Activities started out at the main Tyson office building shortly after noon with some tasty submarine sandwiches, chips, fruit, cookies, brownies and drinks. After lunch, several activities were planned and folks chose what to do from the following: geology hike, salamander research tour, bird watching, radio-tracking wild snakes, and wild canid tour.

Energetic hikers joined Susan Flowers in a walk to the Mincke Quarry Cave and learned about the geology and history of this man-made cave. It was a limestone quarry in the late 1800s and into the 1920s. The cave was used by the US Army during World War II and again during the Korean conflict, and today it is home to several species of bats.

Others enjoyed a visit to "Salamander Pond" with Owen Sexton and learned about his research with salamanders and other amphibians. The spotted salamander is the "unofficial" logo for Tyson Research Center. Some went with Dick Coles on a birdwatching tour by the Meramec River, and later in the afternoon many toured the Wolf Sanctuary, otherwise known as the Wild Canid Survivial and Research Center. Red wolves, swift foxes, Mexican gray wolves, and South American maned wolves are located at the facility and we enjoyed learning about these animals and hearing the eerie sound of a wolf howl.

And one group of visitors joined Cory Anderson and Wayne Drda while they tracked wild rattlesnakes through Tyson's oak-hickory forest with radio telemetry equipment.

Thanks go out to the entire Tyson staff, and director Jonathan Losos, for setting up this activity. Let's make this an annual event!