Back to the Wild

For my story on a caregiver, I visited Mona Rutger, the founder of Back to the Wild, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Castalia, Ohio. I remember going there when I was about ten and the place has grown so much since then. Over 2,500 wild animals are treated at the center each year. The center is non-profit and relies on support from the community and donations to keep running. Mona was also Animal Planet's 2006 Hero of the Year winner, which is pretty awesome. She likes how unpredictable her job can be and told a story about when she had to take a trip to the ER and had to explain exactly what happened to her: "I was carrying a fawn and fell over a tortoise!"

Learn more about Back to the Wild at backtothewild.com


Mona holds a wooden spoon in the mouth of a great horned owl to prevent it from hurting itself or her as she shapes it's beak during the coping process. Birds beaks naturally overgrow when they are not in their normal environment.
Melissa Dodge, an intern at Back to the Wild, helps hold a snake as Mona Rutger uses a tool to find a PIT tag, a small computer chip used for identification and research purposes, that has been inserted into the snake's skin. The chip does not affect the snake.


Libby Boros, left, rubs a fish on the feet of a blind eagle to help it sense it's food as Mona Rutger helps to get the bird's attention. The eagle became blind after contracting West Nile Virus and will never be able to return to the wild.
A bald eagle flies around the corner of a flight cage, a building created for healthy birds that are ready to return to the wild to help them gain muscle strength and maneuver around corners. However, this particular eagle will never be able to return to the wild, as it will never fully recover from a broken wing. The bird is placed in this cage to help motivate other birds to fly once they are ready to return to the wild.