Keep The Wild Alive - games

Ranger Rick, April, 1999 by Claire Miller, Margaret King

Grab a pencil and turn on your brain. Then check out the games on the next pages about some endangered animals that people are helping. The animals are so glad that people care about them that they're ready to celebrate with games--and riddles too--about themselves. The National Wildlife Federation, the group that publishes Ranger Rick magazine, will be telling people all about these and other endangered species during National Wildlife Week and throughout the year.

Answers are on page 11.

Sea Turtles ... Come to Order!

Most of the time, endangered Kemp's ridley sea turtles swim around in the Atlantic Ocean. But once a year, the females come from all over to lay their eggs on just one beach in Mexico. These pictures show what happens at egg-laying time. But, uh-oh--they got all mixed up! Number these circles from 1 to 8 to put the pictures in the right order. Hint: Circle G, showing the turtle crawling onto shore, is number 1.

Dwonna's Tic-Tac-Code

My name's Dwonna--I'm a dwarf wedge mussel. There used to be dwarf wedge mussels like me in river bottoms all around the northeastern United States. But pollution has killed off most of us.

The good news is, people are working hard to clean up our rivers. They know that when dwarf wedge mussels like me start to die off, the rivers aren't safe for other animals or people either. I hope that some day there will be lots of us again! NOW, CRACK MY CODE AT RIGHT TO ANSWER THE RIDDLE BELOW.

WHEN IS A RIVER STRONG AND HEALTHY?

BREAK THE CODE

Look at the "box" above the first blank. Dwonna is sitting in the top of that box. Now look at the tic-tac-toe on the far right, and you'll find a "W" in the top of the box that's shaped just like Dwonna's box. Write the letter "W" on the first blank in the answer. Now break the rest of the code to solve the riddle.

H  I  F

M  O  T

A  E  L

U  B  D

N  G  W

C  S  J

Who's in Trouble?

These animals aren't real, but the things said about them could be said about real animals living today. One of the animals is an endangered species. Circle the one you think it is. Hint: Animals that are most likely to do well can live in many different places and eat lots of different foods. They have a large number of babies, and they aren't bothered if people live nearby.

FURZER

* Lives in grassy meadows and farmlands in Europe

* Eats hassups, thignons, and other animals

* Has babies three times a year

* Has shiny green fur

* Can climb trees

FRECKLED FINSTER

* Lives in ponds and rivers in North America

* Eats only nips and jutes (water creatures)

* Hibernates underwater in the mud if pond freezes in winter

* Lays about 500 eggs a year

* Has fins that light up

LONG-LEGGED ZINGWING

* Wings make a zinging noise when it flies

* Feeds babies nothing but redpop flowers

* Lays two eggs every five years, when the redpop flowers bloom

* Used to nest on lots of islands, but now nests only on Gerp, a tiny island near southern Africa.

* Migrates 7000 miles every spring and fall

BLUE-TAILED CREEPER

* Hangs from branches by its tongue

* Eats leaves, insects, reptiles, small mammals; especially fond of beezlers

* Has about four babies a year

* Lives in forests in Australia

* Can sing like a rodor-malkalon

Prairie Dog Partners

These prairie dogs are having a great time at a square dance. Find two sets of partners that are dressed exactly alike.

Scrambled Grizzlies

Susie Salmon has to turn in a report tomorrow at her fish school. She decided to write about grizzly bears. And guess where she found out all about them? In last February's Ranger Rick. But Susie is in a hurry, and she's scrambled the letters in some of her words. Can you help her fix her report before she hands it in? Write the correct word for each of the scrambled ones.

SCARY BEARS

by Susie Salmon

I don't like grizzly bears very (chum)_______. Know why? Because they (tea)______ salmon. But I feel (rorsy)_________ for the bears. They are an endangered species in some parts of the (Dinetu)___________ (Tastes)___________, just the way some of us salmon are.

Grizzlies are a whole lot bigger than (shif)________. In fact, they are one of the biggest and (songtrest)_________________ animals in North America. Most grizzlies live in (Askala)____________ or (Nadaca)___________.

Grizzlies gobble about 90 (donups)___________ of food a day. But the good thing for us is, their favorite food is (snaptl)____________!