Back to the Wild - Castalia, Ohio

Of all of the places that we feature on MilanArea.com, this is one of our favorites. Back to the Wild is a wildlife rehabilitation center which means that they're a licensed federal and state facility that care for injured and orphaned wild animals and rehabilitate them, and when healthy - release them back to the wild, hence their name. Over 2,000 wild animals are treated at the center each year including hawks, owls, eagles, deer, fox, rabbits, squirrels, songbirds, herons, waterfowl, reptiles and amphibians. All the animals you see above and below on this page are from BTTW. And as important as that effort is to our north-central Ohio area, they do so much more. Back to the Wild is open to the community and committed to teaching future generations of the need to "preserve and protect" our natural world. Mona Rutger, who started Back To The Wild in 1990,  and her staff present educational programs to over 50,000 students and members of youth groups each year. What makes all of this even more extraordinary, is that although Back to the Wild operates under strict Federal and State permits, they are entirely NON-FUNDED. Which means there are NO TAX monies or government funds used to assist this centers. The center relies entirely on gifts and donations to care, house and feed the animals. Last year (2006), Mona was was honored by "Animal Planet" as their "Hero of the Year" which brought her efforts to a nationwide audience, I sincerely believe that we are fortunate to have Mona and her wildlife rehabilitation center available for injured and orphaned wild animals in our area of Ohio. And I encourage all of the visitors to our site to visit  this extraordinary place. It's an excellent family outing to teach the children about wildlife, a wonderful place for grandparents to take their grandchildren and a memorable outing  for youth groups and schools. And when visiting the center, please support it generously. Back To The Wild  cannot exist without the support of the people who care about wildlife and those folks who donate when visiting the education center.  It is located at 4504 Bardshar Road in Castalia and the telephone number is 419-684-9539. Call for an appointment to visit the center.