Ranger Rick articles from May 1996

Ranger Rick archives from May 1996

The life of a dog detective. (black-tailed prairie dog behavior)
May 1, 1996... They fight. They kiss. They munch. They bark. They pair up. More happens in Prairie Dog Town than on your favorite action-packed T.V. show! As the morning sun warms the earth in the Black Hills of South Dakota, little furry heads begin poking...

The big zapper. (craft item that makes a frog's mouth with a large 'tongue')
May 1, 1996... Look what you and your friends can make at your next party--a frog with a real zapper of a tongue! To make each Big Zapper, you'll need 3 green or white paper plates, a party blower (sold at party stores), white paper, crayons or felt pens...

Adventures of Ranger Rick: a lone little kitten brings a ton of trouble. (pet abandonment)
May 1, 1996... A lone little kitten brings a ton of big trouble. Story by Sally Ann Coggin; Drawings by Alton Langford Scarlett Fox sat down in a patch of bobbing black-eyed Susans. She sighed and leaned back among them, twiddling her toes in the sun....

More facts. (about abandonment of pets)
May 1, 1996... TOO MUCH TROUBLE? Every year, people in the United States abandon millions of cats and dogs. Why? They may find that a pet needs more care than they expected. Or they may decide to go on vacation and don't want to take a pet along. Maybe they...

Bat bits.
May 1, 1996... Most bats in North America eat insects such as mosquitoes. A bat may eat 500 insects an hour! The smallest mammal in the world is the bumblebee bat from Asia. It weighs less than a penny. Some kinds of bats can catch fish! They make sounds...

To the rescue! (boys help duck entangled in plastic rings from a six-pack holder)
May 1, 1996... When we got to the pond that Friday afternoon, summer sunshine was making the water sparkle. A blue jay screeched at us. Tyler--he's my little brother--croaked at a frog. Tyler is only five, but he goes everywhere with me and my friend John....

Head to head. (poem)
May 1, 1996... Head to head, and eye to eye-- Won't you let me pass you by? Eye to eye, and nose to nose-- Go past me? Oh, I suppose. These two California garibaldi aren't really squaring off for a showdown. Both brightly colored fish just happen to...

Can fish hear?(Ask Scarlett)
May 1, 1996... Well, fish can click, squeak, whistle, peep, grunt, croak, and make lots of other noises. With all that fishy underwater racket, it would be kind of silly if fish couldn't hear! Your question isn't silly though. After all, there are no ears on...

Where are whales' teeth?(Ask Scarlett)
May 1, 1996... In their mouths, of course! But that's only true for whales that have teeth. Some whales have no teeth at all. Instead they have strips of baleen (buh-LEEN) that hang down from their upper jaws. Baleen works like a strainer to catch the tiny...

Scarlett, do waterfalls ever run out of water?(Ask Scarlett)
May 1, 1996... A waterfall happens when a river or stream flows over a cliff or other high place. If the river or stream dries up, then there's no more waterfall. What makes a river dry up? A few different things--or a combination of things--can do it. These...

I heard trees need to mate in order to make another tree. Is that really true?(Ask Scarlett)
May 1, 1996... Trees don't mate--they pollinate. Or I should say, they get pollinated. Their flowers (or cones) need pollen in order to make seeds that can sprout into new trees. Male flower parts make the pollen, which fertilizes female flower parts. Not...

Jawsome! (information about insect mouths)
May 1, 1996... An insect's mouth doesn't work the way yours does. A praying mantis like this one, for example, has no teeth. And its sharp jaws chomp sideways! Turn the page for more bites--er, bits--about amazing insect mouths. STAB AND SUCK This...