1978 October Ranger Rick's Nature Magazine USSR Caviar Caucasus Mountains

Description: Excellent condition or better. 54 pages Special issue USSR October 1978 Volume 12 Number 10 6 THE MIGHTY VOLGA AND ME 12 HAPPY BEE 17 OLLIE OTTER'S FUN PAGES 21 RANGER RICK & HIS FRIENDS 25 MAMMALS OF THE USSR 31 CAVIAR 32 DEAR RANGER RICK 37 THE SLY FOX 40 WISE OLD OWL 46 SNOWBEARS 50 LONG WATCH ON THE MOUNTAIN ANGER RICK stood in the heart of Moscow. He was looking around at the famous landmarks, floodlit at night. It was halfway round the world from Deep Green Wood, and Rick was feeling a little lost and lonely. "Welcome to the Soviet Union, Ranger Rick," said a deep voice behind him. "I an Boris Bear. They asked me to meet you and show you around." "Am I glad to see you, Boris! I was be- ginning to think that I was in the wrong place. The United States Government ar- ranged for me to make this trip. They told me I'd be met by someone very much like myself - someone who cares about saving wildlife, stopping pollution and protecting the environment." "Yes, Rick, the Soviet Union cares just as much about such things as your country does. That is why the USA and the USSR signed an agreement six years ago to bring our countries together to work on these problems." Please turn the page ----------- 2 ----------- by Alyosha Taranov My name is Alyosha. I am 11 years old and in the fifth grade. I have two younger brothers, Oleg and Yura, and two little sisters, Sveta and Natasha. Our family lives in the village of Damchik on the Astrakhan State Preserve, a wildlife refuge. My father is a forester. on I think many people would like to live where I do the delta of the great Volga River, the longest river in Europe. Here there are more than 500 river channels. They spread out like fingers, carrying the river water over low, flat delta land into the Caspian Sea. On many fine days I go out in my kulas, my boat. I follow a waterway. Every trip is an adventure. ----------- 3 ----------- Am I lucky! Imagine me, a little bee of a news reporter, talking to someone like Dr. V. V. Krinitsky! Dr. Krinitsky is the director of many of the 125 nature preserves in the Soviet Union. The na- ture preserves are very wild places. They are scattered all across the country in all kinds of natural areas. There the animals and plants can live undisturbed. Except for scientists working there, few people visit the preserves. I wanted all of you to know about some really great nature news here in the ----------- 4 ----------- - The European badgers' big claws are for digging, and dig they do. Their un- derground "cities" - broad passage- ways, secret tunnels, cozy nesting chambers are almost everywhere in the Soviet Union. Foxes and wolves sometimes share these cities, but not always with the badgers' permission! Though only three feet long, badgers look like bears, walk like bears and are nearly as tough as bears. - In the faraway forests of Siberia lives the largest cat in the world the Siberian tiger (see next page). A mighty hunter, it kills wild boars, deer and sometimes even wolves and bears. Impossible? Not for a cat that may grow to 12 feet in length and weigh 700 pounds! With huge leaps and long claws it brings down prey. With crushing jaws it breaks the neck or skull. ----------- 5 ----------- Caviar is party food, some of the greatest party food in the world - that is, if you like caviar! For hundreds of years caviar has been a special treat to the Soviet people. It is eaten in other parts of the world also. Caviar makes a tasty, salty spread for crackers or dainty party sandwiches. Caviar is fish eggs-the eggs, or roe, from sturgeon (STUR-jun) and other large fish. The eggs are salted and sometimes smoked and packed in small jars or cans. Caviar looks like tiny black beads. The Soviet sturgeon is found in the Black and Caspian seas and in the rivers that flow into them. The female lays two to three million tiny jelly-coated eggs. These are sticky and can stick to water plants and stones, or clump together in masses, to hatch. The largest Soviet sturgeon is the Drawing by ----------- 6 ----------- - beluga up to 28 feet (8.4 m) long; some weigh over 3000 pounds (about 1350 kg). Much smaller is the sterlet, which was probably the kind Alyosha caught in the Volga (see page 10). The sterlet doesn't grow to more than three feet (0.9 m). Sturgeon move slowly near the bottom of rivers or seas looking for food. Some kinds migrate hundreds of miles up rivers. Dams and pollution in rivers make life hard for sturgeon. Today there are far fewer than there used to be. Hatcheries help increase the number of sturgeon. And Blue Patrol members (see page 32) have helped to move sturgeon left stranded in small pools after a flood. Let's hope sturgeon make a big come- back. Then maybe we can all enjoy cav- iar once in a while. Better start saving your dimes now: It's very special and very expensive! The End ck Lefkowitz 3 ----------- 7 ----------- This mammal has three English names weasel, stoat and (when its coat turns white in winter) ermine. Long, lean and quick, the stoat finds prey in treetops or in small burrows. Voles, hamsters, chipmunks and birds are never safe. A stoat may live in a rodent's burrow, lining the room with its victims' fur and feathers. Were you able to figure out the Russian names of these mammals? Maybe this will help you to pronounce them- ka-BAAN (wild boar) BIEL-ka (squirrel) YEO-zuh (hedgehog) bar-SOOK (badger) TEE-gr (tiger) gar-no-STOY (weasel) ----------- 8 ----------- o me! these birds have wonderfully weird sounding names: weaverbirds, rollers, bus- tards, bee-eaters, choughs (chufs) and chiffchaffs. Another is the hoopoe, a relative of the kingfishers. Its name comes from its call, a sort of "hoop-oop-oop." Its striped wings and tail are spectacular. When a hoopoe holds its crest up, it looks as if it's wearing an Indian feather headdress. W.O.O.: I've heard that here in the taiga you have such long, cold winters. What happens to the birds tha here then? Vladimir: Many migrate warmer lands. Some fly to central Africa. Others fly to Malaysia or the East Indies. One type of sandpiper flies all the way from Siberia to South America. W.O.O.: How about the birds that stay in the forest during the winter? What do they find to eat? Vladimir: Many smaller birds eat seeds from conifer (evergreen) trees. And the hawks and owls eat small mammals and little birds. Most seed-eating birds have to wait for the cones to open before they can eat the seeds inside. But the cross- bills have such special beaks that they can cut through the hard cones, then lick out the seed with their tongues. Please turn the page ----------- 9 ----------- Story and photos by George H. Harrison Huffing and puffing, I stopped to catch my breath. Here the trail led out of the forest into a beautiful meadow. I was mountain climbing in the rain with two Soviet scien- tists. We were in the Caucasus Mountains more than 8000 feet (2400 m) above sea level. There the air contains less oxygen, and we had a hard time breathing. The meadow before us was a carpet of a million wild flowers mixed with lush, wet grass. Above the meadow were the jagged ----------- 10 ----------- peaks of the Caucasus. The scene looked like Colorado, and I had to remind myself that I was in the Soviet Union. My two Soviet companions were Anatoli and Youri. We had been climbing for more than an hour just to get to this meadow. Here we hoped to see and photograph very rare goatlike animals called chamois (SHAM-ee). The Soviet scientists had placed Please turn the page ----------- 11 ----------- There they were! My camera was ready- but would the chamois come close enough? became curious about my shape. Or per- haps it had seen the camera or heard the clicking of the shutter. Maybe it had never seen an "Americanski" before! Whatever the cause, something made it start toward me for a better look. It walked out of the rocky area into the beautiful grass and flowers. Click, click. I was getting even better photos than I could have hoped for. That chamois walked to within 20 yards (18 m) of me before it realized that I was a human a creature to be feared. With that it raised its head, its black horns glistening in the sun. It sounded off with a piercing, high-pitched whistle. One blast of its call alerted the whole band of chamois. With a flash of its stubby black tail, it was off to join the others. Together they retraced their steps back up the mountain, whistling every few seconds. The band raced up the green meadow in single file and disappeared into the rocks above. I looked at my watch: 4:00. All this had happened in 30 minutes. I looked at the sky just as a black cloud was blotting out the sun. That was the last time we saw the sun that day and the last time I may ever see those chamois. That is, unless I go back to that wonderful meadow high in the Caucasus Mountains. I'd like to. The End Rangers: Many wonderful people helped make George Harrison's trip to the Soviet Union and this special issue possible, including members of the staff of The Office of International Affairs of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Raisa Scriabine was especially helpful in making the ar- rangements and acting as George's interpreter. In the Soviet Union Dr. V. V. Krinitsky, who is in charge of many of the Soviet's Nature Preserves, was George's thoughtful host and traveling companion. Dr. Youri Starikov and Dr. Sasha Nikolaevsky also traveled with George at different times. Both were ready with all sorts of information and many good suggestions. Not only has George made some great new friends, but all of us have! R.R.

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