by Leslie Layton
posted Sept. 8
Not everyone gets to retire at age 26, and not everyone gets to retire at Bella Vista Farms west of Cottonwood in Shasta County.
But the consensus is that Grizzly, a pack mule who worked for the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) for some 22 years, earned what are now his days of leisure in the animal sanctuary that is “nestled amongst huge oak trees and rolling hills,” according to founder Chic Miller who describes her project on this Bella Vista Facebook page.
When we at ChicoSol saw photos and video of Grizzly after his recent arrival at Bella Vista, we thought we should share a little of his story with our readers. We don’t have a lot of details yet, but we know that Grizzly was known as “Griz” by his USFS companions.
“He is an absolute treasure of a mule,” Miller said in a phone interview today. “He’s in heaven here. He has a heart of gold.”
Miller believes Grizzly – as she prefers to call him – worked with wildland firefighters in the Trinity Alps. He nuzzles her affectionately when she greets him in the mornings and says he was obviously “well-loved and very well cared for.”
Miller, a retired nurse who has authored numerous books and articles about animals and their care, says the average age for a pack mule is about 31.
A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and female horse. Mules are patient, sturdy animals that are more sure-footed than horses and clearly well-suited to the steep terrain of the Trinity Alps. In fact, we found a Facebook page dedicated to the Trinity Alps pack mules here, but many of the stories seemed to focus on someone else – a USFS mule named Ivan.
“Animals come here and are pampered,” Miller said reassuringly, noting that Grizzly isn’t up for adoption. Her sanctuary — she runs it with husband Bob Miller — is a nonprofit organization that provides a lifelong home to animals that have been neglected or abused, or, as in the case of Grizzly, given the chance to rest after a lifetime of honest work.