Adventures Of Ranger Rick - Short Story

Ranger Rick, Sept, 1999 by Kathy Kranking

The gang visits a beautiful wild area. But there seems to be nothing but trouble ahead.

Wind whistled past the ears of Ranger Rick Raccoon, Scarlett Fox, Ollie Otter, and Boomer Badger. The gang was riding in a raft along the fast- moving Copper River in southern Alaska.

"Yee-ha!" shouted Boomer. "What a ride!"

As the raft cruised along, the animals gaped at the amazing scenery around them. Snowy mountain peaks rose in the distance. Glaciers of pale blue ice towered along the shore.

"This Copper River Delta is an awesome place," sighed Scarlett.

"Oh, it's awesome, all right," said a nearby voice. The animals turned to see a harbor seal swimming alongside their raft. "As those glaciers up there melt, they make hundreds of streams. All of that water makes this a great home for wildlife," the seal went on. "At least, it's a great home for now."

"What do you mean, `for now'?" asked Boomer. But the seal had already disappeared beneath the surface with a flip of its flippers.

"That was strange," Rick said. "I wonder if this area could be in some kind of trouble."

"Trouble?" sputtered a voice from the other side of the raft. "I'll say there could be trouble!"

The gang looked to see a large salmon poking its head from the water.

"What kind of trouble?" Boomer asked.

"Oh, dear me," the fish went on, as if it were talking to itself. "If people come here and start building roads over our streams and polluting them . . . where will I go? What will I do?" Still worrying, it dived back into the river.

"I don't like the sound of this," said Rick. "Maybe we should row to shore and start looking around."

Just as Rick spoke, the animals heard a booming sound. A hunk of ice as big as a house had broken off a glacier along the river! This big iceberg slid into the water with a loud roar. And now a giant wave was headed right for the raft.

"Hang on, everybody!" Rick yelled. The animals clutched at the raft as the wave rushed closer. Suddenly it picked up the raft and lifted it higher and higher.

"We're gonna be dumped! Hel-l-l-p!" Boomer shouted. But then the raft dropped again, as the wave passed beneath them.

"Whoa--that was like a roller coaster ride," Ollie squealed with delight.

"Yeah," Scarlett panted, "we've actually seen an iceberg being born. The Copper River Delta really is a special place!"

"Sure is, so let's head for shore now and see what else we can discover," said Rick.

They tied the raft to a tree and began exploring. After a while they could hear a loud, chattering noise. Soon they came upon an amazing sight. Thousands of birds were busily poking their beaks in the sand.

Rick walked up to a sandpiper and said, "Excuse me. We've heard that this beautiful area may be in some kind of trouble. Could you tell us what the problem is?"

The sandpiper looked up. "Sure, I'll tell you what the problem is. It's what people want to do to this place."

"Like what?" asked Scarlett.

"They want to build a long road that goes through a beautiful wilderness. Then they'll be able to get to new places where they can cut down trees and mine the land for coal," the bird said. "We're just afraid that this will destroy many animals' homes. If you want to see some of our problems for yourselves, head toward those woods way over there. You'll get the picture." Then it turned and walked away.

"Well, gang?" asked Rick.

"Let's go!" the others exclaimed.

Before long, they reached the woods, where tall trees towered over them. All seemed well--until they came over a hill and saw what was in the distance. A big area of trees had been cut down. There was nothing left but stumps and deep tire tracks.

"Oh, no!" exclaimed Scarlett. "Not a tree was left standing over there!"

As the gang looked at the scene, Boomer turned and stalked off. Seeing such harm done to a beautiful, wild area made him angry.

"Why do people have to spoil this place? Can't they see how much the wild animals need it?" he grumbled to himself. He stomped along angrily, almost tripping over a small tree lying across his path. Looking around, he saw other small trees that had been cut down too.

"Who--who did this?" the badger shouted in fury, his paws clenching into fists. "Lemme at 'em, just lemme at 'em!"

Suddenly there was a rustling in some bushes ahead. Boomer was almost blind with rage as he rushed toward the sound. When someone came out from behind the bushes, Boomer pounced without thinking. Quickly he wrestled his opponent to the ground. The two struggled briefly before Boomer came to his senses and realized his mistake. He wasn't fighting with a person- -this was a beaver!

Meanwhile, the rest of the gang had come running when they heard Boomer shout.

"What's going on here?" Rick exclaimed.

"I saw some trees lying around," said Boomer sheepishly. "And after seeing what people had done to all those other trees, I guess I jumped to the wrong conclusion."

"I'll say you did," the beaver exclaimed angrily. "Those were my trees--I cut them down so I could repair the entrance to my den in the bank of the river!"

After a while, tempers died down and introductions were made all around.