Comments on: 47 Years Longer than the Average Raccoon Lifespan!

47 Years Longer than the Average Raccoon Lifespan!

Eyebrows McGee — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:45:53 -0800

Ranger Rick magazine turns 50! Beginning publication in 1967, the NWF's flagship children's publication has been introducing kids to wildlife for three generations. At Classic Ranger Rick, explore the history of the magazine's look to get your nostalgia gland going, or check out early artists like Lorin Thompson and Alton Langford. Or enjoy some glorious photography it's featured through the years.

By: curious nu

curious nu — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:47:15 -0800

I LOVED getting Ranger Rick as a kid. Thanks for this post.

By: brennen

brennen — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:53:02 -0800

Pretty sure I still have all of mine somewhere.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:53:38 -0800

I never subscribed to Ranger Rick, but I remember reading it at the library ALL THE TIME.

By: Countess Elena

Countess Elena — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 18:55:23 -0800

bringin' me back to the pediatric waiting room where's my Cricket and my Highlights at

By: curious nu

curious nu — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:01:07 -0800

Cricket oh my gods i forgot about that one * disappears down a memory hole of kids magazines *

By: louche mustachio

louche mustachio — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:13:42 -0800

OH MY GOD. I loved Ranger Rick and all the kids at school made fun of me because I read about animals instead of Rick Springfield or whatever but that is why they just, at forty-whatever years old, learned what a pangolin is.

By: lazycomputerkids

lazycomputerkids — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:14:43 -0800

National Geographic World reader here...and a little sad for it.

By: WowLookStars

WowLookStars — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:20:33 -0800

I loved this magazine. Any idea if it's still as good in a world of "Lets look up that animal on the internet!"?

By: fluffy battle kitten

fluffy battle kitten — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:24:56 -0800

I loved getting this magazine when I was a kid. However, I pretty vividly remember the period of time where I was still receiving it and was getting too old to receive and it would show up and I'd grit my teeth and go, "welp, let's see what this son of a bitch raccoon has going on now." Thanks, Aunt Verna!

By: fluffy battle kitten

fluffy battle kitten — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:26:33 -0800

p.s. I still love raccoons. Rainbow tutu-wearing, pirouetting raccoon.

By: Eyebrows McGee

Eyebrows McGee — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 19:26:46 -0800

It is still good! My kids get it, and their 50th anniversary edition came today and the back cover was this straight-up trolling of parents*, which is what sent me down a Ranger Rick nostalgia hole! It's more photography-oriented now than when I was little, but it's still a similar mix of facts, stories, photos, crafts, etc. My seven-year-old sits down with it and reads it cover to cover with the sort of seriousness usually reserved for The Economist. My five-year-old likes it for his read-aloud (that he reads to us) at bedtime. They have a nice mix of classic favorite animals and weird unknown animals. (*Previously on metafilter if you require context and/or an earworm.)

By: WowLookStars

WowLookStars — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:06:24 -0800

I'm so happy to hear that it's still good! Can't wait for my kids to be old enough to enjoy it.

By: tobascodagama

tobascodagama — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:16:48 -0800

Ranger Rick, actual animal documentaries on The Discovery Channel and then Animal Planet... Yeah, that was the stuff.

By: vapidave

vapidave — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:17:33 -0800

Refrigerators were ferric and infrequent. Half of the family called them "Iceboxes". I failed the color the lion badly. My teacher, Dorty Dubson. Yeah, Pisses Poopson. (shut the up) was probably nuts but quite kind in a 60's kind of way. When confronted with a picture of a bulb - asked - Aaron McDonald responded to Mrs. Dubson's question of "what kind of bulb is that?" with "a light bulb". Now it's John Stanford International School. I almost wish I had kids. Here's the specs; As of 2006 each regular student spends half of his or her time studying in English, and the other half in either Spanish or Japanese. Students with English as a second language take immersion programs. As of 2008, due to the popularity of its program, the school had a waitlist of about 90-100 families, with other families declining to use the waitlist due to distances from their residences. I loved Ranger Rick and Boy's Life.

By: Slap*Happy

Slap*Happy — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:45:51 -0800

Ranger Rick introduced me to the Hodag, the Mkele Mbele, the Sasquatch... and actual creatures living here on this planet! Ranger Rick made me a cryptid believer... and then a skeptic! Awesome. The photography was so beautiful, the articles so clearly written on the North American Porcupine or the South American Tapir for early readers... big square, staple-bound issues every month from Granma. I loved each and every one of them. Mostly the ones with the Mystery Monsters I'd have to talk my self into disbelieving! So much fun...I mean that unironically.

By: chimpsonfilm

chimpsonfilm — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 20:48:19 -0800

I can't believe I forgot about Ranger Rick. But I'm glad I've been reminded in time to buy a subscription for my daughter.

By: tavella

tavella — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:05:20 -0800

How is Cricket these days? I remember loving the heck out of it when I was a kid, and I have a quasi-niece who might be coming up to the right age for it.

By: peripathetic

peripathetic — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:08:17 -0800

Our American relatives gave us a subscription to Ranger Rick when I was a kid and I saved every issue. I bet my mother hasn't thrown them out because it'd be like throwing away knowledge!

By: Room 641-A

Room 641-A — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:21:28 -0800

Oh oh! DDT is bad because it gets in the rivers and the water waters the apple trees and DDT gets in the apples and then we can't eat the apples! I wasn't even into nature and I loved Ranger Rick. Happy birthday!

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 21:57:32 -0800

One of my first vivid elementary school fiction memories was a story in Ranger Rick about a mother raccoon who had been hit by a car. Did Ranger Rick traumatize me? Is it responsible for a reluctance to drive that continues well into my thirties? Is that initial intimation of how important fiction can be in raising awareness about real world issues the first spark for my eventual enrollment in a graduate program in creative writing and the environment? Probably not. But I still appreciate it, and appreciate my school library for stocking it.

By: rtha

rtha — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 22:45:04 -0800

I had a Ranger Rick backpack! I never did become a park ranger, or an entomologist, or the next Jacques Cousteau....but I am in the 13th year of volunteering to ID and count migrating raptors, and I'm certain Ranger Rick had a hand in the inclination that got me here.

By: polecat

polecat — Mon, 14 Nov 2016 23:19:50 -0800

Ranger Rick, Cricket, Zoobooks, National Geographic, etc., each have a full series of magazines targeting your kid's specific age level from the womb all the way to Professor Emeritus, so no need to wait until they get to the right age.

By: bookmammal

bookmammal — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 03:44:39 -0800

So glad to hear that Ranger Rick is still around! I adored getting these in the mail. I'm sure there are still a few issues hanging around in my parents' attic all these years later. Thanks for the memories!

By: Halloween Jack

Halloween Jack — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 04:29:53 -0800

Ranger Rick. Rocket Raccoon. Think about it.

By: haiku warrior

haiku warrior — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 04:41:50 -0800

I remember Ranger Rick from 1971, the summer after second grade, when I could finally read. The Ranger is just a little younger than I am. Happy Half Century Birthday RR!

By: Orange Dinosaur Slide

Orange Dinosaur Slide — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 05:35:49 -0800

Ollie Otter's Fun Pages! Thank you for this post!

By: leotrotsky

leotrotsky — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 06:07:56 -0800

I never did become a park ranger, or an entomologist, or the next Jacques Cousteau....but I am in the 13th year of volunteering to ID and count migrating raptors, My God. They've begun to migrate! How did they even get off the island?

By: ChuraChura

ChuraChura — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 06:27:00 -0800

To absolutely nobody's surprise, I was a Ranger Rick/Zoobooks devotee. However, I always conflated Ranger Rick and Smokey The Bear and could never remember which one did which thing.

By: Dip Flash

Dip Flash — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 06:36:14 -0800

I loved those magazines. It is great that they are still around.

By: charred husk

charred husk — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 06:59:12 -0800

Dear Ranger Rick Forum, I'm a single coed living with three friends in a dorm at OSU...

By: TwoStride

TwoStride — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 07:26:14 -0800

Ranger Rick was my favorite magazine, and I always felt slightly superior for choosing it over Highlights. The passing reference to Ranger Rick in Guardians of the Galaxy won that movie a place in my heart forever.

By: ob1quixote

ob1quixote — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 08:59:38 -0800

tavella: “How is Cricket these days? I remember loving the heck out of it when I was a kid, and I have a quasi-niece who might be coming up to the right age for it.”

Cricket is still going strong. The Cricket Media Group have age-appropriate arts & letters periodicals for kids as young as 6 months. They're running a promotion for the holidays where when you buy a subscription for a loved one, they will donate a subscription to a library or family who needs one.

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 09:00:13 -0800

My first sleepaway camp and first airplane flight alone was to Ranger Rick camp in...the south? Somewhere? Mid-Atlantic maybe. Crafts and nature walks and bunk beds, the works.

By: ChuraChura

ChuraChura — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 09:11:32 -0800

My mom went to Ranger Rick Camp in North Carolina in 1976, gottabefunky. Anything look familiar?

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 09:29:21 -0800

Yes! That's it. Wow.

By: tavella

tavella — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 10:18:31 -0800

I know the magazine Cricket is still around, I was just wondering if the quality was the same. It's been 40 years probably since I read it.

By: belladonna

belladonna — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 18:18:05 -0800

I know the magazine Cricket is still around, I was just wondering if the quality was the same. My kids get ASK magazine (put out by the folks who do Cricket) and they LOVE it. It's great. I'd bet all of the magazines are similarly high-quality. They also love Ranger Rick just as much as I did when I was their age & fight over who gets to read it first. The youngest kid has been dictating a steady stream of jokes and riddles for me to email to "my friend Ranger Rick" to put in the magazine. (He sends personal thank you messages when you write!)

By: CBrachyrhynchos

CBrachyrhynchos — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 19:20:25 -0800

Dumb idea of the day: Ranger Rick and Rocket Racoon vs. the evil Raccoons of Pawnee, IN.

By: WalkerWestridge

WalkerWestridge — Tue, 15 Nov 2016 19:34:05 -0800

I was in Ranger Rick magazine twice! My Dad used to sell a lot of photographs to them.

By: lollymccatburglar

lollymccatburglar — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 05:39:44 -0800

Hey, Ranger Rick has international subscriptions, and they're not even that pricey ($37)! This is great news because as soon as my kid was old enough to sit still for long stories, I went to subscribe him to Cricket... but they only deliver domestically, and I live in Europe. Nostalgia is really difficult when you don't live in the country you grew up in.

By: acrasis

acrasis — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 16:06:48 -0800

Charlie Harper's art is all the rage now, but I remember him fondly from Ranger Rick.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Wed, 16 Nov 2016 16:59:53 -0800

I know the magazine Cricket is still around, I was just wondering if the quality was the same. It's been 40 years probably since I read it. There's a sample issue (PDF) from January 2013 available to read via their website. I love that the Cricket League (monthly writing contest) is still going strong. That was my favorite part of the magazine! And wow, I totally forgot about Cobblestone, the American history magazine also published by Cricket Media. I got that one as a kid too. Loved it!

By: klangklangston

klangklangston — Thu, 17 Nov 2016 21:46:36 -0800

Oh man, I had a subscription to this and loved it. Anybody remember who made the animal card subscription stuff?