Last week I was able to pull off a surprise for Little Miss who is a huge fan of reptiles, especially snakes.

She watches a show called Snake Discovery on YouTube a lot and learns all about snakes, their habits, the different ones, etc.

Two years ago she was bit by a non-venomous snake and fainted from the excitement of it all. As she fainted she fell into the kitchen table at my parents and we had to take her to the hospital by ambulance. I thought that after that she wouldn’t like snakes anymore but, on the contrary, she was even more fascinated.

She has no qualms telling an adult, by the way, that a snake is not poisonous or non-poisonous, they are venomous or non-venomous.

When I found out the county library – the only library in the county was sponsoring a trip to a reptile zoo I used to hear wasn’t a very good one but had improved, I signed up immediately. I managed to keep it a surprise despite talking about the logistics of getting there with The Husband in front of her more than once. She thought I had a doctor’s appointment and that’s why we were driving so far but when we pulled up and she read the sign she yelled out, “Yes!”

The Husband was working that day so I took The Boy with us. I thought he would have fun too and it meant a day off from his trade school so he was all for it (even though he doesn’t hate school).

Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland is named after a Clyde Peeling, a native of Muncy, Pa. As far as I can tell online he is still alive. The zoo was first opened in the 1960s but has grown over the years.

Little Miss was overwhelmed when we walked into the zoo. There were so many exhibits with snakes, geckos, lizards, turtles, and alligators she could barely contain her excitement. She ran from exhibit to exhibit, her eyes wide while she told me about them without even reading the signs on their exhibit. She probably could have told a few of the staff members some things about their charges that they didn’t even know.

When you first walk in there is an open exhibit with alligators. They don’t look real. They don’t even move. They seem to be completely bored with life. I was convinced the place was a scam and their alligators were real wax figures. The next time we came by, though, one of them had moved and his eyes were a little more closed and The Boy insisted he had seen it move. They also had an albino alligator who he said he saw move even more.

From there you enter a gallery of turtles, snakes, tree frogs, toads, lizards, and geckos. They are behind glass, of course. We briefly viewed the gallery on the way in and then headed for the small amphitheater where a young man with a very Irish accent talked to the children about the various reptiles he held up. He held up a small crocodile, a lizard, and a python. Little Miss was very disappointed that she couldn’t hold them. She thought it was interesting that she could touch the crocodile on the head on her way out but she really wanted to hold it or the snake.

After the presentation finished, the group moved on to the parakeet tent which is a type of greenhouse completely full of parakeets and a few cockatiels. The zoo sells seed sticks for $3 and visitors can hold the sticks out and the birds will land and eat the seeds. The birds will also sometimes land on the visitors as well, but mainly they like to stay in the trees, along the edges of the tent structure or they like to drop the ground and chew at shoelaces.

I was completely in panic mode in the parakeet tent, not because I don’t like parakeets (I owned two when I was a child), but because I was petrified that I might step on one, killing it and traumatizing a bunch of preschoolers (since most of those who attended with the library group were of that age group). They even have a sign as you walk into the facility, warning you to watch for the birds on the ground.

I ended up backed up against the wall by the staff member while The Boy and Little Miss walked through the greenhouse – or at least part of it. The Boy was wearing steel-toed boots and I think he was also petrified he might kill one.

Two of the birds really looked like the birds I had growing up and I felt nostalgic for Perky, the one who lived longer. He used to sit in a cage in our kitchen and Mom would talk to him while I was at school. We said “Perky bird” to him so often that he actually started to call out “Perky bird! Perky bird.”

Unfortunately, he passed away when we left him with a friend of mine when we went to North Carolina for Christmas one year. My friend had birds herself and we don’t know if Perky was overwhelmed with all the bigger and louder birds around him or what happened. I felt so guilty for leaving him and my friend felt guilty that he died on her watch. We’d had him for several years so I guess it was only a matter of time. We didn’t try another bird after that. I don’t think my heart could have handled it.

Once we left the parakeet area, we headed back to the exhibits so Little Miss could get a closer look at the various snakes and lizards.

In one exhibit there were four turtles and an iguana and at one point the iguana really took an interest in Little Miss and kept watching her intently through the glass. I don’t know what it was about her that fascinated him but I think he would have gone right home with her.

She and the boy were fascinated with the Komodo Dragon and we were all fascinated with the Aldabra tortoises housed in the same building as the dragon. The building was empty of other people when we got there so we just sat and watched the tortoises for several minutes and it was the most relaxed I had felt all day. If we ever go back there I think I’ll just go there first and watch them while everyone else explores the rest of the zoo.

We also had fun watching a trio of garter snakes who were curious enough to come up to the exhibit glass and check us out while we watched them. I’m not sure why we paused by their exhibit in the first place since we see so many of them in our yard in the spring or summer, but I’m glad we did because they were so entertaining.

In the courtyard outside in the back of the facility, there was a dinosaur display with animatronic dinosaurs, which we enjoyed seeing and interacting with. In that same area, they had an enclosure with three Australian Emu.

The library paid for the tickets for everyone who signed up for the event, which was really amazing of them because the tickets are $20 a person for anyone 12 and up and $16 for those 2 to 12.

The prices are steep but the place allows you to stay as long as you want, see all the educational KU live programs they have going on during the day, and bring and eat your lunch in the pavilions they have there or inside their gift shop. It isn’t a huge zoo, but there are 40 exhibits of various reptiles, the parakeet area, and the dinosaurs out back.

I am sure we will be visiting there again in the spring. Most of the exhibits are inside but running between buildings was a little chilly that day and it will be nice to go on a warmer day as well. I know Little Miss is already looking forward to another visit and I told her we would even pay extra so she can hold some of those snakes she loves so much.