December 14, 2025, Vol. 20. NO. 4 • LEVEL II
| 1 | When a western diamondback rattlesnake sinks its fangs into your hand, and it swells up like a purplish water balloon for days in a Texas hospital, it might be a sign for a career change. |
| 2 | But Clyde Peeling, who was born in Muncy, Lycoming County, in 1942, had already been bitten by the proverbial bug long before the rattlesnake bit him while he was stationed in Texas with the Air Force. Peeling, 83, still loved snakes, despite that close call, and went on to become the reptile king of Pennsylvania. |
| 3 | “I’ve pretty much known what I wanted to do with my life since I was 14,” Peeling said recently, from his beloved zoo near Williamsport. |
| 4 | It wouldn’t be the last time he’d be bitten, either, in a career that has spanned more than half a century. |
| 5 | “Let’s see, once by a copperhead, a viper, and four other rattlesnakes. I don’t say that with any bravado,” Peeling said. “That was a very serious bite.” |
| 6 | Today, Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland is home to enormous Komodo dragons with uncanny eyes, poisonous Gila monsters, anacondas thicker than most thighs, and Aldabra tortoises that can live up to 150 years. |
| 7 | “Some of these tortoises were just five pounds when we got them,” he said, in their hot enclosure. |
| 8 | Today, the tortoises look like boulders. |
| 9 | Reptiland opened on US-15 in Allenwood, Union County, in 1976. It joined an American tradition of roadside attractions ushered in by the post-World War II auto boom and the urge to hit the highway. |
| 10 | U.S. Route 15 bisects Pennsylvania, from the Maryland border, north to New York, passing through Williamsport and Harrisburg. Still, Peeling said it was far from bustling back then. |
| 11 | “I remember sitting there hoping one car would pass by. I was too egotistical to think I’d made a mistake, but I had a lot of naysayers,” he recalled. |
| 12 | In the timeless tradition of late-night television, Peeling has brought wild animals to visit Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno, Jon Stewart, and others. |
| 13 | Reptile parks, serpentariums, and alligator farms dot the American landscape. Peeling wanted to elevate Reptiland beyond those hokey roadside shacks. |
| 14 | In 1986, his facility received a key and difficult-to-obtain accreditation by the Association of Zoos & Aquariums and it’s held that status ever since. Peeling said the inspection process, which takes place every five years, is grueling and every facet of the business is scrutinized, everything from record keeping, to veterinary care, aesthetics, and visitor services. |
| 15 | “We would have been accredited in 1985, but we were hit by a tornado that nearly flattened us,” he said. |
| 16 | Over the decades, Peeling expanded with a parakeet-feeding aviary and a large, outdoor dinosaur exhibit. More renovations are in the works, too. If you’d like parakeets to land on your head, you’ll have a blast. The park hosts a “Wino & Dinos” event outdoors, during the summer, for adults only. |
| 17 | Peeling, with his sons, has visited, lectured, and collected in dozens of countries. |
| 18 | “That skull is from a crocodile in Borneo,” he said in his office. |
| 19 | Peeling’s son Chad, a right-hand man in the family business, died from brain cancer in 2019. Peeling himself fought non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Tornadoes have damaged the property, and the COVID-19 pandemic has hurt, too. |
| 20 | Peeling hasn’t guided a trip since his son died but won’t rule out doing it one more time. |
| 21 | Gov. Josh Shapiro visited Reptiland more than 30 years ago, while he was in college, to get a sandwich and fell in love. |
| 22 | He stopped back earlier this year during an economic development announcement in the area and treated Peeling like a celebrity. |
| 23 | “This is a really cool place, and you should come check it out,” Shapiro said at the time. |
| 24 | While Peeling’s always touting the beauty of emerald boas and snapping turtles the size of manhole covers, visitors like to see him, too. |
| 25 | More than a few visitors turned to look as he waxed about his reptiles. |
| 26 | “That’s Clyde,” they said. |