Ranger Rick articles from January 1998

Ranger Rick archives from January 1998

Red crab invasion. (Christmas Island)
January 1, 1998... A creeping carpet of bright red crabs adds a holiday touch to a tiny tropical island. Christmas Island is decorated in holiday colors each year, starting in November. The green is always there--from the leafy rainforest. But the red is from...

Winter is on the way ... winter is here. (how animals adapt to winter)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1998... Animals have many different tricks for dealing with the frozen world of winter. All around this New England pond, animals are getting ready for winter. Some chow down on extra food. Others store it in secret hiding places. To survive the...

Be a cool spy. (observing animals in the wintertime)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1998... Want a great way to spend a wintry afternoon? Then bundle up, grab a friend, and go out to look for clues of nearby creatures. No matter where you live, you can discover some really cool things in winter. Where should you look? Try all kinds of...

What do you call a bunch of baboons? (names for various groups of animals)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1998... Can you complete this rhyming poem about animal groups? Fill in the blanks by using the words the baboons are showing on their cards. The answers are on page 11. What do you call a bunch of baboons? For wolves, it's a pack; A...

Trapped in time. (ancient plants and animals trapped in amber)(includes related article on DNA in fossils)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1998... GOO ALERT! This beetle had better be careful. The blob it's standing on could be as sticky as thick honey. This is how tree goo trapped creatures long ago. When the goo hardened, the creatures became . . . Imagine holding in your hand...

Amber and us. (facts about amber, uses of amber)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1998... AMBER FOR EVERYONE People everywhere seem to love amber. Polished amber is smooth and beautiful, and it feels warm next to the skin. No wonder that people have been wearing it as jewelry since the last ice age thousands of years ago! Since...

Adventures of Ranger Rick: how Rick's Rangers came to be. (short story)(includes Ranger's Pledge)
January 1, 1998... Story by Lee Stowell Cullen; drawings by Alton Langford A snowy, sleety, bitey-cold storm was blowing through Deep Green Wood. Ranger Rick Raccoon, Scarlett Fox, Ollie Otter, and Punky Porcupine were curled up in Rick's big tree-hole den. Ollie...

Don't mess with a mongoose. (includes related article)
January 1, 1998... When you hear the word "mongoose," you might think of a bird. But mongooses can't fly--they're really fierce little bundles of fur! "What's happenin'?" That's what these banded mongooses seem to be asking as they look around (see photo at...

Who cares about kakapos? (protection of large parrots in New Zealand)(Brief Article)
January 1, 1998... They dance and they boom by the light of the moon, but will these parrots be around to dance much longer? "It's too late to save the kakapo [KAH-kah-poe]." That's what people in New Zealand were saying 25 years ago. Only 15 of these huge...