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Health & Fitness

Reptiles, Up Close and Personal

Check out the Reptile Man's full lineup of cold-blooded creatures in Monroe.

The Reptile Zoo near Monroe makes a fun and easy stop for anyone who enjoys slithering, scaly things. You may have seen the Reptile Man and samples of his cold-blooded menagerie at any number of Island events (school science fairs, Earth Day at the Community Center, etc.). At a recent school gathering the young crowd knew the animals by name, so the Reptile Man and his friends are pretty familiar. But if you haven't visited the Reptile Man's home base, then you haven't experienced… Well, more reptiles. Big reptiles. Small reptiles. Up close. Very close.

The Zoo's Serpentarium has two rooms filled with reptiles, amphibians, and big bugs. They're all on display in homes of Plexiglas, wood, and heat lamps. A large anaconda near the main door looked like a yellow version of Voldemort's Nagini, sliding along branches in its cage with a contented air. Further back, the kids scrambled beneath a large tank of water to check out another giant snake from below, while a partially-submerged crocodile kept a cold green eye on us. 

Here are some other Reptile Zoo highlights:

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  • A two-headed turtle, worthy of any circus sideshow. This one's alive and swimming; no fake stitched-on head. 
  • The unsettlingly realistic worm lure on the tip of a snapping turtle's tongue. The earthworm-colored bit of flesh thrashes around on an otherwise black tongue in a dark, beaked mouth. The turtle sits in the water, mouth open, worm-tongue flapping, waiting for a curious snack to swim by.
  • Representatives of the world's 10 deadliest snakes, including the namesake for Megamind's over-the-top super villain costume, the Black Mamba (Note: the Reptile Zoo says all poisonous animals have been devenomized).
  • For any aspiring herpetologist who wants to take home a new friend, there's a shopping corner with a range of available scaly pets.

We visited the Reptile Zoo while coming home over Stevens Pass. It's a mile east of Monroe, an hour's drive from Mercer Island but an easy stop for anyone traveling on Highway 2. The Zoo is open every day of the year, from 10 to 6. Admission is $5 for kids, $6 for adults. We saw everything in 40 minutes. 

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