SIX TEAMS BATTLE TICKS IN SURVIVOR CHALLENGE

JACKSON, Mo. -- Only the tiki torches and body doubles were missing.

Competitors in the first-ever Survivor Challenge risked themselves against blood-thirsty ticks and mosquitoes and yawning ravines and were warned to watch out for Trail of Tears State Park's two poisonous inhabitants -- ivy and snakes.

Six two-person teams disappeared Saturday afternoon into the green darkness of Vancill Hollow Natural Area, a trailless part of the park where wildness is preserved. Their mission was to return with tokens from 20 stations marked with red flags and to answer on the back of the tokens the question posted at each station. The prizes included a compass, a pocket knife, a water bottle and similar items.

The competitors included father and son Curt and Garrett Huck from Jackson, husband and wife Paul and Julie Foland of Cape Girardeau, six Girl Scouts from Fenton, Mo., and their two troop leaders. They had half an hour to complete the challenge. Whistles were distributed in case anyone got lost.

Trail of Tears State Park has an Appalachian-type forest, a rarity among Missouri state parks. The Vancill Hollow Nature Area has some of the park's best examples of Appalachian forest species, including beech trees, tulip poplars and cucumber magnolia trees. The Cherokee who crossed the Mississippi River here during their government-mandated removal to western reservations in 1838-39 used the tulip poplars to make canoes.

The Survivor Challenge was the brainchild of Tina Shamel, a Southeast student who is a seasonal naturalist at the park. Before the teams headed out, she provided them with information about snakes and park history that would be useful later in answering questions.

Mimicking TV show

The approach mimics a contest on the "Survivor" TV show, Shamel said. "He told them the answers at the beginning but some of them weren't paying attention."

Shamel showed them how to identify poison ivy and cautioned everyone to shower as soon as possible after the competition because they were almost certain to come into contact with it. She also told them how to identify the park's three varieties of venomous snakes and what to do if bit by one. The information had added impact because Shamel showed them skins shed by some of the dangerous reptiles they could meet with.

Tara Tucker, the park's head naturalist, said programs such as Survivor Challenge attempt to provide information to park visitors in new and interesting ways. "We try to use all the senses."

The Folands, he a math major at Southeast and she a fresh graduate, returned from the woods in only 13 minutes, finishing first even though she tripped a number of times trying to keep up with him. They missed only one question.

The Hucks followed them in and were incorrect on just two questions. They finished second but wished they hadn't worn shorts. They go hunting and fishing together often and signed up for the Survivor Challenge because 15-year-old Garrett's mother is a "Survivor" fan.

Troop 112 leader Chris McDonald and assistant troop leader Melissa Fritz weren't the third team back but they finished third because they missed only one question. "We're slow but sure," Fritz said.

The Girl Scouts were on a weekend camping trip at the park. "We made a lot of cookie money this year so this is their big splurge," McDonald said.

Shamel told the teams at the beginning to split up so they all didn't finish at the same time. But once in the forest, the Girl Scout leaders told their charges to stick close together so they didn't get lost.

Still, one of the Girl Scout teams, Rachel Fritz and Amelia Webber, took more than the allotted half hour to complete the challenge. They showed up just as the other survivors started talking about going back into the woods to find them.