Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary

While on vacation at one of the Serenity Vacation Rental Cottages, "Birch Grove", We were fortunate enough to have a visit at the Aspen Valley Wildlife Sanctuary.  What an amazing place and an amazing cause!  The following is the mandate for Aspen Valley taken directly from their website...

To rescue and rehabilitate injured and orphaned native wildlife To provide quality care that avoids habituation to humans and respects each animal’s need for a safe, healthy, species-appropriate environment while in captivity To release animals into the wild in a condition that gives them the best possible chance for survival To provide a permanent home for native species unable to survive in the wild due to human interference To educate the public about issues surrounding wildlife and wildlife interactions with humans To work within the established rules and regulations set out by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources

Once we read this we knew we had to visit to see the good work they were doing first hand.  The sanctuary was just minutes from Birch Grove cottage and we wanted to go with our family to see the animals and the work they were doing.  Aspen Valley has open houses for the public periodically through the year but as luck would have it, there were no open houses planned the week of our vacation.  We were excited to find out that they will hold private tours for a donation of $50 or more.  

As it was such a good cause, we were excited to donate so that our family of five could come and visit.

We met with staff on a hot humid day in late June and prepared for our tour.  The necessities included bug spray and sun screen as we were walking around the holding pens and rehabilitation areas throughout the spacious 100 acre sanctuary.  We met with Rachel and Marta who would be our personal tour guides.  We walked along the habitats and they explained that most of the animals would be hiding in the shade but we did manage to see a few of the animals.   Most of the animals we saw on the tour were permanent residents as they were either too injured to survive in the wild, or they had become too domesticated.  The goal of Aspen Valley is to get the animals back into the wild whenever possible.  We were able to see porcupines, coyotes, wolves, bears, and foxes on the tour.  During the tour Marta explained that the big part of the volunteers day was spent just feeding baby animals.  Much of the wildlife brought into Aspen Valley are there because there parents had been killed or injured.

Overall we had a fantastic visit at Aspen Valley and we can't wait to go back again.  I hope you will take some time to visit there while staying in Muskoka and why not leave them a donation while you are there.   Enjoying nature is part of a summer vacation and supporting this fantastic cause will only add to the positive memories you and your family have created this summer!