Educator's Guide

SPECIAL HALLOWEEN ISSUE: SPINE-TINGLING RIDDLES AND COLORFUL HAND-PAINTING

National Wildlife Federation®

INSIDE: NIGHT CREATURES BUSY RED SQUIRRELS THE TRUTH T ABOUT ARANTULAS

October 2016 EDUCATOR’S GUIDE EDUCATIONAL EXTENSIONS FOR THE OCTOBER 2016 ISSUE OF RANGER RICK® MAGAZINE

BATTY POETRY TARANTULA TRUTHS Call students’ attention to the photo of the lesser long- After students read “Ta-r-r-rantula,” pages 14–19, nosed bat on pages 2–3 and ask: reinforce their comprehension of the article with “The • How would you describe this bat? Truth About Tarantulas” student page. • What do you think it is doing? (Confirm students’ answers by having someone read aloud the photo’s HAND-Y ART description on page 2.) Give students time to admire the amazing art in “Handimals,” pages 24–26. Then suggest children take Next, distribute copies of the “Two Batty Poems” a closer look at their own hands. What shapes can they student page. Read the poems aloud and have children make with them? Do any of the shapes remind them of compare the two using these questions as guidelines: animals? Turn off the lights and use a flashlight to make • What feelings did you get from each poem? animal shadows on the classroom wall. Now encourage • How are the poems different? How are they alike? students to use the animal shapes they discovered through • Which poem agrees most with how you feel about bats? this exercise to help them design and paint handimals • Do you think both poems are scientifically accurate? from their own imaginations. Or follow the instructions Why or why not? on page 26 to paint flashy monarch handimals.

As a follow-up, invite students to write their own bat FISHY FISH poems, focusing on one species or on bats in general. After students read “Freaky Frogfish,” pages 30–35, ask: Suggest that children illustrate their poems and read them • How are frogfish different from what you think of as to the rest of the group. a typical fish? (Possible responses: They’re lumpy and warty, have large body flaps, change color, and walk CREATURES OF THE NIGHT on the seafloor with their fins.) Invite students to learn more about animals that are active at night by reading “Life After Dark,” pages Encourage students to learn about other fish that seem 6–11. Help students increase reading comprehension by kind of “fishy.” Below are a few types of fish they may having them complete the “Night Senses” student page as wish to explore and report on to the class: they read the article. Then wrap up the lesson by asking • lungfish: lives out of water (in a burrow) for months the class to describe different ways nocturnal animals use at a time their special features to sense things in the dark. • mudskipper: hops across the ground on its fins If you can arrange it, head outside one night for a group • flying fish: appears to “fly” through the air walk in the moonlight. Click off your flashlights for a few • f our-eyed fish: climbs onto mudflats in Brazil to feed minutes while you look and listen for nighttime animals. on insects

OCTOBER 2016 Vol. 50 No. 9

4 Reader Mail 5 Halloween Riddles 6 Animals at Night 12 The Buzz (Nature News) 14 Tarantulas 20 Squirrels Get Ready for Winter 24 Hand-Painting 27 Ranger Rick’s Adventures: Leave It to Beavers, Part 1 30 Frogfish 37 Game Pages TWO BATTY POEMS

FRONT COVER: This fish isn’t dressed up for Halloween. The hairy frogfish is wearing its natural disguise. Turn to page 30 to meet more members of the Ranger Rick (ISSN 0738-6656) is published monthly, freaky frogfish family. except January and July, by the National Wildlife PHOTO BY RODGER KLEI N/SEAPICS.COM Federation, a nonprofit corporation; 11100 Wildlife Center > Dr.; Reston, VA 201 90-5362. Periodical postage paid at INSET PHOTO BY WEGNER/ARCO/NATUREPL.COM Herndon, Virginia, and at additional mailing offices. Flying in for a Membership: Ranger Rick is available as a benefit of junior BACK COVER: Glowing eerily in some membership in the National Wildlife Federation; annual dues: colored outdoor lights, this brushtail $19.95. Add $12 for addresses outside the United States. Send check to address below, or call 1-888-213-5637. Read and discuss these two poems as a class. possum of Australia and New Zealand snuck into a garden to feast on fruit. Occasionally, we make our subscriber list available to carefully screened organizations whose goals and programs might Meet other animals of the night on interest you. (We do not release children's names.) If you treat— pages 6–11. would like to be excluded from this service , please write: Ranger Rick; P.O. Box 62280; Tampa, FL 33662-2280. PHOTO BY TOBIAS BERNHARD RAF F/BIOSPHOTO it’s quite a Copyrigh t 2016 by the Nation al Wildlife Federation.

PAGES 2–3: Agave (uh-GAH-vay) plants Printed in the USA.

bloom at night and smell like rotting Postmaster: Send address changes to Ranger Rick; fruit. That’s perfect for this night-flying P.O. Box 62280; Tampa, FL 33662-2280. . It follows its nose, lesser long-nosed bat > Photo taken under controlled conditions < Photo digitally altered trick! then sticks out its tongue—ready to lap trick! up some nectar. > PHOTO BY ROLF NUSSBAUMER/ROLFNP.COM

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BEHOLD THE BAT BAT WATCHING Bats are ugly, ugly, ugly, Some people are horse fans, Grotesque little faces, Others love cats, Warty snouts, And some like snakes and their kin. Tiny teeth in alien mouths. But I love bats, Friends of witches, friends of trolls, With their furry snouts, Wrinkled parchment wings unfold, And stretched-out wings of skin. Stretched-out finger bones and skin, So very, very bat-like thin. Can you imagine Darkness makes bats come alive, How hard it would be Hairy bodies, piercing eyes. To catch thousands of darting flies, Darting, swooping, diving demons. Or nab tiny moths Of caves and graves and hidden dens, On the wing in the dark Moonlight madness, high-pitched beeps, Without ever using your eyes? Bats give human beings the creeps. Or think about hanging All day by your feet, With your body turned upside down. The world must look different From a bat’s point of view, With everything twisted around.

But hanging around Is only for days, ‘Cause when twilight fades into night, Many bats hit the skies In search of flies And other insect delights. So while most other people Are fast asleep, With their cats and dogs cuddled tight, I’m out walking, Late at night, Watching bats swoop around at a light.

© 2016 National Wildlife Federation. Orignially published in NatureScope: Amazing Animals, Part II (no longer in print). Permission granted to reproduce for non-commercial educational uses only. All other rights reserved. Ranger Rick® Educator’s Guide October 2016 Student Page

When the sun goes down, day is done for many creatures. But for others, nighttime is the right time to be awake.

While you sleep the night away, there’s another world outside that’s wide awake. It’s made up of nocturnal (nok-TUR-nul) animals— ones that are active at night. How do nocturnal creatures by Ellen Lambeth manage in the dark? They NIGHT SENSES put all their senses to good Make Your Own Light use. Check it out! When looking for a mate, a firefly (also called lightning bug) uses bioluminescence (bye-oh-loo-muh-NES- ens) to flash signals to other fireflies.Bio ( means “liv- ing,” and luminescence means “light.”) These flashes of light show up well in the dark, helping males and females find each other at night.

Use Super Vision In order for eyes to see, As you read “Life After Dark,” pages 6–11, use what you discover they need light—even if it’s just a glimmer of moonlight or starlight. And the bigger the eyes are, the wider the pupils can open to let in as much dim light as about nocturnal animals to complete the following chart. possible. No animal has bigger eyes (compared to its body size) than a tarsier (TAR-see-ur)— the tiny, nocturnal monkey-relative you see here.

6 CH’IEN LEE/MIN DEN PICTURES (6); DWIGHT KUHN (7)

SPECIAL HOW THIS HELPS THE ANIMAL NAME OF ANIMAL NIGHT FEATURE SENSE THINGS IN THE DARK

Tarsier

Barn Owl

House Cat

Silk moth

Rattlesnake

© 2016 National Wildlife Federation. Permission granted to reproduce for non-commercial educational uses only. All other rights reserved. Ranger Rick® Educator’s Guide October 2016 Student Page PIOTR NASK RECKI/MINDEN PI CTURES THE TRUTH ABOUT by Gerry Bishop TARANTULAS

Watch out— Read “Ta-r-r-rantulas,” pages 14–19. Then read the statements This hairy, scary spider is deadly, right? Well, maybe not. Creep on over to the next page below. You’ll quickly see that they’re all wrong! Rewrite them to to find out more. tell the true story about tarantulas. 15 14

1 There are almost 90 species of tarantulas.

2 Tarantula bites are deadly to insects and mammals.

3 Tarantula hairs are soft and sticky.

4 Tarantulas eat mostly plants.

5 A female tarantula lays her eggs in a leafy nest.

6 A goliath birdeater is the size of a postage stamp.

7 Tarantulas can live in super-cold regions as well as super-hot deserts.

8 Tarantulas squirt lemonade through their fangs.