A JCB was used to rescue a New Forest pony that became trapped on its back in a deep muddy ditch.

Firefighters from New Milton and Eastleigh rushed to Eagles Wood Farm at Sway when stable workers raised the alarm after finding the gelding, named Merlin, stuck fast.

Animal rescue specialist Jim Green attended and an equine vet sedated the pony before the rescue attempt could take place.

The digger was used to widen the ditch which meant strops could be placed around the pony so that it could be dragged backwards along a special rescue path. Hobbles had to be fixed to the pony’s legs so its hooves could be kept clear of the digger bucket and its rescuers.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue rural safety officer Jim Green said it had been a challenging incident but he was delighted the horse had been rescued and nobody was hurt.

At just a hair over 17 inches tall, the miniature horse is more inclined to walk under fences than jump them. And her owners have sheltered the mare from ever gaining “circus-sideshow” or “one-trick-pony” status. As the world’s smallest horse, 5-year-old Thumbelina, weighing in at 57 pounds, has a bigger mission: to raise $1 million for children’s charities this year.

Handler Michael Goessling, son of miniature horse farmers Kay and Paul Goessling, says Thumbelina is the ideal child advocate. Her name comes from the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of a woman the size of a thumb.

“When kids meet her in person, they want to talk to her and know what she likes and dislikes,” Goessling said. “It’s amazing because she is so loving with people. She craves attention.”

In the months after being named “World’s Smallest Living Horse” by Guinness World Records last summer, Thumbelina has certainly not been short on attention.

She’s been showered with praise on the television talk-show circuit. The flow of schoolchildren who visit her is constant, and many leave with coloring books dedicated to the Goessling family pet.

“I’ll have her out for hours. She’s so mild mannered, everything just seems to brush off her shoulders. There have been 100 kids around petting her and she’ll take a nap,” Goessling said.

When Thumbelina travels the country this year, she’ll do so in style _ in a recreational vehicle that’s her converted stable on wheels. Goessling calls it the Thumby Mobile.

An upcoming “Thumbelina Children’s Tour” is expected to include stops in the 48 contiguous states at children’s hospitals, schools, summer camps, fairs, horse shows and charitable fundraisers.

At Goose Creek Farms, the Goesslings breed miniatures for sale and for horse show competitions, a hobby that’s brought them numerous ribbons for more than a decade.

But Thumbelina’s special. “We don’t want to make a penny off of her,” Michael Goessling said. “We never have. There will never be another Thumbelina.”

Most of her days are spent playing with like-size farm dogs. She even sleeps in a dog house.

The family calls her a “miniature-miniature” and genetically she’s a dwarf. Rules of nature say it’s a bad idea for her to reproduce, Goessling said.

Thumbelina often avoids the company of her taller, but still unusually small counterparts. Of the 40 or so miniature horses stabled on the ranch, most are more than a foot taller than Thumbelina.

The tiny horse and her charitable foundation have helped raise about $10,000 for children’s charities since she gained World record status as the smallest horse ever recorded, at 17 1/2 inches at the withers.

When a Guinness official came from London to certify the record, a photograph was taken of Thumbelina and the world’s largest living horse, Radar, a Belgium Draft horse from Texas standing at 6-foot-7 _ about 40 times larger than Thumbelina.

She wasn’t intimidated.

“I got the impression that Thumbelina wasn’t so keen on sharing the limelight with the tallest horse at all,” said Michael Whitty, who’s in charge of Guinness’ Picture Media.

A pregnant bottlenose dolphin is deaf and cannot be released into the ocean.

The dolphin, Castaway, stranded off Vero Beach in November, but was deemed healthy enough for release Jan. 30, after convalescing at the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota.

But instead of swimming offshore, she returned to the beach three times and was transported to the Keys.

“We’ve officially deemed the animal as unreleasable,” said Blair Mase, a regional stranding coordinator for National Marine Fisheries Service.

“Deafness and other central nervous system issues she has would prohibit her from functioning normally.”

As hundreds of fans collect for the annual Eckert Crane Festival this weekend in southwestern Colorado, birdwatchers have spotted a lone crane they believe could be Baby, the species-confused sandhill crane, flying above and sitting along the Fruitgrowers Reservoir where she was set free Monday.

If the bird is Baby, there’s good news: Rather than hide in fear she stayed and foraged for food when other birds landed.

The bird has spent the last three years as a pet and identifies with humans rather than other cranes, but is no longer trying to befriend people. Hopes of recapturing her so far have been thwarted.

Opinions vary on whether Baby’s new unsociability is a good or a bad thing.

“Maybe Baby has decided to be a crane,” said Coen Wright, the Nu cla birdwatcher who turned Baby loose at the request of the ranchhand who rescued her as a chick. “I think this bird is very much capable of protecting itself.”

Baby’s rescuer was diagnosed with terminal cancer and expressed hope his bird could be reintroduced to the wild.

Steve Yamashita, assistant regional manager of the Colorado Division of Wildlife, said it’s a common wish from those who illegally make wild animals pets. But it rarely comes true. He said his agency discourages raising wild pets because they are much less likely to be able to survive in the wild.

“They don’t have the natural instincts and motivation of wildlife critters,” Yamashita said.

Baby has grown up eating cat food from a dog dish, following her human around, visiting a Nucla schoolyard at recess time, hanging out on a porch, and occasionally flying to neighboring Naturita to stand around on the Main Street.

When she was left at the reservoir where thousands of migrating wild cranes stop every year at this time, she tried to follow Wright. She fell in step with hikers. She sought out neighboring ranchers’ children. And she hid in fear from the wild cranes.

After two days of this, Baby stopped seeking out humans.

“She may be out there saying, ‘I don’t fit with cranes and I don’t have my humans,’” said Rebecca Wolinsky, who has rehabilitated crows for the past 25 years. “She needs to be recaptured and rehabilitated.”

Nancy Limbach, who runs the Pauline E. Schneegas Wildlife Foundation near Silt, said she doesn’t know if Baby can survive after imprinting with humans. She said some birds will kill other birds of their own species if they have been raised by humans and don’t behave normally during mating season.

Limbach said she would be happy to take Baby to her center if she is recaptured.

Many other offers have come in since Baby’s story was publicized Thursday. People want to adopt her, to place her in various nature centers and even to write a children’s book about her.

Wright said if Baby decides to join the crowds this weekend, he is prepared to make the three-hour drive to pick her up. But he expects, because she does have a bird brain, he might see her even if she doesn’t.

“It wouldn’t surprise me to see this bird turn up back here,” he said. “Birds have a sort of GPS in their heads.”

Gulf Coast Woman’s Club recently sponsored a Canine Companions for Independence training class for puppy socializers.

Marietta Birdsell, CCI State Chairman from Crestview did the training for 12 attendees. There were three puppy raisers and four CCI dogs in training. These dogs were utilized for demonstration purposes.

The training program allows the attendees to go the Bay County and Gadsden County Correctional Facilities to get CCI dogs that are being raised by inmates. The dogs may be taken for a day or longer for the purpose of providing socialization in other environments other than the isolated prisons.

The day-long session was very interesting with much information given about CCI and what to do as a puppy socializer. Each attendee was given a chance to handle a dog and try out various commands. All those who attended came away with a positive feeling about becoming puppy socializers.

The entrance to Lynne Repsik’s Harleysville home probably looked like Christmas morning to Trixie‚ Repsik’s 13-year-old dachshund.

A large bag of dog food stood behind boxes full of dog biscuits‚ canned food‚ toys‚ blankets and other pet items.

However‚ sadly for Trixie‚ these items aren’t for her. They are only a portion of the items that 8-year-old twins Bethany and Kelley Repsik are collecting for the Perkiomenville branch of the Montgomery County SPCA.

The girls are certifiable animal lovers. Along with a large assortment of various stuffed animals‚ the family includes Trixie‚ Scooter the cat‚ Snowball the rabbit‚ Sarah the turtle‚ rats Snowflake and Krissa‚ and newcomer G‚ the border collie.

“We go to the (Perkiomenville) SPCA about once a month just to visit. It’s a lot of fun just to see who’s there‚” said Lynne Repsik‚ who has rescued all of their animals.

It was during a recent visit to the facility that the girls had the idea to collect items for the SPCA.

“We saw the cats and the rabbits first. Then we saw the dogs‚ and there was this black Lab puppy named Coal‚ like charcoal. Then we saw a flier on the way out that listed things they needed‚” said Kelley.

The girls immediately wanted to help. Lynne Repsik took a copy of the flier home‚ and Bethany and Kelley got straight to work on spreading the word.

“We typed up the list of things and added our names and stuff to it‚” said Kelley.

The twins‚ along with their neighbors Katie and Tom Iannucci‚ handed out their fliers around the neighborhood. They also took turns calling their friends to ask them to help.

“It was amazing. Kelley was typing up the flier‚ and Bethany was on the phone. I had parents calling me back that day asking for more information‚” said Lynne Repsik.

In addition to getting the neighbors involved‚ Bethany and Kelley presented their fundraising idea to their fifth-grade classes at Oak Ridge Elementary School in the Souderton Area School District.

“They brought in the flier and explained what they wanted to do for show and tell‚” said Lynne Repsik.

The girls brought in empty boxes that students could fill with pet supplies. The boxes have been in the classrooms for a couple of weeks and have been emptied several times.

“The response is great. We’re getting a great variety of items. A lot of dog and cat stuff‚ but surprisingly a fair amount of small animal supplies as well‚” said Lynne Repsik.

Items that Kelley and Bethany are collecting include:

Dry and canned cat food and dog food; dog and cat treats.

Bleach‚ newspaper and cat litter.

Food for birds‚ rabbits‚ guinea pig‚ hamsters and rodents.

Old towels and blankets; paper towels.

Washable cat and dog toys.

Christopher Langiotti‚ manager of the Perkiomenville branch and Humane Society police officer‚ was delighted to hear what Bethany and Kelley were doing.

“We are entirely privately funded. We get just about nothing from the state and county. We rely solely on donations of money‚ food and supplies. That’s what keeps us going‚” said Langiotti.

Langiotti hopes that this attention will help dispel the myth that animals get put down as soon as they walk through the doors.

“We (Montgomery County) have one of the highest placement rates. Dogs get placed about 96 to 99 percent of the time‚ depending on the branch. Cats are placed about 70 to 90 percent of the time‚ depending on the branch‚” he said.

The reason the placement for cats is lower than dogs is due to the volume. According to Langiotti‚ while they receive around three dogs a day‚ they could receive up to 20 cats in one day.

“Most of those cats are feral cats‚ born in the wild. If they can’t be handled by humans then we really can’t place them‚” said Langiotti.

Also available for adoption are hamsters‚ rabbits‚ birds‚ gerbils‚ mice and rats.

“We have a good variety. We get new in every day‚ so it varies. We also have a facility for large animals so we currently have four horses‚ a sheep and lots of various barnyard foul‚” said Langiotti.

When Kelley and Bethany drop off their donations‚ they hope to get a tour of the facility and see how the SPCA takes care of the animals as they come in.

“They always wondered what happens when an animal first gets brought in. Is it bathed? Do they weigh it? It would be fun for them to see what happens‚” said Lynne Repsik.