If you’ve been seeing a lot more of the two-legged critters in your life than you expected during these last long months of social isolation, consider making some new feathered/furred/scaled friends outside your house! Our region has a variety of animal attractions where you can learn while you love.
Enjoy life on the wing at The Sophia M. Sachs Butterfly House, where the centerpiece tropic conservatory houses 2,000 butterflies in free flight, representing as many as 80 different species at a time. The variety of plant life supporting these magical creatures provides a great show, too. And don’t miss the Exhibit Hall leading into the dome, where interesting insects and invertebrates from around the world are displayed. A new special event, the Dragonfly Festival, happens on the afternoon of July 16. If you’re into soaring, you can also branch out into birdlife at the Audubon Center at Riverlands, near the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. A series of pools and wetlands attract birds like trumpeter swans, bald eagles, gulls, geese, pelicans, falcons, kestrels, and many more. The visitor center is an excellent starting point, with staff who can tell you what to look for on the trails and viewing platforms, and spotting scopes and field guides available for use. Need a more up-close look? The World Bird Sanctuary provides rehabilitation and emergency care to the many avian beings that come into its facilities, and the outdoor enclosures housing its recovering owls, vultures, raptors, eagles, and even some reptiles. Weekend educational shows, hiking trails, and a small playground turn this into a day trip destination.
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For more quality time with the domesticated barnyard types, a few options are worthwhile. At St. Louis County’s Suson Park, there’s a field full of horses, several barns housing cows, goats, pigs, chickens, and other farm animals, plus stocked lakes for fishing. A large playground and abundant shelters and picnic tables make staying to play a breeze. Out ways in Dittmer, Missouri, The Gentle Barn opens by reservation on Sundays for folks who need to commune with rescue animals like the St. Louis Six (cows who mounted a slaughterhouse escape in 2017), Baron Von Goat, turkeys, ducks, pigs, and others. Longmeadow Rescue Ranch, in Union, also welcomes visits by reservation (Fridays and Saturdays), and has taken in many injured or neglected horses, mules, potbellied pigs, ducks, and other ranch animals. Prepare yourself ahead of time because many of these animals are adoptable!
Or maybe you move on the wild side. At Big Joel’s Safari petting zoo, if it’s not red kangaroos and Barbary sheep staring you in the eyes, it’s camels taking you on a tall ride or crested porcupines sashaying by to give you a good look at their famous defense. Feeding and interacting are encouraged with most of the residents, and this summer brought exciting news for repeat visitors: 42 new acres purchased behind the existing footprint means expansion and new animals are coming soon to Wentzville. For a focus on big cats, check into the tour options at Crown Valley Tiger Sanctuary, in Ste. Genevieve: a guided walk through the enclosures to meet these majestic mammals will reveal their stories, their habits, and their individual personalities. VIP tour options even include making and sharing (from a safe distance!) an enrichment snack with the tigers. Tours end with a refreshing Fizzy Izzy root beer, named for one of the first rescued cats and brewed by the adjacent Crown Valley Brewing.
Finally, don’t forget the stalwart animal options for those who want to see and learn about a wide variety of species in one stop: the Saint Louis Zoo keeps its world-renowned top status by constantly refreshing and updating its excellent exhibits and programming. Up most recently: the new Primate Canopy Trails that allow the monkeys, lemurs, and other primate inhabitants to explore the outdoors beyond the primate house…and guests to climb in specially designed structures alongside! And the St. Louis Aquarium at Union Station has made a big splash since its opening in late 2019. Touch pools of stingrays, doctor fish, sharks, and starfish make for hands-on fun, and the massive shark tank and displays of life of the deep ocean (think sea dragons, jellyfish, coral, and more) bring these faraway habitats to vivid life.
