The story of "The Blind Fox" takes place at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Colorado which is one of my favorite places. The Sanctuary takes in abused animals, abandoned exotic pets, discarded zoo animals and injured animals that require special treatment. They currently operate on 320 acres in Eastern Colorado and are expanding. They are the perfect place to donate for the holidays or even go to their gift shop and order gifts.

Check out their new web site and even make a journey to see all the amazing animals at their facility. Most importantly donate to help them survive the winter.

Their recent newsletter had a story about a blind fox that I just love and it seem the perfect story for the holidays. This blind fox is such an inspiration and you will love this story.

"Nova, The Blind Fox"

"Nova" the Red Fox was found as a 6 week-old kit in a Nebraska back yard in March, 2009. He was taken to a rehab facility in Omaha, where it was determined that he had severe eye dysfunction, and was blind in both eyes. He lived there for many months learning how to navigate in a world of darkness, and even made friends with a young female fox. Yet when it came times for his pen mate to be released back into the wild, Nova couldn't go. Being blind, he would not be able to successfully hunt or defend himself from other predators.....and because of that, the little Fox was slated to be put down.

However, Nova's can-do-spirit and will to survive made it impossible for his caretakers to follow through on his death sentence - so they called the Wild Animal Sanctuary and asked us if we could provide him with a permanent home. We were more than happy to take Nova, and make him a part of our wildlife family!

But Nova's troubles weren't over yet. All during his stay at the rehab facility in Nebraska....as well as his initial days at the Sanctuary, Nova had received regular treatments to alleviate the pain and infection that constantly plagued his eyes from birth. Yet no matter how hard the medical teams worked, his eyes continued to get worse, and culminated with the outer layers rupturing. We immediately took him to our veterinary eye specialist at the Veterinary Referral Center of Colorado, where it was determined that the only option was to remove his eyes altogether.

Now at this point in the story, even the most steadfast of animal care givers would have probably given up on Nova. But there was no way any of us at the Sanctuary were going to throw in the towel unless it was in Nova's best interest. And given that he had been practically blind since birth....and his eyes had done nothing but cause him enormous amounts of pain and suffering...we realized this procedure should have been done much earlier in his life!

After a three-hour surgery, in which he did remarkably well, little Nova was on the road to recovery and a life free from pain. His senses of hearing, smell and touch...which he had learned to rely on since birth....gave him exceptional awareness and sensitivity. Nova has developed finely tuned skills which allow him to mentally map his living area and general surroundings.

He has quickly learned the ups and downs - literally - of his temporary enclosure inside the compound, so he can move with ease from one level to another, and inside and outside his cozy house. He also finds his food and water dishes as if he could see with 20/20 vision......and has become completely confident when Sanctuary staff (and dogs) come to visit him. Now that his eyes are completely healed....Nova is on his way to his final home in one of our Fox Habitats!

Moving to temporary "introduction pen" inside of the fox habitat, Nova now has the chance to get to know Ringo and Starkey (the other resident foxes) - yet feel safe within his own pen. The three foxes have already shown positive signs of friendship, and it should be long before we can open the gate to Nova's enclosure, so he can begin living with Ringo and Starkey in a peaceful environment.

Here's an endearing story about Nova that we'd love to share with you....In his current enclosure, Nova's 'ground' consists of wood chips, piled about 3 inches thick on top of dirt and grass Recently we saw him pushing his meat to the edge of the enclosure, and then piling wood chips on top of the meat until it was completely covered. Nova then moved back from the mound where his meat was concealed - perked up his ears and slowly twisted his head a quarter turn (as if he was listening to faint sounds from beneath the pile. Suddenly he leaped skyward with all four feet, and came down nose first into the pile where his meat was buried - just the way foxes in the wild pounce on mice moving underneath the snow in wintertime. Joyful tears streamed down our faces as we witnessed the resilient beauty of nature's innocence."

Here is a video of the Colorado's Wild Animal Sanctuary. Happy Thanksgiving!