Lions & Tigers &...Monkeys?

We visited the Catoctin Zoo over the weekend. We had never been to this quirky little roadside zoo, and I was a little skeptical when we pulled up to the entrance, but once we went inside I was really impressed with what we found there.

First of all, they have A LOT of snakes...big huge monster snakes, colorful snakes, venomous snakes, you name it. They even had black mambas, which reminded me of the Poisonwood Bible and totally freaked me out. Aside from the snakes, they had a lot of large cats...tigers, lions, a jaguar, a puma. Quite an impressive display given the size of the place. Cool, if you can shake the vague feeling that something might escape and eat you at any moment.

The kids' favorite part was watching the monkeys play (they were adorable), feeding the animals in the petting zoo, and the interactive show. At the show they were able to pet a hedgehog, a chinchilla, and an alligator (albeit a very small alligator!)

Two thumbs up for the Catoctin Zoo!