Gibson, Louisiana: Wildlife Gardens - Feed Alligators From Your Porch

Make sure to call ahead. Called and got an answering machine indicating they were "closed" for two weeks in July 2006.

Wildlife Gardens offers cabins for rent on the swamp. You can feed alligators from your balcony, which faces the swamp. The landowner has wild peacocks, bobcats, racoons, etc. They also serve a cajun style breakfast in the morning. The cabins are great. This is one of the best places to visit in all of Louisiana. It encompasses the adventure of a swamp tour and the quaintness of a Bed and Breakfast.

In the swamps of south Louisiana, we discovered one of the highlights of our trip -- Wildlife Gardens. As we were traveling along Bayou Black Drive (US 90, or was it old US 90?), we saw hand-painted wooden signs for this attraction about where milepost 194 should be, a couple miles south of the LA 20 junction. These signs intrigued us, so we went up the north bayou road a couple miles and found this great little place. We enjoyed meeting the numerous gators, wild piggies, peacocks, otters, bobcats, foxes, ducks, chickens, and other assorted animals, all shown attractively in an authentic family-run roadside zoo experience (though the baby gator pens can get a mite, um, fragrant). One more thing: bring your bug repellent!