Educator Joe Martinez handles an African Spur Thighed Tortoise. Gary Higgins photo

New England Wildlife Center, Weymouth

There’s plenty to see and do at the New England Wildlife Center, which is tucked in the woods off Columbian Street in South Weymouth near the Braintree line. The center moved from Hingham to a 13-acre site in Weymouth in 2006. You can approach it like a zoo by touring the center’s hospital and viewing exotic animals being rehabbed by veterinarians. You can snack at the cafe, which will be getting an upgrade soon. And you can burn some calories on the always-open nature trail out back. To get there, get off Route 3 at the Route 18 south exit, turn at the Dunkin’ Donuts, drive a mile and find the center’s entrance on the left after the Curtis Mall shopping plaza. Park on the gravel.

According to its Web site, the wildlife center “cares for 225 naturalized and native animal species of New England,” including stray and injured animals. Self-guided tours of the center’s hospital, where veterinarians work on animals behind glass in plain view of visitors, are available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at $5 per person. Bring your lizard, gerbil, rabbit or guinea pig for a checkup, but leave your cat or dog at home.

Gary Higgins photo

The center’s Catbird Cafe is just getting off the ground. It’s a snack counter that the center’s director hopes will become a full-blown hangout. Coffee, tea, cookies and wireless Internet service are available, and an espresso machine is on the way. If you crave more culinary variety, stop at a nearby restaurant like Jamie’s Grill and Pub farther down Columbian Street in Braintree or one of the many eateries in Columbian Square.

If eating and gawking at animals leaves you feeling sluggish, you might energize yourself by walking the trail in the woods beside the center. The manmade trail, four-tenths of a mile long, is open at all times and takes about 20 minutes to walk. The woods are home to turtles, birds and other wildlife. The trail empties out at the state’s lottery headquarters in Braintree.