Northern Illinois has a gem of a zoo hidden amongst the cornfields of Belvidere called Summerfield Farms and Zoo.  Since discovering it last year, Todd and I have tried not to miss a weekend that they’ve been open, and we sometimes go both Saturday and Sunday to visit with the animals.  Our favorites are the Vervet monkeys Peanut and Lily.  Last year a very kind volunteer at Summerfield named Sandy took pity on my love of monkeys (after seeing my chimpanzee tattoo), and took me over a couple of times to feed Peanut some dandelion leaves.

Summerfield Zoo is a not for profit organization. As a small zoo, they specialize in providing a personal and up close animal experience. Summerfield Zoo has been in operation since 1990. There are a variety of exotic animals, some of which I captured in pictures below. Here’s a short list of what you’ll see on your visit: Mountain Lions, a Zebra, Ring Tailed Lemurs (one just had a baby!), Reindeer (another baby!), Miniature Donkeys, award winning horses, Arctic Wolves, Giant Tortoises, Kinkajous, Coatimundi, Large Spotted Genets, Servals, Bobcats, Goats, Foxes, Wallabies, and more!

Here are pictures from this year and last year of the wonderful animals you can see at Sumerfield Zoo.

If you want to see some videos, you can go to our YouTube page.