GREENZINE - nature information

Ranger Rick, April, 1999

April 22 is Earth Day. But these kids help the Earth every day:

Kids CAN!

Students at Fredstrom Elementary School in Lincoln, Nebraska, are helping monarch butterflies. The school's fourth and fifth graders raise monarchs in two walk-in cages. The kids bring in milkweed plants for the caterpillars to eat. When the insects turn into butterflies, the students stick little tags to their wings (see top photo at left). Then they release them. Finally, the kids use the World Wide Web to keep track of migrating monarchs.

Students in Globe, Arizona, didn't set out to help an endangered species. They wanted to help all species in their area. But then something wonderful happened.

The students made a special place for wildlife in their schoolyard. They used plants, feeders, and water to attract wildlife. The kids were hoping that birds and butterflies would come. They got them, plus peccaries (pig-like animals), Gila monsters, jackrabbits, and the best surprise of all--endangered long-nosed bats. Cool, huh? Even a mountain lion and her cubs stop by once in a while! (See cub's track at left.)

Good NEWS!

New Computer Fun

Want to click with Rick? Check out JuniorNet[ordinal indicator, feminine], a special online computer service just for kids. Through JuniorNet, you'll be able to play games, discover wild places, hear stories, join chat sessions, send e-mail, explore kids' magazines such as Ranger Rick, join a cool club, do crafts and other projects, and look up exciting info for school or fun. Go to www.juniornet.com to find out more.

Ferrets Surviving!

Black-footed ferrets are one of the most endangered animals on Earth. (See last August's issue of Ranger Rick.) To help save the ferrets, scientists have been raising them in captivity and then setting them free in the wild.

At first, coyotes killed many of these ferrets. But now the scientists put electric fences around the places where the ferrets are let go. The coyotes don't want to get zapped, so they stay away. Now, most of the ferrets released each year are surviving. And some of them are having young!

One WILD Week

Twenty-five years ago, animals and plants got a very special kind of help. The U.S. Congress wrote a law called the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect them. This year, the National Wildlife Federation will celebrate the ESA during National Wildlife Week, April 18-24. The theme is Nature's Web TM: Keep the Wild Alive. To get a free poster showing endangered and threatened species, call 703-790-4200 or send e-mail to wildlife@nwf.org. Teachers can call or e-mail to get an education kit in English or Spanish. Hurry--supplies are running out!

Keep the Wild Alive Celebration at Busch Gardens[umlaut] and Sea World[umlaut]

Busch Gardens R and Sea World R adventure parks across the country are teaming up with the National Wildlife Federation during Wildlife Week for a special Keep the Wild Alive celebration. For more information on how you and your family can join in the fun, go to www.nwf.org.

Bird Treasure Hunt

Bet you're seeing (and hearing!) more birds now than you did in winter. Find out what those birds are up to. Put a check mark next to the things you discover. Look for birds that . . .

fly in a flock

fly alone

glide while flying

walk or run

bathe in water or dust

have bright colors

are camouflaged

are swimming or diving

are preening (smoothing their feathers with their beaks)

are eating on the ground

are eating in trees

are eating while flying

Sidewalk Ants

Do you ever see ants coming out of cracks in the pavement? One kind of ant that lives in those cracks is called a pavement ant. Look for a little pile of sand around a tiny hole. The ants live in a nest down that hole. During the day, worker ants carry sand in their mouths out of the nest, one grain at a time. Each ant pops out of the hole and drops a grain. By moving the sand out, the ants let more air into the nest. The sand gets warm and dry outside. Then, in the late afternoon, the workers take the sand back inside to warm the nest. What a job!