Ranger Rick articles from February 1998

Ranger Rick archives from February 1998

My dino discovery.(dinosaur fossils found in old rock)
February 1, 1998... When I got bored one night, my dad let me fool around with a plaster cast full of fossils. Look what I found! The museum was silent and dark, except for the lights in my dad's office and workroom. My brother and I were there hanging out with...

The flamelights of Oolumaree.(fiction)
February 1, 1998... Who should get this planet's glowing stones--the humans who found them or the creatures who claim they need them to survive? Oora was green and scaly, and she had a long tail. But the United Planets Council put her in my class of humans at...

Kids can! Dr. Splatt.(Greenzine)
February 1, 1998... Brewster Bartlett, a science teacher in New Hampshire, came up with a really good idea. He noticed that traffic was getting worse in parts of New Hamp- shire. He also thought that the traffic was killing more animals. To find out for sure,...

Good news! Wildlife winners.(Greenzine)
February 1, 1998... When it comes to threatened and endangered species, every bit of good news is important. Here are some encouraging reports from around the world: A frog never seen before has been found on a mountain in Cuba. It's only 0.2 inches (1 cm) long,...

Green pen pals: faraway friends.(Greenzine)
February 1, 1998... Would you like to have a special friend in a faraway country? You can write to Par Avian--a group that matches up "green" pen pals in different countries around the world. (It's part of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, in England.)...

Nature calendar.(discovering 'sugarbushes' or maple trees, green winter plants, coyotes, big horn sheep, and desert reptiles)
February 1, 1998... MDNMMDNM Are there any "sugarbushes" in your area? A sugarbush is another name for a patch of maple trees. The maple trees' sap often starts running by late February. Usually it's collected and taken to a nearby "sugarhouse." There visitors can...

Snowcat.(catching sight of a snow leopard)
February 1, 1998... You have to be very lucky to catch sight of a snow leopard in its mountain home. So get set for a wild adventure. . . . If you want to track down a snow leopard, you'll have to put on layers and layers of clothing. And be sure to grab your...

Searching for snowcats.(photographing snow leopards)
February 1, 1998... HUNTING WITH A CAMERA Fritz Plking, the photographer on the horse at right, was determined to find a snow leopard in the wild. He knew there weren't a lot of these endangered animals to be found. Fritz went to Mongolia, a country in Asia, in...

Adventures of Ranger Rick: Sammy's worst dream comes true.(fiction)
February 1, 1998... "Hey, listen to this, guys!" yelled Scarlett Fox to Ranger Rick Raccoon and Sammy Squirrel. The gang was trekking through some wetlands in northern California. They were in a wildlife refuge in Klamath Basin, and Rick was up front, carefully...

More facts.(eagle refuges)
February 1, 1998... * Many birds stay at wetland refuges just during the winter months. And lots more stop by to "fuel up" when they're migrating to Other places. Without the wetlands and rivers in refuges across North America, many of these birds would die....

When animals do number two.(animal droppings)
February 1, 1998... Doo-doo. B.M. Poop. Droppings. Dung. Feces. Whatever you call it, all animals make it--no matter what they eat. What's so neat about such yucky stuff? "Doo" read on to find out! FLY-AWAY DOO Many kinds of birds, including this chickadee...

Zoo Doo and other poopular recycling.(recycling animal droppings)
February 1, 1998... Moose-Drop Earrings! Chris Lewey, a scientist in New Hampshire, came up with a wild idea. He col- lects moose droppings in winter, when they're made almost totally of chewed-up bark. Then he covers the droppings with clear paint and makes...

Way to go, Ma!(Tropical Trivia)(poison frog)
February 1, 1998... Nothing's too good for the babies of this Central American poison frog. Mom carries the tadpoles on her back to water--sometimes way up in a rainforest tree. There she drops them off in their own private pool. The pool is the rain-filled center...

Scaly sword-swallower.(Tropical Trivia)(bushmaster snake)
February 1, 1998... The bushmaster is the largest poisonous snake in the Americas. So what does it eat? Probably whatever it can ambush--including spiny rats, a favorite food. Spiny rats look like regular rats, but they have spikes in their fur. Some scientists have...

Poison cures.(Tropical Trivia)(poison frogs)
February 1, 1998... Poison frogs of Central and South America wear a danger sign: bright colors. That's because their skin is filled with some of the most powerful poison around. It can be deadly to many animals that try to eat one of these frogs. But scientists...

Wonder wax.(Tropical Trivia)(Chaco leaf frog)
February 1, 1998... The Chaco (CHAH-ko) leaf frog lives in dry woodlands of South America. But like all frogs, it needs to stay moist. So it hunts at night when the air is cool and damp. What happens when the hot sun dries out the daytime air? Well, the frog's...

Turn up the heat, please.(Tropical Trivia)(green iguana)
February 1, 1998... The green iguana spends hour after hour sunning itself. Is it working on a tan? Nope, it's busy digesting its lunch. Green iguanas eat mostly leaves, which are hard to digest. There are bacteria that live in an iguana's gut and help break down...

Fooled by a wiggle.(Tropical Trivia)(lanceheads)
February 1, 1998... Many snakes pick a spot and lie perfectly still, waiting for food to come their way. But some sit-and-waiters have a tricky way to get food quicker. How? By dangling some "bait." Young lanceheads of Central and South America, for example, have...

He's a winner!(writer Jeff Fair wins the Trudy Farrand/John Strohm Magazine Writing Award)
February 1, 1998... Jeff Fair loves wild places and the creatures that live there. He says he's a bit wild himself, and we would agree. He has followed grizzly bear trails in Yellowstone and helped build nests for loons in the wilds of Maine. He has sneaked up on...