The wedding was over and it was time to have a little more fun before heading home. The day after was filled with spending time with family and chilling out. One of the few things we really wanted to do was visit the Reptile Zoo based in Füssen. Housed in an old rope factory across the river in Füssen the Reptile zoo is owned by the Uncle of my new sister-in-law. We decided to set off and arrive just before the opening time on the Sunday. As Füssen is on the edge of the Alps the winter there means almost all tourist attractions, and shops shut over the winter as not many people are visiting. The Sunday we went was in fact its last open day before the winter shutdown. A pre-warning that the lack of photos in this post is simply because of how engrossed with the animals we were and what a great time we had!
Upon arrival we entered the Reptile Zoo and we’re warmly greeted by brand new family members and friendly staff. After a quick coffee we began exploring the Zoo and we were amazed at the animals housed there. All of the animals had fantastic enclosures and were visibly happy in their surroundings. It wasn’t long until Dieter, the owner of the zoo and new extended family member, turned to myself and the wife uttering the words, ‘Would you like to stroke an Alligator’, which I assure you, the only real answer to that question is ‘yes, yes we would!’
Slightly nervous we wandered over to the enclosure that housed two Alligators, and a species of Turtle. Dieter opened the fortified safety glass window and casually popped his hand in the water and began to splash water towards the two Alligators. The relationship he and his staff have with the animals was clear to see as immediately the female began to approach. Dieter however, didn’t want the female as he told us she can be, shall we say, unfriendly. The wife and I exchanged silent glances as if to say, ‘what the hell are we doing?’ Though Dieter persevered and simply nudged the female away with grace and ease. A staff member came by with some banana and a small piece to chicken to aid in his attempts to convince the male to pop over and say hi. To my surprise the Alligators immediately went for the banana and the turtles swam in and had a showdown for the chicken!
Soon enough the male popped over and Dieter was able to guide the wife in stroking its head. Then it was my turn, though as it went by I was a little too slow and it made a quick movement away and I sadly missed my chance. That being said simply to be that close to such a fantastic animal was enough for me and I’m not ashamed to say I decided to back out of any further attempts. After that thrill we kept wandering around, when I was observing another species of Alligator, I was given the shock of my life. Now in Dieter’s defense he had no idea I am petrified of this creature so I hold no ill will to the man. However, he gained my attention whilst cornered between two enclosures and a wall asking if I would like to hold a tarantula. To my shock and horror he already had the arachnid in his hand and was offering it to me as one would a sweet. Being the tough and brave man I am, I naturally held back a shrieking scream, and begged him to take it away. Instead he offered it to my wife who immediately held her hand out. I was now pinned in to the corner trying to ignore the fluffy and not so little spider now crawling on my wife’s hand as I repeatedly asked them to let me get out of the way!
Soon I was free and shivering all over! I proceeded to swiftly walk away and gather myself looking at a lovely snake instead. Soon the wife joined me and I demanded she proved there was no spiders on her before I accepted a quick comforting hug, because I’m only in my thirties and spiders are scary! Snakes on the other hand, now I love them, many at time have I asked permission to have a pet one at home only to be correctly reminded about the heating bill we would face. With the snakes I was much happier and my happiness became delight when one of the staff had taken a Ball Python out for people to hold. Despite my love for snakes I have never held one and jumped, though not literally, at the chance. Also having missed the Alligator by mere millimeters holding a snake was a great thrill.
After the wife, my mother and I got the chance to hold the cute little guy we continued to walk around the rest of the Zoo. We then thanked Dieter and the fantastic staff as we left. I honestly cannot recommend the Reptile Zoo in Füssen enough, it is a fantastic experience with very knowledgeable and caring staff. The enclosure sizes were very suitable for the animals, something that I am passionate about in regards to Zoos and the work the Dieter does with the Anti-venom from many of the snakes is fantastic. If you ever find yourself in that little corner of Germany you simply must visit! Follow the link below to check out their website.
https://www.xn--reptilienzoo-allgu-1tb.de/en-gb
The rest of the day was taken up with seeing friends and family, buying gifts for lovely dog sitters back home and planning our final day and half. Where we intended to visit the amazing castles in the Füssen area, but that’s for next time.
195wanderer.com 