Ultimate Guide to National Parks: Yosemite

Earth Rangers

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August 28, 2023

Ultimate Guide to National Parks: Yosemite

Greetings from Yosemite National Park, the first stop on Earth Ranger Emma’s epic adventure relaxing vacation! She’s having an excellent time hiking around and learning all about the animals and plants that call this place home.
Tune in to join the adventure!

Today on her trip Emma is greeting us from Yosemite National Park, the first stop on her “totally a vacation” adventure exploring different National Parks. Yosemite Park has many wonderful wildlife, from coyotes, marmotes to big bears and bobcats. But the coolest one is one that Emma had the pleasure of seeing in real life: The Bighorn Sheep!

The Sierra Nevada Bighorn Sheep are known for being built for life at high elevations. They are comfortable climbing up cliffside that no one else would dare to! This is because of their awesome cloven hooves and rubbery pads, which lets them hold on to steep rocky surfaces.

If life wasn’t challenging enough for these sheep, they have to deal with predators and sickness! Bighorn sheep have trouble with the germs that regular farm sheep carry, and contact with it can be deadly. This caused Bighorn sheep in Yosemite park and elsewhere to become endangered.

Earth Rangers has been working hard to stop this! Along with the Nature Conservancy Canada (NCC) on an awesome project to protect and restore a 1600 hectare area in British Columbia. It’s called the Kootenay River Ranch, and home to endangered animals like the Bighorn Sheep.

You too can help! Head to the Adoptions Section in the Earth Rangers App or visit the Earth Rangers Shop to get your Adoption Kit and help make a difference today!

Emma has one last little gift for you guys! While hiking, she saw a bighorn sheep mom and its baby. The cool pictures she took were sent to the Earth Rangers Centre, here is one of them!

While talking with Park Ranger Jada, Emma learned about one flying predator that may try to challenge the bighorn sheep, do you think you could name this cool bird? Let us know in the comments!

What are your thoughts about Emma’s vacation destination? Do you have any ideas of where she could go? Don’t know any good national parks, let us know what’s your favorite kind of relaxing thing to do during summer vacations!

Are you a Shoreline Saver?

Earth Rangers

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August 26, 2023

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Take this quiz to find out!

Ever gone swimming or walking along a beach? Did you find any trash, or other threats to wildlife’s habitat, while you were there?
You can leave the beach, but the animals living on these shores can’t just walk or swim away. For them, threats to their habitat aren’t just ruining a trip to the beach, it’s ruining their homes and putting them at risk.

Shoreline Savers are Wildlife Heroes who do all they can to help! Are you one of these heroes? Take this quiz to find out!

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Pixel Puzzler #32: Part 1

Earth Rangers

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August 25, 2023

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Let’s put your identification skills to the test! Can you figure out what is hidden in this picture? Make your guess in the comments.

Check back next week for the answer!

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Animals’ Defenses

Earth Rangers

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August 24, 2023

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Animals Defenses Quiz

Time:10 min

Difficulty:Medium

How do animals defend themselves? A cat might use its claws, a dog its teeth. But what about other animals? Can you guess what super-special defenses they have?

Post your results in the comments below to let us know how you did!

Salamander VS Gecko – The Ultimate Showdown!

Earth Rangers

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August 23, 2023

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Salamander VS Gecko – The Ultimate Showdown!

Although they look similar, salamanders and geckos are not related! In fact, one of these two is not even considered a lizard, closer to its frog cousin. What does one have that the other does not? Who would win in an Ultimate Showdown?

Geckos, like all other lizards, are reptiles. These lizards can be found in the wild in mountain regions, deserts, or rainforests. The majority of gecko species do not have eyelids, with the exception of the Eublepharidae who are known as the “Eyelid Geckos”. Many have special feet that let them stick to walls and ceilings.

Salamanders, including axolotls and newts, are amphibians. They can be seen in damp areas in or close to water sources such as rivers, creeks, or ponds. They are born but often don’t remain, in water, and similar to frogs usually undergo an evolution cycle.

The awesome thing is both of these critters can regenerate limbs! As a defense mechanism, certain geckos might drop their tail to get away from danger and regrow it later, while all salamanders (including axolotls) can regenerate any limb, even their heart! What’s cooler than what these two have?

Which of these two cool critters do you think has what it takes to win an ultimate showdown?

Meet Our Summer Students, Abigail and Vicki!

Earth Rangers

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August 22, 2023

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Meet Our Summer Students, Abigail and Vicki!

This past summer, Earth Rangers was lucky enough to work with four young people from the Canada Summer Jobs program! Every year, CSJ connects non-profit organizations like Earth Rangers to folks at the very beginning of their careers. We sat down with two of our summer students, Abigail and Vicki, to chat about the paths that brought them to Earth Rangers. They’ve got great advice for kids who love animals and dream about working in conservation when they grow up!

Meet Abigail!

What made you want to work at Earth Rangers?

I wanted to join Earth Rangers because of their profound impact on environmental education and advocacy. As a biology graduate, working for a sustainable and environmentally friendly company is extremely important to me, and here at Earth Rangers, they live harmoniously with nature and animals.

What do you like most about working in conservation?

I love working in conservation not only to spend more time in nature but to preserve it for future generations. As we are faced with numerous climate catastrophes, it is important for my role in society to educate and advocate for future generations.

What advice would you give to kids who are curious about green jobs?

My advice to kids curious about green jobs is to pursue that interest! If you are really passionate about helping animals, the environment or just the planet in general, then there are lots of roles for you in the world right now. Find something you love and something you are good at (writing, speaking, art, etc.) and combine those things to find a green job that suits you!

What’s your favourite day-to-day way to bring down your carbon footprint?

My favourite day-to-day way to bring down my carbon footprint would have to be working remotely. Any day I can avoid the commute using my car is a good day! I also love using my re-usable water bottle and limiting electricity at home.

If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?

If I could be an animal, I would be a blue whale, because they are the largest animal on Earth, with a heart as heavy as a car, enjoying the ocean. I love to swim and these animals are extremely beautiful when they are living freely.

Meet Vicki!

What made you want to work at Earth Rangers?

As a kid, I always loved and supported Earth Rangers. I was even an Earth Ranger myself. All my life, I’ve cared about animals, and our planet, which houses all of them. My dream was to be an Earth Ranger and to work with animals. Though my passions have shifted to graphic design, this opportunity to work at my dream job AND do something for the animals I so care about has been nothing less of a dream.

What do you like most about working in conservation?

I love working in conservation because I care so deeply about wildlife and preserving our natural environment. Not only that, but I get to work with people who also share the same love and care that I do. My co-workers are some of the most thoughtful, passionate and caring people that I have had the honor to meet.

What advice would you give to kids who are curious about green jobs?

My advice for kids is to stay curious, passionate and innovative! Asking questions, finding ways to help or even just talking about conservation or green jobs are all great ways to learn more. Furthermore, never give up! You never know what opportunities may arise if you keep working hard.

What’s your favourite day-to-day way to bring down your carbon footprint?

My family does this fun game where we always ensure that, when someone leaves a room, we turn off the lights. If you leave the light on, you have to pay up a loonie! We also have a garden in the backyard where we put good food scraps, like egg shells and fruit cores. Finally, we actively practice recycling and keep our recycle bins bigger than our trash bins to remind us to recycle the items that we can.

5. If you could be any animal, which one would you be and why?

If I could be an animal, I would be a quokka! They are the cutest little marsupials from Australia with the most adorable smiles. They are so small and look so happy. I would love to spend my days as a lounging quokka eating some fresh leaves.

Would you Rather #48

Earth Rangers

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August 21, 2023

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Would you rather…

Wiggle like a worm, or crawl like a snail?

Tell us which one you pick in the comments!

More “Would You Rather” Questions!

Time to get down and dirty like a snail and worm! Ready to GROSS OUT and fight climate change? Get stinky, mucky, and super-yucky by joining the Gross Out Challenge!

Caption This: What is this Duck thinking?

Earth Rangers

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August 18, 2023

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Caption This: What is this Duck thinking?

We need your help! This animal is trying to tell us something but we can’t figure it out! Do you know what this duck is thinking?

Post your ideas in the comment section below.

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Plastic Petals

Earth Rangers

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August 17, 2023

23

Plastic Petals

Time:25 min

Difficulty:Easy

Upcycle your plastic bottle into one of these flashy flowers!

Here’s what you need:

An upcycled plastic bottle
Paint
Scissors
Glue
Something for a stem, like a stick, popsicle stick, or thin dowel
Two different colored paper, foam, or felt sheets
An Adult to help

Here’s how you make it:

Step 1: After you remove and recycle the label from your bottle, cut the bottom of the bottle off—with an adult’s help, of course!

Step 2: Flip the top of your bottle over so the part where you drink from is facing away from you. With an adult to help, cut slits about 3 cm apart around the bottle. They should go all the way to the bottle’s neck. These are the petals. Bend them down so they look like a flower.

TIP: You can make a bonus flower with the bottom of the bottle too!

Step 3: Start painting your petals. Feel free to give them different colours and patterns!

Step 4: While your paint is drying, cut some leaf out of one of the coloured sheets. Cut a circle out of the other one to make the centre of your flower.