Riverside Wildlife Center — Attraction in Missouri

Upon entering everyone was friendly and energetic. I met the owner, Lynn, and her husband, Heath. It was evident how passionate and how much they care about the animals there. They had a lot of cool skulls, pictures, weapons, and other scenery on display in the building you first enter. My tour guide, Veronica, was very smiley and energetic. Veronica had extensive knowledge of all of the animals and it was obvious that she has a deep personal connection to many of the animals she cares for. There's a really cool 9 foot alligator that would left up out of the water when Veronica walked out on the dock, use to her feeding him. Cool to see. There was two other 7 foot alligators that would get up and come close to you with there mouths open when you approached them. It was cool to see. You usually don't see them move so much or are able to get so close even at the Zoo. They had different birds but the really big birds, Emus, were really cool. One of them kept trying to get our phone as we were taking pictures/videos. They also have two arctic foxes that are neat as well. I can talk Veronica has a special connection with them. As she entered their enclosure she was able to play with and hold one of them as she talked with us. For me the capybara, world's largest rodent, was the coolest thing. I had never seen anything like it. These were some of the highlights for me, but there were several other animals; bobcat, giant turtles, fainting goat, etc. On the inside, they had just about every type of snake you could think of. There had to be 40 or 50 different types of snakes. There was a King Cobra and even a 20 foot long snake! They had a Huge Alligator Snapping Turtle named Ivan. I think Veronica said he is over 160 years old! Wow! He is really cool. Veronica let me hold a Ball python (smaller snake), a different 7 foot snake, a small alligator, and a frog the size of a Big Mac!!!!!! Super Cool experience! Never been able to do that before. They had several cool lizards, Torantullas, Crocodiles, etc., and even a Lemur. There was a huge alligator pit as well. Probably 40 smaller alligators in there. Thank you Riverside Wildlife Center for this experience! Will...

Riverside Wildlife Center is a treasure within itself. Alongside the route to Meramec Caverns you are easily greeted with what looks to be a mom and pop shanty of curiosity. After pulling into the gravel parking lot, my twin boys and I walked inside and were greeted with the most eclectic group of gifts, and artifacts I've ever laid my eyes upon. Not to forget the goat standing inside of a jail cell next to the ticket counter!

I treated my boys to this exciting adventure knowing they were into reptiles. Not having done my research, I did not know that the tiger and lion were no longer here. Also due to the time of the year, most of the reptiles are inside including the large alligator that normally greets you on the outside tour. However this was not a deterrent or disappointment.

Instead, we were greeted by a sweetheart named Veronica. She was our tour guide. She was a jewel of information. Having had previously worked around livestock and on ranches, her two plus years of experience at Riverside Wildlife Center came very much in handy to inquisitive boys. She was excited to answer all of my sons' questions as well as give high fives and cheers to their comments and answers. She deterred away from any corny jokes or lame mindless blabber. All of her information was very well detailed and she also shared much of her personal history with certain animals she introduced us to. She really made it a fun time for us.

If you're ever in the area, or heading to Meramec caverns, definitely stop by and take a moment to appreciate what this place is all about. It's definitely not corporate. It's definitely not what most consider a tourist attraction. Rather it is a group of individuals dedicating their lives to saving creatures and critters most people discard after realizing that their "pet" is no longer cute and cuddly. These people love what they do and their passion for these animals is evident once you ignore the facade of the exterior and let them start talking about their...

The whole place is run by volunteers. There is a $10 entrance fee and the tips that you leave for the tour guides is essentially the equivalent of a salary. I learned some amazing facts about these exotic animals that I probably would have never found out otherwise, for sure I've never been to a place before that has let me hold a baby alligator not to mention pet an emu or a Silkie chicken. They treat the animals very respectfully and you can tell that the animals live well. And in the conversation I had with one of the volunteers, you can definitely tell that they care about these animals, they are definitely affectionate towards them. A lot of the animals are rescued from either an abusive environment or an environment that was not prepared to care for them. It's such a friendly environment that I almost felt bad about leaving. Forget being worth stopping at while going through the area, it's worth making a special trip to go experience this. This was definitely the highlight of my trip! For those concerned with the rough look the exterior of the building, Please be aware that all proceeds that they receive go directly to the animals so unless you would like to make an outstanding donation I assume the building will stay as it is due to it being a slight lack of priority, and rightfully so with such animals...