Ranger Rick articles from July 1996

Ranger Rick archives from July 1996

Animal Olympics. (athletic abilities of different animals)
July 1, 1996... Imagine what would happen if animals could compete in this summer's Olympics. Who (or what) would win the gold, silver, and bronze medals? SWIMMING Many ocean animals can beat the fastest human swimmers. But dolphins, tunas, and some penguins...

Trashin' fashion!(clothes made from recycled materials)
July 1, 1996... Take old stuff, add new ideas--and presto--RECYCLING at its best! Here are some great ideas you can wear. Good going, kids! With your help, in the United States we now recycle millions of pounds of paper, cans, bottles, rubber, cardboard, and...

The tall ones.(ostriches)
July 1, 1996... Hey, Annie Ostrich here, and I have a guessing game for you. What tall African animal has a super-long neck that reaches wa-a-ay up? This same animal has long, strong legs for running across the plains. Got it? Bet you guessed "giraffe." It's...

Down on the farm.(ostrich farming)
July 1, 1996... More than 100 years ago, African farmers started raising ostriches and selling their feathers. That probably saved the wild birds from becoming extinct. Until that time, people had been killing wild ostriches to get the long tail and wing...

Ostrich odds & ends.
July 1, 1996... An ostrich stores what it eats in a pocket at the back of its tongue. When the pocket is full, the ostrich swallows. Then you can watch the lump of food as it slides down the bird's long throat. NOT SO FAT Whoa--an ostrich drumstick weighs...

Adventures of Ranger Rick: the firends have a run-in with a water monster.
July 1, 1996... The river was deep and wide . . . but it was far from quiet. A fiberglass "monster" was causing a commotion, not too far from shore. It roared along like a giant hornet gone mad. Whannn, whannn, whannn, its engine wailed. Vrooommm, vrooommm,...

More facts.(rules of personal watercraft operation)
July 1, 1996... Many people who use PWCs follow all the rules for riding them. But others don't care about the rules--or even know what they are. This can harm wildlife, disturb people, and cause serious accidents. In 1994, for example, there were more than 3000...

Monkey bubs. (banana recipe in secret code)(includes code breaker)
July 1, 1996... Someone's been monkeying around with the recipe! All of the ingredients and other things you need are in a secret code. When you come to a strange word, use the code breaker to figure out the real word. Write the real word next to the code word....

Reader riddles.
July 1, 1996... What do you call a cat that falls into a trash can? Kitty litter. Nicole Varga; Kihei, HI In which state do fish hit balls over nets? Tennis-sea. Michael Stansell; Burgaw, NC What do bees like to chew? Bumble gum. Jeff Bakke; Grand Forks, ND...

If every living thing is good, what good are flies, fleas, and mosquitoes?(Ask Scarlett)
July 1, 1996... If every living thing is good, what good are flies, fleas, and mosquitoes? Tricia Emery; Sebewaing, MI You forgot to mention ticks. They bug me about as much as fleas do! But it's not really fair to say living things are "good" or "bad." All of...

I saw by bunny, Thumper, eat poop from his bottom. What should I do?(Ask Scarlett)
July 1, 1996... I saw my bunny, Thumper, eat poop from his bottom. What should I do? Danae Bentley; Vienna, VA Don't worry, Danae. Thumper isn't doing anything wrong. It's perfectly normal--for a bunny, that is. Like you, Thumper needs vitamins and protein....

Why is it that gnats always stay in groups?(Ask Scarlett)
July 1, 1996... Genevieve Sormani; New York, NY Gnats don't always stay in groups (called swarms). You're just more likely to notice them when they do. A swarm is usually made up of only one species (kind) of gnat. It's also made up mostly of males. Now...

Why do snakes sun themselves?(Ask Scarlett)
July 1, 1996... Pisciotta; Tucson, AZ To warm up! A snake's body doesn't stay the same temperature all the time, the way yours does. Instead, it changes temperature as the temperature of the air around it changes. Cool air cools a snake down and makes it feel...

Dear Ranger Rick.(readers share tricks to keep squirrels from bird-feeders)
July 1, 1996... Last November, we asked how you handled those pesky squirrels eating at your bird feeders. You all had great ideas! A few of you discovered some neat ways to outsmart the bushy-tails . . . My family put out a real-looking doll. At first it...

Call me Flip.(a red fox pup)
July 1, 1996... Hey, kids--my name is Flip. I'm a red fox pup, and I'm almost two months old. I'm also a little tired. I just took a mid-morning romp with my brother and sister in the nearby meadow. They're just ahead of me, trotting back to our den. We're...