Looking for a great summer road trip? We found a very wild and unique experience that all the animal lovers in your family will love.

Located in Mendon, Massachusetts, Southwick's Zoo spans 200 acres with 850 animals and is considered New England's largest zoological experience. It's a two-hour drive from Berkshire County and offers visitors unique experiences beyond your basic zoo tours.

In addition to the zoo's traditional animal tours, Southwick's allows you to get up close and personal with some special animals with the Giraffe Encounter, Rhino Encounter, and best of all the Sloth Encounter. While the Giraffe Encounter is first come, first served for tickets and cannot be purchased in advance, both the Rhino and Sloth Encounters must be reserved ahead of time online.

The Sloth Encounter gets you a personal 20-minute presentation when you meet a two-toed sloth up close. You will be allowed in the sloth's enclosure where you can then feed the sloth some of its breakfast. Depending on the behavior of the sloth's day, guests are allowed to pet the animals.

Reservations for the Sloth Encounter for the week will go on sale online each Friday of the previous week at 10:00 am. The private animal encounters do cost an extra fee on top of the price of admission but in the case of the sloth experience, half of the proceeds from sloth encounters will be donated to the Sloth Institute. The remaining proceeds will help support EARTH Limited’s educational programming at the zoo.

In addition to the animals, Southwick's Zoo has rides like the Skyfari Sky Ride, Woodland Express Train, and Soaring Eagle Zip-line.

Check out these snaps from the Sloth Experience at Southwick's. So cute!

LOOK: Stunning animal photos from around the world

From grazing Tibetan antelope to migrating monarch butterflies, these 50 photos of wildlife around the world capture the staggering grace of the animal kingdom. The forthcoming gallery runs sequentially from air to land to water, and focuses on birds, land mammals, aquatic life, and insects as they work in pairs or groups, or sometimes all on their own.

Gallery Credit: Nicole Caldwell

 

LOOK: The least obedient dog breeds

 

More From WNAW AM