BEARS AND SNAKES AND HISTORY LESSONS, OH MY

The possible return of American black bears is among the changes visitors to Missouri state parks can look forward to.

Tiffani Addington, a park seasonal naturalist, gave a presentation about the bears Saturday at Trail of Tears State Park. She said a reintroduction of the bears into Arkansas has been spilling over to Missouri recently.

"They require a lot of space and we didn't think that they could manage around here," Addington said. "But they are returning to the state."

She said black bears aren't necessarily dangerous. "They're pesky, they get into stuff."

Addington was busy with a more common Missouri creature Friday. She gave a talk on bull snakes to three classes of fifth-graders from Anna (Ill.) Elementary School.

"I'm trying to educate them on the benefits of having snakes around," she said. "They are cool animals."

Snakes weren't the only things the students got an education on Friday. They were led on a tour of the park's visitors center and shown a slide show on the Cherokees' 800-mile forced walk that led to the park's name.

The 3,416-acre park is situated where a ferry crossing used to be across the Mississippi River. It is one of two area places survivors of the walk used to cross the river on their march from Georgia to Oklahoma. Cape Girardeau is the other crossing.

Gloria Jenkins, an Americorps park volunteer, led the groups of fifth-graders through an historical tour of the walk. Jenkins tried to convey a sense of what it would have been like to be forced to leave your home by troops.

"I try to relate it to their lives," Jenkins said. "I ask them what they would pack in five minutes if soldiers surrounded their homes and said their whole town had to move to Oklahoma."

Denise Dowling, park naturalist, said tours and presentations like last weekend's and another Memorial weekend mark the start of the park's summer season. She said Friday's programs included an introduction to the state's parks system.

"It piques your interest about several of the parks to entice you to come out and rediscover the park system," Dowling said.

The park entertains more than 230,000 visitors a year. It offers camping, hiking, scenic overlooks and nature preserves. Park workers also conduct flower walks, astronomy programs and night hikes like the one Friday night called "Eyes in the Night."

Dowling said weather permitting, hundreds of visitors might be able to participate in next weekend's Westcoat Picnic -- named for one of the park founders and featuring homemade ice cream.

"Last year it rained all day and I served ice cream to about a hundred visitors who came into the visitors center that day," she said.