After caring for 25,000 animals out of their South Lake Tahoe home, the Millhams retire

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Since 1978, Tom and Cheryl Millham have been operating Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care, taking in sick and injured wildlife from across the region with a goal of rehabilitating them for release back into the wild. For most of those years, they used their home and backyard for the cages, aviary, brick enclosures and rehab facilities.

Cheryl had seen the March 1978 issue of Women's Day magazine that carried a story and photo of Jinny Collins holding a baby raccoon. Collins was one of the founders of Wildlife Rescue, a wildlife rehabilitation organization in Los Altos, Calif. Within a few months, Cheryl was trained by Collins to do the same in South Lake Tahoe and they opened their doors to care for Lake Tahoe's wildlife.

The Millhams operated the first few years out of the family business, Bender's Marine (now Camp Richardson), then moved operations into their home almost five years later.

Now they are retiring and saying good-bye to the organization they created and nurtured.

The summer of 2019 was their 42nd year and the start of a new beginning for Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care (LTWC) as they moved from the Millham home into their new facility on Al Tahoe Boulevard.

"At some point had to take the plunge," Tom and Cheryl said of their decision to retire.

Tom said when the nonprofit secured a large donation from the Barbara Hartoonian estate to build the new facility, they knew it was time to start the move towards retirement.

They can be proud of what they've done for the nearly 25,000 animals they've seen come through their doors. Not all made it since some came in too badly injured to recover.

Since 2000, LTWC has had bears in their care, over 100 of them to be more exact. 2000 was the year they were approved by the California Fish & Wildlife to operate as a bear facility. Of those 100+, there was the famous Cinder, a cub who survived a fire by hiding under a trailer in the state of Washington, and many others who were featured on news stories on television and in print.

Of the 100 bears, Cheryl said two died while in LTWC and two died during their first year after rehabilitation (one was hit by a car in Yosemite and the other broke into a shed for food near Truckee and was killed).

When looking back at all of their animals, Tom and Cheryl can relate stories about many of the sick and injured they helped. One unique guest at their home was a Trumpeter Swan. It was Thanksgiving Day and Cheryl was cooking when they got a call about the swan. It had been found lying in a schoolyard in Truckee, covered in ice. He was big and needed to come inside their home to warm up. She and Tom laughed as they remembered the swan who was taller than their dining table.

"It was amazing," they said. The swan had to be moved to UC Davis as he couldn't fit in their bathtub and needed a larger facility.

This wasn't the only swan. They also had another group of swans as guests who were flying by and got caught in a blizzard.

"We have had a lot of amazing animals," said Cheryl. "They all had their place in our home and they were all precious."

Another unique animal they came across was a mountain lion in the Tahoe Keys in 2007, after the Angora Fire. The lion got to a fence in the Keys and didn't jump over, just stood there and cried, the Milhams said. He put his head into a pot on a nearby porch, with his rear end sticking out....thinking since his head was in the pot nobody could see him. They had to tranquilize him so they could transport him and have the 100 quills removed from his mouth, chest, and legs. Most they could remove by hand but some had to be surgically removed. Before the tranquilizer wore off they released him on Fish & Wildlife property in Hope Valley and never saw him again.

The Millhams also fondly remember their "fantastic" eagle releases where 75-80 people would watch the rehabilitated bird be released over Red Lake and fly away.

Now that most of the LTWC items are out of their house they are focused on cleaning up the upstairs clinic and await the final dismantling of the backyard cages and interior fences. Once all is gone they'll patch up holes left by the cages and supplies, organize and get ready for life in Lake Tahoe without providing the 24-hour care they've done for almost half their lives.

"It's been a labor of love," said Cheryl. "We're not in a hurry," she said of cleaning everything and filling the house with something other than clinic tables and supplies.

They were both quick to reply about what is next.

"We are not going anywhere," they said. "We are still in Kiwanis, still involved in the community, go to church. This is our home and we’re staying active."

Thank you, Tom and Cheryl Millham!

"The Lake Tahoe Wildlife Care Board of Directors, staff and volunteers are committed to upholding the Millhams’ legacy and extending their vision into the future with the same compassionate care modeled by our founders," said the board in a statement.