Tour of Wildlife Science Center in Columbus, MN

Field Trip Date: 

2017-01-28 13:00 to 2017-01-29 14:30

Field Trip Subject: 

Tour of Wildlife Science Center in Columbus, MN

Field Trip Guide: 

Dave Wilhelm

Field Trip Starting Point: 

5463 W Broadway Ave, Columbus, MN

Field Trip Itinerary: 

On Saturday afternoon, January 28, Dave Wilhelm organized a 2+ hour tour of the Wildlife Science Center in Columbus, MN. About 40 GSM members and guests participated, including some young children. The temperature hovered around 25 degrees, so the animals were fairly active to maintain body heat. The tour started with an indoor presentation about WSC and its inhabitants, followed by an outdoor tour to observe the animals up close. We saw, heard (and smelled) gray & red wolves, coyotes, foxes, a mountain lion, bobcat, porcupine, and screech owl, and got detailed explanations of their behaviors and interactions (great photos here). And we were exhilarated by choruses of wolf howls a few times during our visit. The current address of WSC is 5463 W Broadway Ave, Columbus, MN, near Carlos Avery Wildlife Area. This is about 31 miles (35 minutes) north of downtown St. Paul. The Center will be moving in March, so our event was one of the last opportunities to tour the present site. Photos from this tour are here.