Critter Fixers: Country Vets

For the first time ever, the National Geographic network (Nat Geo Wild) has added a television show to its regular lineup wherein the lead roles are that of Southern veterinarians. “Critter Fixers: Country Vets” has a reality show format, and each production follows the daily professional lives of Dr. Vernard Hodges and Dr. Terrence Ferguson, owners of Critter Fixer Veterinary Hospital, a local middle Georgia business with locations in both Bonaire and Byron.

Both gentlemen were born and raised in Georgia, Hodges in Fort Valley, and Ferguson in Talbotton. Becoming the stars of their own TV show was never a thought, much less an aspiration, for either of them. As a matter of fact, they didn’t even go looking for the opportunity; instead, it came looking for them.

“This all started when a production company out of New York just reached out to me one day via Instagram,” Hodges explained. “Their exact quote was, ‘Would you be interested in having a TV show?’ And I did what most people would do. I ignored it, because I thought it was spam.”

Initially, Hodges didn’t even share the information with his business partner. It wasn’t until some time later, when he got a second note that curiosity got the best of him. Once the line of communication was opened between him and the production company representative, Hodges was asked to connect through Skype for a more personal meeting. It was then that he knew the offer being made was a serious one.

“That’s when I called up Terrence and was like, ‘Hey, bro; we might have a TV show,” Hodges said with a laugh.

Ferguson shared Hodges’ hesitation. “Even when he told me about it, I had the same reaction he had when they first connected with him. I was like—yeah, right. OK,” said Ferguson. He admitted that it was only after the Skype interview with the production company that all of his doubts disappeared.

“After that, they ended up coming here,” Ferguson further shared. “They spent about a week filming us doing various things, and they took that and made what they call a ‘sizzle reel,’ which they used to pitch to the networks.”

Quite a number of weeks passed before the company reached out to them and informed them that a network was interested in the show idea that had been pitched.

“To tell the truth, when they called us back and said we had a show, it took Vernard and me both by surprise,” Ferguson said. “We were satisfied with what we had already experienced. We were like, ‘Well, one thing about it; most people can’t say they had a film crew following them for a week, so even if we don’t get any further, we can say we had that.’ We were really happy at that point,” he concluded. “We were fine with it even if the phone call never came.”

But the call did come, and the news they received was even better than they imagined it would be.

“They said National Geographic, and we were like … wow!” recalled Hodges. “They told us that we had a TV show, and Nat Geo Wild was going to give us a season with six episodes.”

To this day, Hodges isn’t totally sure how the production company found out about Critter Fixer Veterinary Hospital. He can only assume that it happed because he has such a visible online presence, and he had been documenting a lot of things about work and had also written and released a book titled, “C is for Critter,” which he had been posting information about a well.

The two men doing the television show together fit in perfectly with the way they’ve functioned for most of their adult lives. Hodges and Ferguson are long time friends who met about 30 years ago while they both were students on the campus of Fort Valley State University. Not only did they attend FVSU together, but they also attended veterinary school together at Tuskegee University. When they graduated Tuskegee, both worked together for another vet before collaborating and deciding to jointly go into practice. “Critter Fixers: Country Vets” has allowed them to take their un-biological brotherhood to another level.

“The show follows our lives,” Hodges said. “It follows our veterinary career and the diverse animals we work with. It’s non-scripted, so it captures our real senses of humor and our genuine personalities, while highlighting the actual goings on and the ins and outs of our veterinary clinic.”

Ferguson said, “I think we started filming in late February of last year, and we filmed through that May. The show began airing this year in early spring. We have really enjoyed the whole process.”

“My son wants to be a veterinarian,” Hodges revealed, while talking about one of his favorite moments in the filming of the first season. “They allowed him be a part of show four, and I got to teach him how to check for pregnancy in cows. Because of that, what I learned at 25 years old or so in veterinarian school, he was able to learn at 14 … and in front of a million people.”

Season one of the show has been such a success that it’s already been contracted for a second season.

“We got the word a couple of weeks ago,” Ferguson said. “We had six episodes the first one, and they’re asking for eight for season two.”

While there are other veterinary hospital shows on Nat Geo Wild, Ferguson said that “Critter Fixers: Country Vets” is the first one wherein the starring vets are African Americans. But Ferguson wanted to clear the air for anyone who may conclude that their show is a “token” one for the network.

“Even in signing up for the new season, they made the point to let us know that we were on, not because they were trying to make it work or because we were African Americans,” Ferguson stated, “but because we did great with the numbers. The ratings are great, and we’re bringing in another demographic. That’s important to us because we want to be men who portray African Americans in a positive light. People need to see that in reality shows, and we’re able to give that.”

Viewers of “Critter Fixers: Country Vets” reach out on a daily basis and share their praises of the show. According to Hodges, feedback even comes from people outside of the United States, from as far away as places like Sweden and Botswana.

“I went to Peach County High School … class of ’88,” Hodges said. “I was a marginal student, so would anybody have expected this of me? Probably not,” he admitted. “But here I am, along with Terrence. And next month, our first season will begin showing in reruns on the Disney Plus streaming service,” Hodges said. “We’re talking maybe another 50 million lives. We can’t help but be excited.”

Ferguson believes their mentor would be proud. Dr. Earnest Corker was the owner of Corker Veterinarian Hospital in Warner Robins and the vet that Ferguson and Hodges worked for when they began their career fresh out of college. Corker passed away in January of this year at the age of 85.

“He taught us a lot,” Ferguson reminisced. “He pushed us to work hard and have the determination to make it in this industry. I’m thankful that he lived to see us start our business and be successful at it. He died before our show aired, but he knew about it and was really happy. What Dr. Corker did for us, we want to do for other young people. This isn’t about us; it’s about the future. That saying, ‘pay it forward’ … that’s what our hopes and dreams are through this show. We want to be a beacon of light; an encouragement to somebody else so they’ll know they can do it too.”

Season one of “Critter Fixers” has already finished airing. No start date has been set yet for season two. Nat Geo Wild shows reruns periodically, and the show is also available on On Demand (on Cox), Amazon Prime, Google Play and the Apple TV store.

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