5/5 Patricia H. 3 years ago on Google
I
brought
my
cub
scout
den
to
the
Wildlife
Conservation
&
Education
Center
(a.k.a.
NJ's
'Batcave")
today
and
we
had
a
fantastic
time!
From
the
outside,
it
doesn't
look
very
big
(looks
like
a
small
pet
shop),
but
inside
it
is
like
a
maze
of
rooms
each
of
which
have
cool
exotic
animals,
all
of
which
Joe
D'Angeli,
a
chiroptologist
(bat
specialist)
who
runs
the
Center,
is
highly
knowledgeable
(so
knowledgeable
in
the
field
that
he
was
featured
on
Anderson
Cooper's
CNN
special
on
TV).
Upon
entry,
you
can
see
Penelope,
a
wallaby
(inside
a
cage),
then
your
temperature
is
taken
as
a
Covid
precaution
going
into
the
room.
The
place
is
immaculately
clean.
In
the
first
room,
which
had
some
big
tanks
with
turtles
and
alligators,
our
group
was
asked
to
be
seated
and
Joe
and
his
assistant
started
off
with
showing
our
small
group
some
cool
animals
including
an
armadillo,
blue-tongued
skink,
and
boa
constrictor.
There
were
also
two
gigantic
tortoises
and
two
sloths.
After
that,
we
headed
to
a
second
room
where
the
boys
got
to
pet
two
miniature
pigs
and
also
see
cool
snakes
and
lizards
in
tanks
lining
all
the
walls.
We
also
got
to
see
an
adorable
chinchilla
and
big
alligator
in
a
tank
on
the
way
to
the
main
room,
the
finale
-
the
bats!!!
So
the
first
thing
you
notice
when
you
enter
the
gigantic
bat
room
is
a
very
distinct
smell
in
the
air
-
not
really
a
bad
smell
but
just
very
distinct
and
hard
to
describe.
You
also
hear
the
bats
screech
in
unison
as
they
get
excited
when
they
see
visitors.
There's
a
gigantic
display
in
the
middle
of
the
room
where
some
of
the
bats
are
kept.
Joe
gave
us
background
on
bats
then
everyone
in
our
group
got
to
feed
fruit
kabobs
to
the
bats
through
the
cage
part
of
the
display.
It
was
an
AMAZING
experience
-
really,
I
don't
know
of
any
other
place
where
one
can
feed
bats,
and
ones
from
Madagascar
nonetheless!!!
On
the
other
side
of
the
big
display
are
two
HUGE
bats
in
two
separate
displays.
When
I
say
huge,
we
were
told
that
one
of
the
bats
has
a
wingspan
that
is
four
feet
long.
Other
displays
in
the
room
include
one
for
sugar
gliders
(they
were
asleep
when
we
were
there),
lizards,
glowing
scorpions,
a
bird-eating
tarantula
(it
was
GIGANTIC),
a
kinkajou
and
other
cool
animals.
It's
amazing
how
many
animals
they
have
at
this
place.
In
the
end,
we
got
to
finally
meet
Penelope,
the
wallaby
(looks
like
a
small
kangaroo),
who
was
taken
out
of
her
cage
to
have
a
snack
and
roam
around.
They
take
very
good
care
of
all
of
the
animals
and
it
shows.
All
of
the
cages
were
very
clean,
and
the
animals
didn't
look
cramped.
Joe
mentioned
that
he
is
working
on
a
second
level,
which
I
plan
on
going
back
to
see
when
complete.
I'm
surprised
that
not
more
people
talk
about
this
place.
It
is
a
hidden
gem
in
NJ
-
perfect
for
kids
and
adults.
Joe
was
also
very
patient
with
answering
all
our
questions
(we
had
many!)
and
he
was
funny
too.
I
learned
more
here
than
going
to
a
big
zoo!
You
can
book
a
private
tour
for
your
group
or
buy
tickets
in
advance
on
their
website.
Tickets
are
only
$10
-
a
steal
for
the
amount
of
information
you
get,
plus
the
experience
of
feeding
the
bats.
Good
place
to
spend
a
couple
of
hours.
4 people found this review helpful 👍
