Here is a native wildlife place a couple hours from me that I just found out about. A photographer friend who specializes in snakes told me about it a couple weeks ago and then a few days after that another photographer I know was wearing one of their shirts. Based on my friends description and the website, it appears to be a one building museum with many live rattlesnake displays as well as art displays and an outdoor garden. If you want to know where Rodeo, New Mexico is, it is in the middle of nowhere just across the Arizona - New Mexico border (south of Interstate 10). It is near Portal, a bit further south, which is also in the middle of nowhere (but back on the Arizona side) but has a research station for the Smithsonian and is a major draw for nature enthusiasts because of the tropical birds that come here from Mexico. This is a new museum, opened in April 2009. Here is the website: Chiricahua Desert Museum
Thanks for the information, and its website claims that it has over 34 species of rattlesnake so that is fairly interesting to zoo nerds like us.
Besides the live animal collection, they also have an impressive collection of herpetological and famous herpetologists related material.
The museum has opened a second building that can be used as an event center (no exhibits, just a building). Nine ornate box turtles have been added to the collection (they appear to be in an outside exhibit, while the other reptile exhibits are indoors).
No, not yet. It is really out of the way and since the only animal exhibits are reptiles, I am in no hurry to go out there.
Yet if you look at the current list of species kept, it's far less than that (even if you consider taxonomic updates).
