your body knows the difference between loss or sadness, whether it's an animal or a person. Love is love, and so when you're hurting, it's the same, and so we um we have to deal with that a lot. It's tough. It is tough, but you know, it is tough, and and and then I I thank God that we we have a lot of success stories uh right now. Um and so um because it would be hard to just be continuously taking beat downs. And um, but we have a lot of success stories that keeps us pumped and and happy and and keep fighting for them and and uh so yeah, that's probably the hardest part. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 34:38

And then you know it's not just animals, you do other conservation efforts out at the ranch, correct?

Conservation Fight And Tollway Threat

SPEAKER_02 34:43

Well, I mean we are doing we're we're doing the conservation efforts where we started uh petition to to keep um the toll way uh from uh coming right 300 feet away from a ranch. That's gonna be uh there's two different options. There's the one that is uh going to be coming down um uh the dirt road. What's that McReynold? What was the road right there?

SPEAKER_01 35:11

Yeah, yeah, they the yeah, the talking about the the loop, right? Mileam and well the mileam is Rector and Rector area. There we go.

SPEAKER_02 35:22

So option A is coming down rector, and which is gonna split right down the dirt road, and it's gonna split the corridor of where Clear Creek, where all that green area, they're gonna just bring a six-lane tollway right through there, which is gonna put the animals on the south side of the tollway and their little island, and the animals on the north side of the tollway on their island, they're not gonna cross this six-lane tollway. So that that whole corridor for them to be able to move, breed, live, eat, is gonna be shut down. And uh, and once that's gone, that's gone. And um, or the option, the other option is bring it down my um. Um, and um, and I know the people there don't, they're not happy about that either. Um, but I'm just trying to do what's right for the animals. And uh because once that's gone, that's gone. And uh so we're fighting that. We're fighting that, and and I try not to worry about it too much because I don't know if there's too much we can do other than just wait to see what happens. But we go to all the meetings, we started a petition, we we we let them know about the bald eagles that live. I showed them where the nest is. They knew nothing about the nest. The um the Dakgum Um environmental people that did a survey for a whole year last year. I went to the meeting a couple months ago, uh, let them know about the whooping cranes and the bald eagles. They knew nothing about them. Nothing. And they're there every single year. I got video of them. I know they they're there, and uh, they knew nothing about them.

SPEAKER_01 36:59

Yeah. Well, they don't look like bald eagles yet, right? A lot of them are young. Yeah, yeah, yeah. They don't have the appearance. Yeah. Yeah. And I, you know, that you bring up a good point. Uh, you know, when you talk about showing uh, we talk about that a lot. This is this is in our wheelhouse, what we do, we always encourage people that when decisions are being made that impact you long term, uh, winner, win or lose, and it's hard, it's really not a win or lose situation. These everybody's gonna be impacted by what decisions are being made today forever. Because you can't you can't really put that back on the wheel once you've spun it off. So um, so uh showing up for those discussions, that is absolutely the best thing any individual can do if they have a concern, uh, if they uh if they uh are committed to a cause or an effort, nothing is ever gonna happen in your favor if you don't show up. Absolutely. You gotta be hurt.

SPEAKER_02 37:54

My my my dad, you know, when I was telling him about this, because my dad lives in the same um downtown, Georgia's well, mom and dad, and he wouldn't go to any of the meetings, you can't do nothing. I said, dude, if there's a 1%, back to the 1%. If there's a 1%, if it can make a 1% difference, if that's our only shot, that's the 1% that you gotta take. You know, that's the that's the shot you gotta take. And so that's what we've been doing by going to those meetings, and and you know, we'll see what happens. I know they are putting 9,000 homes right across the road from Clear Creek Adventure Ranch. I do know that is official. Yeah, uh, so um Craver Ranch. Yeah, I mean I'm talking just throw a rock, you know, uh maybe a little bit longer than a rock throw, but it's right across the road, uh uh about a half miles from us from where I believe it's starting. And uh so that's gonna be something.

SPEAKER_01 38:46

Yeah, but that's good for people because again, I could tell you exactly what it is, but you know, I couldn't have told you, you know, a year ago what the Clear Creek Adventure Ranch was. So so you know, there's there's a high probability a lot of people, you know, are just finding out where you're at. You know, and that's again, um that's a that's a win long term. Yeah, but no, no, I thought about that too.

SPEAKER_02 39:08

I was like, well, that's a lot of people that can come on over. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 39:12

And and be educated, right? I mean, if that's the ultimate goal. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But also in the future, it makes other people aware that you're there. And and that opens doors to work together, which is I I think what we all want is to again find common common ground and common areas where we can concede on both sides. Nothing, nothing, there's nothing in the world that has to be a win-lose situation. I agree. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 39:37

So speaking of that, where let's let's remind everybody where they can find you and how they can get in touch with you if they want to donate time, money, supplies, or just schedule a visit. Tell us all the places we can find you.

SPEAKER_02 39:50

All right. Uh so yeah, community sport. I say it over and over again because it's the absolute 100% the truth. Um, you know, even when we were doing um the Didn't Spider-Man, well, we still do the Didn't Spider-Man stuff. You know, it's always been about

Community Support And How To Help

SPEAKER_02 40:04

community support. We did the first 2,000 parties as the as the Didn't Spider-Man, the first over 2,000 parties uh without charging anybody. We just showed up uh with the uh knowing that the good Lord will provide everything'll just work itself out. And uh and that took us a little over two years to do. And so in the in the same sense, we just um we just uh love community support. I love doing things that are quote unquote that make your heart feel good. And uh and so uh to support us, you can go to our website, clearcreek adventureranch.org, um, or you can look up um any of our social medias, whether it's TikTok or Facebook or um Instagram, ClearCreek Adventure Ranch. And uh there's different uh ways to message us, reach out, or donate to us, and uh 100% of all the funds go straight to our animals, uh whether it's uh medical care, uh building habitats or uh feed. Um and so we are thankful, thankful, thankful. We we don't have nowhere uh at all a surplus of funds. Uh and so, but I always like believe that the good Lord will provide. And I know a lot of us believe that, but I I see it in action a lot, and uh, and so I'm thankful for that.

SPEAKER_03 41:38

And he has nine pooper scoopers. I got nine pooper scoopers, I got I got all the pooper scoopers.

SPEAKER_02 41:43

You'll

Closing Thanks And Local Pride

SPEAKER_02 41:44

not have to bring your own.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

Well, Jeremy, this has been a blast.

SPEAKER_04 41:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 41:50

Thank you for coming out. Well, thank you. Well, uh y'all can come out and hug an animal anytime.

SPEAKER_04 41:56

Awesome. And I'll take you up on the phone. Oh, no, you will. Yes, I will. I've already been out there.

SPEAKER_02 42:01

Jump the gate. I'm gonna alert on my camera. Hey, who's that? We know her she's gonna be. Who's that hugging that cow?

SPEAKER_01 42:13

Well, we appreciate it. I'm John Knoblett.

SPEAKER_03 42:16

I'm Donna Green.

SPEAKER_01 42:17

Thank you for listening to the 266 Express and what's going on in our small little North Texas town.