Ranger Rick articles from November 1997

Ranger Rick archives from November 1997

Giants of the north.(walruses)
November 1, 1997... FEATHER-FOOTSYou might mistake a walrus for a seal or sea lion if it weren't for its long tusks (see photo at right). Walruses are cousins of these other sea mammals. They all belong to a group of animals called pinnipeds. (Pinniped means...

Trick? No, treat!(pumpkin ice cream recipe)
November 1, 1997... Get the chilly willies this Halloween by making your own pumpkin ice cream. It's easy! Here's how: Let 1/2 gallon vanilla ice cream soften, but not melt. Spoon ice cream into a large bowl and add a 15-oz can of pumpkin. Add ground...

Messy!(short story)
November 1, 1997... Katie is my name, and I have two problems. One is that I have to share a room with my sister, Carlin. Our brother, Owen, gets a room all to himself just because he's a boy. It's so totally not fair. My other problem is that our room gets, well,...

It's pumpkin time!(Halloween history and traditions)
November 1, 1997... Every October before Halloween rolls around, millions of kids all across the country make jack-o-lanterns out of pumpkins. They carve happy faces and scary faces--and even happy scary faces, such as the one at right! What's the story behind...

Adventures of Ranger Rick: Rick and the gang visit a feathered friend in trouble.(short story)
November 1, 1997... Boomer Badger stood with his paws on his hips and looked around at a wide open grassland. "This is California?" he asked. "So where are all the movie stars?" Ranger Rick Raccoon laughed. "We're not in Hollywood, Boomer," he said. "That's in a...

More facts.(facts about burrowing owls)
November 1, 1997... Burrowing owls live on open, flat, grassy land in the western half of the United States. Some also live in Florida. Much of this land has been taken over by people, so fewer and fewer places are left for the owls. Burrowing owls in Florida dig...

Bumble bees up close.
November 1, 1997... Welcome to the world of the bumble bee! The drawing above shows a life-sized bee. But these photos were made by a powerful scanning electron microscope. They show bee parts magnified many times. Come on, get close . . . closer . . . closest!...

Here's how an electron microscope works.
November 1, 1997... Have you ever used a magnifying glass to look at something really close? The glass lens bends light waves in a way that makes an object look bigger. Most kinds of microscopes also use glass lenses. But a scanning electron microscope (SEM)...

Freaky flashlights.(how to decorate a flashlight for Halloween)
November 1, 1997... Decorate for Halloween with a spooky light. Here's how to make one of these glowing faces: 1. Place a paper lunch bag flat on a table with the open end facing you. (Use a white bag if you're making a ghost.) 2. At the closed end of the bag,...

I heard about a fox that can climb trees. How does it do that?(Ask Scarlett)
November 1, 1997... I heard about a fox that can climb trees. How does it do that? I also wonder what kind of fox you are, Scarlett, and if you have any special tricks up your sleeves. Jessie Landau; Pound Ridge, NY You heard right, Jessie. My cousin the gray fox...

I love foxes. Could I tame one?(Ask Scarlett)
November 1, 1997... You could tame one. But why would you want to? If you found a baby fox, it would be pretty easy to tame. But it's hard for a human to know just what a fox needs to grow up healthy and happy. And some foxes carry diseases that are harmful to...

Why are foxes said to be sly?(Ask Scarlett)
November 1, 1997... You may have heard people say someone is "sly as a fox." I'm not sure how we foxes got that reputation. Some people hunt foxes for sport. But foxes are pretty good at getting away. Maybe because of that, people think we're extra sly. But...

Blast from the past.(how dinosaur called Parasaurolophus made honking noise)
November 1, 1997... Were dinosaurs noisy? Well, they probably didn't have vocal chords for speaking. But some kinds of duckbill dinos may have used their nasal passages to make noise--kind of like you do if you honk your nose as you blow it. One kind of...

Animals you can see through.
November 1, 1997... Clearly, this is a butterfly. Or maybe we should say this glasswing butterfly is as clear as glass. What good are wings that look like windows? This kind of insect flutters around in the shadowy rainforests of Central America. Being partly...