Reptile Gardens

The Black Hills do not have a zoo but they do have Reptile Gardens, which is obviously devoted to our reptilian friends.  It isn't a huge place but does have some fun shows and is quite interactive.  We were excited to get to go with Grandma and Grandpa Manning and even Great-Grandma.  It was a beautiful day and as always, we had a great time!!

Have you ever noticed that parents become NOTHINGS when Grandparents are around?  Who needs parents when you can hang with awesome grandparents!  And Caleb has been blessed with the best!

During the snake show we got to see a variety of snakes and watch the snake handler work with many snakes including a rattle snake, the most poisonous snake, and of course a python.  Grandma made sure she stayed all the way in the back of the theater but Caleb thought it was fun to touch the snake.

I have always found the Prairie Dog exhibits funny.  These were some fat busy guys.

Lov'n the Snake!

It was fun to get Great Grandma in on the snake action!  Too Cute!

The Alligator Show is Reptile Garden's claim to fame.  During the show, the trainer wanders around the Alligator/Crocodile pen and eventually finds a Gator to wrestle.  He then drags the Gator to a fairly safe spot and proceeds to teach everyone how to wrestle a Gator.  It is really quite neat to see and always makes you a bit nervous.  Our trainer had a lot of fun feeding the Gators and had a couple aggressive big ones coming after him.  In the end Caleb got to touch a 2 year old American Alligator.

They have a cute little bird show that even featured a rare (simple) performance by a Chinese Ring-Necked Pheasant.

I remember these giant tortoises from when I was a little girl.   You could actually sit on them back then.  Caleb was surprisingly a bit nervous about touching them but eventually warmed up to them.

Inside the dome is a beautiful garden full of reptiles and birds.  The flowers and ponds are amazing!

Getting to touch a blue-tongued skink and then seeing one of the largest crocodiles ever.  This thing was a MONSTER!

We became a Criminal Family at the Gardens!!  You didn't know we could get so wild on our vacations, did you?

It was a great outing with the Grandparents!!