Not since Dr. James Herriot have the life and times of a country veterinarian given us a first hand look at the miracle of medicine and compassion, the formula for the healing art. Tending Critters in the Ridges carries the reader from the hustle and bustle of a fast-paced America to a small rural town nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It is the story of a veterinarian who moves his family of five from the low country of South Carolina where the heat and humidity are unbearable to the cool mountains of Western North Carolina.

Humor is paramount throughout the book. There’s everything from the farmer who learned too late that cow gas is indeed flammable to the memorable ride home with an irate rooster given as payment for a late night calving call. There are the City Slickers who come to the mountains for the weekend to tend a ranch for a friend and quickly learn that cattle farming is not for the faint hearted. The touching moments are there, too when a elderly man learns his faithful Labrador Retriever has a malignancy that cannot be treated. The sterile surgery room, the mountain lion’s habitat, the muck of the hog pen and cattle stall are all there as are some of most unforgettable town characters you’ll ever want or care to meet.

Tending Critters in the Ridges is a timeless story that lifts the reader’s spirits and lets you know why the people of this small rural town consider their vet as their family’s other doctor.