14

Timmy Squirrel and the Hunt for Daylight Savings Time – Part 2

Squirrel School?...:) | Squirrel funny, Squirrel pictures, Cute squirrel

Where we are: Timmy and his young classmates have heard some humans talking about Daylights Savings Time. Now they are having a contest to see who can “save” the most daylight. They are chattering among themselves before class starts. You can read Part 1 here.

Ms. Hooper: Good Morning, class! I hope you were all thinking about our assignment. Has anyone come up with a way to save daylight?

Several of the children raised their paws, waving to get her attention.

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Ms. Hooper: Timmy, it was your idea. Why don’t you go first?

Timmy: It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to think of ways to save daylight. I couldn’t figure out what you would keep it in.

Suzy: That’s silly. You don’t keep it in anything. You have to share it with everyone.

Timmy: You think you’re so smart. I figured that out too. I found out that days are different lengths different places around the world. So we just have to ask one of those places that have longer days to share some of their daylight with us.

Margy: Ooh. That’s a good idea, Timmy. You’re so smart!

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Timmy sat back down, grinning at Suzy. She glared at Margy.

Ms. Hooper: Okay. That’s one idea. Who else?

Ricky: I have some relatives on the West Coast. It’s light for a couple of hours there after it gets dark here. I’m going to ask them to send us some of their daylight.

Margy: I like that idea too!

Suzy rolled her eyes.

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Ms. Hooper: Margy, did you think of anything?

Margy: Well, I thought about it a lot. Sometimes, I nap when it’s light out. I want to figure out a way to save that time so I can use it when it gets dark later.

Ms. Hooper: Any idea how you would do that?

Margy: I was thinking maybe I could put it in a jar.

The other squirrels laughed. Margy got mad.

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Margy: Do you guys have a better idea?

Steve: I think my idea is actually kinda similar. I was thinking that the humans have something called “solar panels”. They’re supposed to trap the energy from the sun. Maybe there’s a way to turn that energy back into more sunlight.

TImmy: I don’t get it.

Steve: We could make reverse solar panels. Instead of trapping the light it would release more.

Timmy: That sounds really goofy. Definitely a human thing. My idea’s a lot better. Just get other places to share with us.

Squirrels In Winter | Cantu Pest & Termite

The squirrels started to argue with each other. Ms. Hooper realized there would be no way to decide whose idea was best.

Ms. Hooper: You all did a great job with the project and came up with some excellent ideas. I’m not sure we have a way to make any of them work, although it would be nice to have a little more sunshine. Let’s move on to our next subject. Does anyone know what season we’re in?

Suzy: It’s still winter, isn’t it?

Ms. Hooper: Yes, it is for a couple more weeks. What comes next?

Monique: It’s spring.

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Ms. Hopper: That’s right. And what happens when spring gets here?

Suzy: The flowers come up, and the trees get their leaves back.

Timmy: And it gets warmer.

Ricky: And the days get longer.

Ms. Hooper: That’s right!

Timmy: Wait a minute! That means that we’re going to have more sunlight.

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Ms. Hooper: Exactly. During the spring and summer, the days are quite a bit longer than during the winter.

Timmy: So why do we want to have Daylight Savings Time now when we already have more daylight?

Suzy: That’s probably when we’re supposed to be saving it to use when the days are shorter. We were thinking about the wrong problem. We don’t want more for the summer. We want to save some of the summer sun for the winter.

Margy: Ooh. That’s tricky. Maybe my jar idea wasn’t so stupid after all.

The squirrels went back to chattering to each other. Ms. Hooper looked out the window and wondered how long it was until Spring Break.

Squirrel party | This is a group of 4 red squirrel siblings:… | Flickr

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

16

Timmy Squirrel and the Hunt for Daylight Savings Time

Photographer captures the nutty lives of squirrels in snow | Mashable |  Cute squirrel, Animals beautiful, Animals wild

Ms. Hooper had been looking for a new game for her class of younger squirrels. It was almost spring, and they were getting restless.

Ricki: Ms. Hooper. I’m bored. Can we go outside?

Ms. Hooper: I’m not sure that’s a good idea. There’s still snow on the ground.

Joey: But we’re squirrels. We like snow. Look at all this fur.

He did have a very plush coat. Suddenly, Ms. Hooper had an idea.

What Do Squirrels Eat? - AZ Animals

Ms. Hooper: All right. Let’s have a treasure hunt. Whoever can find the most acorns in fifteen minutes wins.

Sasha: What do we win?

Ms. Hooper thought for a minute.

Ms. Hooper: You get to choose our next project. I have two ideas, and you can choose which one we do first.

The young squirrels were excited. They loved running around outside. As soon as they heard the signal, they were off looking for acorns. They raced around the schoolyard, looking in the trees and around the bushes. They pawed eagerly at the snow, hoping to find some of the nuts that had fallen from the trees at the end of summer.

Ms. Hooper watched her class, surprised at the number of acorns they were finding. She hadn’t realized there would be so many. There were fifteen students in her class. She had planned on each of them finding one or two nuts. Finally, she called an end.

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Ms. Hooper: Okay, class. Great job! Let’s count what you’ve found.

She went from squirrel to squirrel, counting. Most of them had five to ten acorns. A few had found walnuts. The last student was Timmy, who had a sizable pile of acorns.

Ms. Hooper: Timmy, you did a great job! Where did you find so many nuts?

Timmy: I guess I got lucky. I was over in that corner by myself. And I was really fast running them back to my pile.

Ms. Hooper had everyone put their acorns in a pile in a corner of the classroom and sit down.

Ms. Hooper: I hope you all had fun. We’ve got a lot of acorns there. We can use them as school snacks.

N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission advises people who see young squirrel on  the ground to leave it alone | Robesonian

Roberta: So who won, Ms. Hooper? I bet it was me. I got eleven acorns.

Judy: Nope. I got twelve.

Edgar: You both lost. I got fourteen.

Ms. Hooper: Sorry, kids. Timmy’s the winner. He found twenty-one acorns in fifteen minutes. I didn’t think there were a total of twenty of them out there before you started.

Timmy was grinning.

Timmy: Guess I’m the king of the nuts.

Everyone laughed, and he hesitated.

Timmy: That sounded better in my head.

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Ms. Hooper: Anyway, you won. Now you get to choose what we study next.

Timmy: Oh, boy!. Let’s study running around outside. We can see who’s the fastest and figure out why.

The rest of the class cheered. They started to get up.

Ms. Hooper: Back in your seats. I said that I had two ideas, remember?

Timmy: Rats! I forgot. I bet they’re not as good as my idea.

Ms. Hooper: I think they’re pretty good. It’s almost spring. We can study the trees or we can study the sun.

Timmy: Those both sound pretty boring.

The other little squirrels nodded.

Squirrel in Spring - Desktop Nexus Wallpapers | Cute squirrel, Squirrel,  Animal pictures

Jesse: I know! I heard some humans talking about something called Daylight Savings Time.

Timmy: What’s that?

Jesse: The humans said that it makes it lighter longer in the day.

Timmy: Wow! So there’s more daylight? How do they do that?

Jesse: I don’t know. They must find it somewhere.

Timmy: I’m really good at finding things. I bet I could save more daylight than the humans. We should do that!

Ms. Hooper: I don’t think that’s what the humans meant.

Timmy: Then what did they mean?

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Ms. Hooper: I don’t really know. Squirrels don’t really tell time.

Timmy: But wouldn’t it be great if we could find more daylight? More time for running around and doing stuff. I bet I could find more daylight than anyone else in the class.

The other squirrels started chattering. They were excited about having another contest. Ms. Hooper let them talk for a bit.

Ms. Hooper: All right class. I can see that you are excited about this. Here’s what we’re going to do. Tomorrow, you can all present ideas on how you are going to save daylight. We’ll vote on who has the best idea. Then we’ll talk about the seasons.

Next week: How the squirrels are going to improve Daylight Savings Time.

Squirrel Talk | Never A Dull Bling

Note from Wikipedia: Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), or summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typically by one hour) during warmer months so that darkness falls at a later clock time. 

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

23

Tyrone Tabby and the Valentine’s Day Dance

Valentine's Day Gifts for Cats - The Catington Post

Tyrone stared at Erin across the lunchroom. He thought that she was the prettiest kitty he had ever seen. She had recently moved into the neighborhood and had started school a couple of weeks ago. She was in his Feline History class, but he hadn’t gotten up the nerve to talk to her.

He was eating with his friends Clyde and Donny. They were talking about the movie they had watched last night, “SpaceCat Rex: Defender of the Galaxy.”

Can Cats See TV? │ Hill's Pet

Clyde: That movie was lame. Those lasers never would have worked like that.

Donny: I agree. The trajectory was all wrong. But the story was excellent.

Clyde: The first SpaceCat Rex movie was the best. What is this, the third? Or the fourth?

Donny: It depends on whether you count that one with the lynx.

Clyde: You can’t count that one. It was outside the canon.

Donny: What do you think, Tyrone?

  Why Do Cats Stare? - Catster

But Tyrone wasn’t paying any attention. He was too busy watching Erin. She was so graceful.

Donny: Tyrone! Are you paying any attention?

Tyrone: Isn’t she pretty? I think I want to ask her to the Valentine’s dance.

Clyde: Who?

Donny: He’s all goofy over that new girl, Erin. She doesn’t even know he’s alive.

Clyde: Forget her. Girls like that don’t go out with cats like us.

Tyrone: What do you mean?

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Clyde: Girls like the smooth-talking Toms, not us.

Tyrone: I can be smooth-talking.

Donny: Tyrone, she’ll break your heart. Leave her alone.

Tyrone: It won’t hurt to say hi. I’m going to go talk to her.

Donny: You’ve never talked to a girl cat before. Maybe you should practice first.

Tyrone: How hard can it be?

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Tyrone watched Erin for a few minutes while he was gathering his nerve. He was a very shy cat and didn’t have any idea what he was going to say. Finally, he decided that he would pounce on her table and try to act sophisticated. He would impress her with his grace.

He walked to the other side of the room and waited for his opportunity. She was talking to a couple of other girls. Finally, the other girls left, and he saw his chance. He measured the distance in his head. Then he stretched and leapt.

Right over her table to the table behind her. He landed on a piece of paper and slid down the table. Just before he got to the end of the table, the paper stopped moving. Erin and a few other cats were watching him, confused.

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Tyrone jumped down and ran back to his friends. He tried to look nonchalant. They were trying not to laugh.

Clyde: Dude, what was that?

Donny: I think you got her attention.

Tyrone: Shut up. I want to disappear.

He looked around. No one was paying any attention to him. Erin was talking to some different cats. Then the bell rang, and they had to go back to class. He didn’t see Erin for the rest of the day.

After school, he was walking home with his friends. They were still laughing about his jump.

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Donny: That was amazing! I’m sure she was was impressed.

Clyde: At least you didn’t land on her. That would have been terrible.

Tyrone: Maybe she didn’t know it was me. Maybe I can still act cool around her tomorrow.

Donny: I think everyone knew it was you. Maybe you can move to Siberia.

Tyrone: This is awful. Now she’ll never talk to me. How far away is Siberia?

Clyde: It was a joke. No one will remember in a few days.

Tyrone: I will. This is horrible.

Tyrone went to his room when he got home. His phone buzzed.

Phone: Hi Tyrone, it’s Erin from school. Pawsome jump today at lunch! Meet me in the gym before school tomorrow. We can talk.

Tyrone stared at his phone. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He shut the phone down and turned it back on. The message was still there. It was still there in the morning.

He took extra time grooming in the morning, making sure every fur was in place. He told the guys he was going in early to get some extra time in the lab. He stood in the corner of the gym, waiting patiently.

Next week: Is Erin the girl of Tyrone’s dreams?

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

11

Tommy Tiger’s New School

Meet Alexei and Rory: Ohio zoo names adorable new tiger cubs

Tommy was really excited. His mom had signed him up at the new school in the neighborhood. He was tired of being home-schooled and wanted to meet some other cats.

He was a little surprised by how small some of his classmates were. But everyone seemed really friendly. He made friends quickly and started hanging out with Billy and Eddie.  Before long, they were inseparable. They sat together and played together at recess.

kitten and tiger cub head bonks - Meow Aum!

Some of the older kids started making fun of Tommy because he was so big. He thought it was rather rude of them since he had never pointed out how small he thought they were.

Jimmy: Hey, kid! You’re no kitten. Look at those paws!

Tommy: What’s wrong with my paws?

Three Sets Of Baby Tiger Paws at Potter Park Zoo - ZooBorns

Jimmy: They’re huge!

Tommy: That’s not nice! Take it back!

Larry: He’s right. Those aren’t paws. They’re mitts.

Tommy felt like he was going to cry. He was much too gentle to fight with the little cats, but he didn’t understand why they were talking about his paws. They were the perfect size for his body. Eddie ran to get their teacher.

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Ms. Smithers came up and saw the tiger cub with the three kittens (Billy, Jimmy, and Larry). She had been a little nervous about having a tiger in the school. She hoped he wasn’t causing trouble.

Ms. Smithers: What’s going on here?

Billy: Jimmy and Larry are being mean. They’re making fun of Tommy’s paws.

Jimmy: They’re huge! I’ve never seen paws that size.

Indrah makes three: Malayan tiger cub joins Amur cubs at Metroparks Zoo

Ms. Smithers: Jimmy! Apologize immediately! His paws are perfect.

Larry: His paws are twice the size of mine.

Ms. Smithers: He’s almost twice your size.

Larry: I know. I figured he must have been held back a couple of times.

Ms. Smithers: No, he’s the same age as you are. Haven’t you ever met a tiger cub before?

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Jimmy: He’s a tiger? Whoa! That is so cool! Sorry, dude! Don’t eat me!

Tommy was confused. Why would he eat Jimmy?

Ms. Smithers: He’s not going to eat you. Apologize correctly, please.

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Jimmy: I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were a tiger. You look like a big kitten.

Tommy: It’s OK. I didn’t know there weren’t any other tigers here. I won’t eat you. But please leave me alone.

Jimmy and Larry looked at each other and walked away.

It was the first and only time that Tommy was bullied at his new school. Soon he fit right in and was just one of the group.

Tiger and Kittens - Animals Photo (2960144) - Fanpop

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

25

Show and Tell Surprise

Image result for wild animals in snow

It had been a long winter at Northland Elementary School. There was a ban on recess until the worst of the snow storms had passed. Being inside was making everyone stir-crazy.

Ms. Beaver: That’s it for math today. Does anyone have any questions?

Pete Seal: Can we go outside after lunch?

Image result for seals playing in snow

Ms. Beaver: You know we can’t Peter. The school says we can’t go out until the weather gets better.

Annie Fox: What does the weather have to do with anything? We’re northern animals. We live in the snow.

Ms. Beaver: It’s not really the snow. It’s that Brian Brown-Bear ran away during the first heavy snow of the season and no one knew he was gone until everyone got back inside. By the time they found him, he was asleep in his home den.

Jeffrey Otter: So what? Because he went home, no one can go out?

Image result for bear sleeping

Ms. Beaver: They’re afraid that someone might get lost or taken by a bad human, and we wouldn’t know in time to do anything.

The children groaned.

Billy Beaver: It’s only February! That means it’s forever until we can go out.

Ms. Beaver: Don’t be dramatic, Billy. It’s only during heavy snowfalls or storms that we can’t go outside.

Suzy Ermine: I’m bored.

Image result for animal show and tell meme

Ms. Beaver: I have an idea. Do you know what show-and-tell is?

The children shook their heads that they did not.

Ms. Beaver: Everybody brings in something special from home and tells the rest of the class about it.

Billy: What kind of stuff?

Ms. Beaver: It can be anything, really. Your favorite toy. Something from a hobby. Something that someone has given to you.

Image result for animal playing with toys meme

Billy: Is there stuff we can’t bring?

Ms. Beaver: Anything that might offend or scare the rest of the class. And nothing dangerous.

Pete: No trophy kills, right?

Ms. Beaver: Definitely not.

Annie: When should we bring our things in?

Ms. Beaver: Why don’t we do it tomorrow? It’s still supposed to be storming and it will give us a nice break.

Image result for excited animal meme

The children were excited about the idea and talked about their ideas during lunch and after school. On the way home, three of the boys were bragging about who would bring in the best thing to show.

Egbert Bear: I think I’m going to show my collection of eagle feathers.

Joey Hare: Bert! She said no prey.

Egbert: They’re not prey. I pick them up off the ground.

Joey: Oh. I think I’ll bring in the empty nest I found. That’s a lot better than a bunch of feathers.

Image result for angry hare

Egbert: Is not! You probably don’t even know what kind of nest it is!

Joey: Is too!

Egbert: Is not! What about you, Mike?

Michael Moose had no idea what he was going to bring. He didn’t have anything as good as feathers or a nest. But he didn’t want to tell the guys that.

Mike: It’s a secret. But it’s tons better than either one of those.

Image result for moose calf in snow

Next week: Will Mike find something special by the next day to show his class?

Pictures courtesy of Google Images

12

Who’s Our New Neighbor? – Part 2

Image result for cats with lions

Where we are: There’s a new family moving into Calico Corners and they sound a little strange. They have a lot of children and requested that the lawn be replaced with extra dirt. You can see Part 1 here.

The family moved in a few weeks later. The next day, several residents went to Cielle Calico’s office. Cielle had been expecting them ever since he learned more about the new residents.

Image result for family of lions

Cielle: Good morning, all. It’s nice to see everyone so bright and early.

Sammy: Good morning, Cielle. You sold that house to a family of lions.

Tammy: It looks like they brought their own prey. It’s disgusting.

Image result for lion cubs

Frankie: I’m not sending my kids to school with lion cubs. What if the cubs get hungry?

Sammy: What about us? We’ll probably be next after they run out of what they brought.

The cats all began to talk at the same time. There were even some growls.

Cielle: Please calm down everyone! I did not sell the house to lions. You should know me better than that.

Image result for angry cats

Sammy: So why are they living in the house?

Cielle: That’s just temporary. They’ll only be here for a few weeks to finalize the paperwork for the new business.

Tammy: Who did you sell the house to?

Cielle: Mikki Meerkat, the owner of MM Construction.

Image result for meerkats tunneling

The cats looked confused.

Morrie: What’s a meerkat?

Cielle: They’re the other animals you saw.

Morrie: Those skinny things? They don’t look like any cat I’ve ever seen. They did tunnels and sleep in them.

Image result for weasels

Cielle: They’re not cats. They’re more like weasels. They’re very nice. You should go introduce yourselves.

Morrie: Maybe tomorrow. I need to think about this.

The other cats nodded in agreement.

Later that day, Tammy’s two kittens came racing home from school.

Image result for running kittens

Abby: Mom, guess what happened at school today.

Before Tammy had a chance to answer, Andy broke in:

Andy: We got new students today. But they’re not regular cats. They’re meerkats.

Abby: And meerkats aren’t really cats at all. They’re totally pawsome! They can stand on their back legs and look around.

Image result for meerkat and tunnel

Andy: And they make tunnels! Can we invite them over?

Tammy: Not until I meet their parents.

Abby: Can we all go over there now?

Tammy: It’s not polite to just show up at someone’s front door.

Image result for kittens with mom

Andy: But, Mom. The parents are really nice. They dropped their kids off at school and stayed to talk to us. They speak pretty good Cat, too.

Abby: Please, Mom?

Tammy: Let me call over there and invite the family for dinner.

Abby and Andy: Thank you!

Andy: By the way, their favorite food is beetles.

Image result for meerkats eating

Tammy: Oh. I wonder where you buy those?

Mikki and Giselle Meerkat came over with their three pups. Abby and Andy were right; they were extremely nice and told wonderful stories about living in Africa. The kids had a great time. Tammy promised they would do it again soon.

Tammy spread the word to the other cats about the great time they’d had with the Meerkats. She organized a welcome party for the entire clan. Before long, the Meerkats were part of the group.

Image result for meerkats tunneling

Next week: Did everyone live happily ever after?

Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

10

Llama Drama

Image result for llamas

Lizzy Llama was standing outside school one day with her friends. They had been back for a couple of weeks, so there was a lot to talk about.

Elsa: Pickles! I hate this phone!

Rosa: What’s wrong with your phone? I thought your parents just got you a new one.

Elsa: It is a new phone. It’s the latest Elkheart.

Tiffany: Ooh! Those are really expensive. What’s wrong with it?

Elsa: The stupid thing keeps saying it doesn’t understand what I’m saying. I mean, seriously? Do you guys think I talk funny?

Image result for animal cell phone meme

The other girls look at her in disbelief.

Lizzy: Uh. Yeah. You talk so fast with that weird alpaca accent, that we can’t understand you half the time.

Elsa: It’s not a weird accent. I just spent a lot of time with alpacas when I was little, and some of it stuck.

Tiffany: OK, it’s not a weird accent. You could talk a little slower and see if that helps.

Rose: You know those phones default to camel, right? Did you check the language setting?

Image result for cute camel

Elsa: Why does it default to camel?

Rosa: That’s their biggest customer base. Let me see it.

Rosa spoke a few phrases into the phone and handed it back to Elsa.

Rosa: That should fix your problem.

Elsa: Thanks. Stupid phone.

The bell rang, and they didn’t see each other until lunch.

Image result for llama with phone meme

Tiffany: Did you hear that Jeremy asked Shelley to the Homecoming Dance?

Lizzy: No!

Tiffany: Yep. She told me herself.

Lizzy: Does Rosa know? She has a crush on him.

Rosa stomped up and sat down.

Rosa: Can you believe that idiot Jeremy? Shelley? Seriously? She never says two words. What does he see in her?

Tiffany: Don’t worry, Rosa. Someone better will ask you out. There’s plenty of time.

Image result for angry llama

Rosa: Easy for you to say. You’ve got a boyfriend. Stewart is such a sweetheart.

Tiffany: Yeah. He’s really a great guy.

Lizzy: Elsa, who do you want to go with?

Elsa: I really like Brian. He talked to me in Biology. He’s really smart.

Lizzy (whispering): He’s looking over here.

Elsa: Don’t look! He’ll think we’re talking about him.

Image result for llamas

Rosa: You are talking about him.

Elsa: That’s not the point. What about you, Lizzy?

Lizzy: I can’t think of anyone who might ask me. I think I might just go with some of the other girls.

Rosa: Ooh. If you do that, I’ll go with you. It sounds like fun.

Lizzy: Deal.

A few days later, Elsa came to lunch excited.

Elsa: Guess what? I found out that Brian doesn’t have a girlfriend.

Image result for happy llamas

Tiffany: How’d you do that?

Elsa: I asked him if he was taking his girlfriend to the dance.

Tiffany: Smooth. Very subtle.

Elsa: So what? I don’t want to waste my time on someone who’s not available.

Tiffany: Good point.

Elsa: Maybe I should ask him to hang out with us after school.

Lizzy: I guess. That sounds a little weird.

Elsa: Maybe you’re right. How about inviting him to the soccer game?

Tiffany: That sounds more normal. That way there’ll be a lot of people around.

Image result for llamas playing soccer

Next week: Does the soccer game bring Elsa and Brian closer?

All pictures courtesy of Google Images.

13

Ranger Bob – Conclusion

Image result for bear in the woods

So far: Four raccoon kits have met a bear at the park. The bear turns out to be the beloved Ranger Bob. Somehow the school has lost track of its former safety adviser, and he is living across the river with his daughter. Upon discovery, Ranger Bob is invited to visit the school. You can start the story here.

Ranger Bob steps onto the stage and hugs John The young animals clap and sit down.

Ranger Bob:  Hello, everyone! It’s nice to see you.

Students: It’s nice to see you too, Ranger Bob.

Ranger Bob: I want to thank Ms. Porcupine for inviting me to speak. I used to come to the school a lot. I know most of your parents.

Image result for chipmunk

Timmy Chipmunk: My mom was really excited that you’re here She says you know everything about safety in the woods.

Ranger Bob (embarrassed): Well, I don’t know everything. But I’ve learned a lot over time.

Ms. Porcupine: I invited Ranger Bob here to share some of what he knows about forest safety.

Ranger Bob: What’s the most important thing to remember in the woods?

The children shout out answers:

Don’t get lost!

Don’t eat poison plants!

Don’t eat poison bugs!

Image result for funny snake

Don’t eat each other!

Everyone laughs.

Ranger Bob: The most important thing to remember is to be prepared. Be sure you have enough water available. Know how to get back to where you started. Questions?

Wally Weasel:  Is it OK to go out by ourselves?

Ranger Bob: I recommend that you always take at least one friend with you. But if you do go alone, be sure someone else knows where you’re going and when you plan to be home.

Image result for beaver is lost

Becky Beaver: What do I do if I get lost?

Ranger Bob: If you’re sure you’re lost, find a safe spot and stay there until someone finds you.

Rikki Raccoon: I’d climb a tree to see if I recognized anything.

Ranger Bob: Excellent idea!

Sheila Squirrel: I’d use the squirrel chatter network to tell my parents where I was.

Ranger Bob: Wonderful!

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Louie Wolf: I’d howl to give my position.

Ranger Bob: Another excellent idea! You children are doing great!

Mama and Papa Raccoon are sitting at the back of the room with Ms. Porcupine.

Ms. Porcupine: He really gets along well with the children, doesn’t he?

Mama: Oh, yes. He always has.

Ms. Porcupine: He’s so big. I wonder why they aren’t afraid of him.

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Papa: They know he won’t hurt them. I don’t think they even think about his size after a while.

Mama: He’s very gentle. And talks to them as if they were all the same size.

They watch Ranger Bob and the children for a while.

Ranger Bob: Kids, I’m having a great time, but I think it’s about time for me to go. Any last questions?

Anna Raccoon: Are you going to come back soon and teach us more?

Ranger Bob: That’s up to your school.

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The children turn to look at Ms. Porcupine.

Ms. Porcupine: What types of things did you have in mind, Anna?

Anna Raccoon: I don’t know. Safety stuff. Like swimming.

The others join in.

Forest fires

Snakes

Floods

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First Aid

Building shelters

Finally, Ms. Porcupine holds up her paw, laughing.

Ms. Porcupine: Ranger Bob, it seems that the children have become very interested in safety all of a sudden.

Ranger Bob: They were very good listeners. And it is important that they know how to stay safe. We want them around for a while.

The children giggle and nod.

Ms. Porcupine: You seem to get along well with them and enjoy teaching them.

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Ranger Bob: I’ve enjoyed teaching kids about safety for as long as I can remember.

Ms. Porcupine: Would you be available to come in one afternoon a month for a presentation?

Ranger Bob: I’d be honored.

Ms. Porcupine: Just tell me the subject ahead of time so the parents will know. They might want to come too.

Ranger Bob: Of course.

Ranger Bob turns to the children.

Ranger Bob: OK, kids?

They race up and hug him. It looks like there might be tears in Ranger Bob’s eyes.

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Pictures courtesy of Google Images.

 

11

Ranger Bob – Part 3

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So far: Four raccoon kits have met a bear at the park. The bear turns out to be the beloved Ranger Bob. They go back to invite Ranger Bob to dinner, but he is gone. The family finally finds him living with his daughter across the river. You can read Part 1 here and Part 2 here.

Ranger Bob: James Raccoon! How are you? It’s been a long time.

Papa: I know. I know. I didn’t realize how long until my kits said they saw you at the river.

He points to Jimmy, John, Anna, and Sally.

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Ranger Bob: James, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare them. I just didn’t want them to get hurt in the river. You know I wouldn’t hurt them.

Mama: Of course not. We all love you, Ranger Bob.

Ranger Bob: Maria! How are you?

Mama: Life is good. How are you?

Ranger Bob: I guess I’m getting old. It seems that all you kids I knew have grown up and had kids of their own. You can pass on what I’ve taught you. You don’t need me around anymore.

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Mama: That’s not true! We still need you.

Ranger Bob (sadly): I didn’t help your children. I scared them.

John: Only because you’re so big and have such a deep voice.

Sally: Jimmy would have done something stupid if you hadn’t stopped him.

Jimmy: It wasn’t stupid! I was hot.

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John: You could have drownded.

Jimmy: Well . . . Maybe it wasn’t really smart.

Ranger Bob: Your brother’s right. It’s not safe to swim alone. Didn’t your parents tell you that?

Papa: We thought he knew.

Mama: I knew it was a bad idea to let them go to the park by themselves.

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Ranger Bob: They’re old enough, Maria. They just need to follow the rules. Kits, who’s teaching you about safety?

Anna: Mama and Papa teach us stuff.

Papa: And we thought you were still around the school and parks.

Ranger Bob: The school hasn’t called me in a long time.

Mama: Susie Squirrel and I just heard about that from the principal. It seems that no one told her that you ran the safety program. She feels terrible about it.

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A smaller bear walks up.

Bear: Daddy, who are all these raccoons?

Ranger Bob: The parents are friends from across river. The others are their kits. Maria and James, this is my daughter Alicia.

Alicia: Nice to meet you. I hope nothing’s wrong. Daddy was pretty attached to quite a few animals over there.

Mama: Not at all.

Sally: We wanted to invite Ranger Bob to dinner to thank him for keeping Jimmy from doing something stupid.

Jimmy: Grrr

Ranger Bob: Really?

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John: And apologize for running away.

Ranger Bob (to John): Could I have a hug?

John runs up and tries to hug Ranger Bob. His arms only go a little way around the bear. Ranger Bob laughs.

Ranger Bob: I guess I do look pretty big to you.

John: That’s OK. You’re a nice bear.

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Sally: Will you come to dinner? Please?

Ranger Bob: I’d love to.

The next week, Ranger Bob and Alicia visited the raccoons. Ranger Bob entertained them with stories about his adventures and the time he met Smokey the Bear. A few days later, he called to thank them for dinner.

Mama: I’m glad you called. I talked to Ms. Porcupine. She’d like you to come and talk to the students.

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Ranger Bob: Are you sure?

Mama: She said the kits were telling everyone about his stories, and they want to meet him.

Ranger Bob: That would make me very happy.

A few weeks later:

John: We like to introduce you to our friend, Ranger Bob.

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Pictures courtesy of Google Images

10

Feral Purrfessional – Part 4

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Where we are: Katie Kitty has been given a scholarship to Mid-America Animal Tech where she will study providing medical care to the feral cat population. She has discovered that one of her professors is her roommate’s father. Rose is much calmer about leaving Katie since she met the Professor. You can read the beginning of the story here.

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After the first day of school.

Katie: That was tough. I can’t believe how much homework we got on the first day.

Elise: And we have two quizzes on Friday!

Katie: Cats’ vital signs and the systems in the cat’s body.

Elise: Guess we better get started.

Katie: Can you believe some of the cats are going to a nip party tonight? It’s not even the weekend.

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Elise: I know. Maybe they don’t know how hard the program is.

Katie: Did you see that cute boy cat that was looking at you?

Elise: How could I miss him? Every time I turned around he was there.

Katie: Did you talk to him?

Elise: Yeah. All he wanted to talk about was my father, the professor.

Katie: That stinks.

Elise: It’s OK. I’m used to it.

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Katie’s phone rings.

Katie: Hi, Mama. How are you?

Rose: How was your first day of school?

Katie: Great! I think I’m going to like it here.

Rose: Were you OK after we left?

Katie: Yes, we were fine. (Rolls her eyes.)

Rose: What are you doing now?

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Katie: We’re getting ready to study.

Rose: OK. I won’t keep you. Say hello to Elise and her father. Talk to you tomorrow.

Katie: Bye, Mama.

Katie looks at Elise.

Katie: She is going to drive me crazy. I think she’s going to call every day. She says hello to you and your father.

Elise: She just misses you.

Katie: I guess. But I don’t think I’m going to be doing anything very interesting every day.

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Elise: She seemed to like Daddy. I’ll see if he has any ideas.

Katie: That’s a great idea. Thank you!

They decide to go to the cafeteria and eat before studying. After salmon mousse and cream, they return to their room and work until bedtime. The next afternoon, Katie gets another call.

Katie: Hi, Mama. How is everybody?

Rose: We’re all fine. How are you?

Katie: I’m good. Elise and I are going to see a movie tonight. Take a break after studying.

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Rose: You’re not going to be out after dark are you?

Katie: I’m a cat. Dark doesn’t bother me.

Rose: But it’s not safe.

Katie: Don’t you remember what Professor Khatt told you? It’s perfectly safe here. Besides, it’s just down the block.

Rose: OK. But call me when you get home. I want to make sure you’re safe.

Katie: All right. I’ll talk to you then.

Katie disconnects the phone.

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Katie: Meowsers! She is crazy. I have to call when we get back. Did you talk to your dad?

Elise: I almost forgot! He said that he would call her tonight and explain how distracting it would be for you if she called every night.

Katie: I hope he doesn’t hurt her feelings.

After the movie, Katie calls her mother.

Katie: Hi, Mama. We’re home. All safe and sound.

Rose: That’s nice dear. I hope you enjoyed the movie. I got the nicest call from Edgar. He told me that you are adapting well, and I don’t need to worry so much. He is going to call me every Friday to let me know how things are going. He suggested that you call me once a week since you will be very busy. I think Monday.

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Katie (confused): Sure, Mama. Mondays will be fine. Are you sure you’ll be ok with once a week?

Rose: Oh, yes. I don’t want to interfere with your studies. Love you.

Katie: Love you too.

Katie disconnects the call.

Katie: Your father is a magician! I only have to call once a week.

Elise: How’d he manage that?

Katie: He’s going to call her every week to reassure her.

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All goes well for several weeks. Everyone is making plans for the Thanksgiving break. Katie is talking to her mother during the weekly call.

Rose: Edgar tells me you’re doing very well in school.

Katie: So far, everything is fine.

Rose: Did you know he and Elise will be spending Thanksgiving alone?

Katie: She says that’s the way they always do it.

Rose: Well, I think it’s terrible. So, I invited them down here.

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Katie (in disbelief): Really, Mama? I don’t think it’s a good idea to spend that much time with one of my professors. It would look strange.

Rose: Don’t be silly. Cats shouldn’t be alone on holidays. Besides, you can spend your time with Elise.

Katie: I guess, Mama.

Rose: It’s set then. You can all take the train down on Wednesday.

Katie disconnects the call.

Katie: That’s weird. She invited you and your father for Thanksgiving.

Elise: That sounds like fun. I’ve never been south.

Katie: I’m so glad you’re going to be there.

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Rose makes a huge Thanksgiving dinner with an entire turkey. The kittens love Edgar. He has brought some of his cat models down and plays with the kittens. On Sunday, Rose drops Edgar, Elise, and Katie at the station.

Elise: Thank you, Mrs. Kitty. I had a wonderful time.

Rose: You’re very welcome. I enjoyed having you.

Katie: I guess this wasn’t as weird as I thought it was going to be.

Rose: I told you everything would be fine.

Edgar: You were a wonderful hostess, Rose. I’m so glad you invited us.

Rose: Thank you, Edgar. I’m looking forward to seeing you both at Christmas.

Edgar: We’ll see you then. I’m planning special gifts for both you and Katie.

Katie and Elise look at each other.

Next week: The finale. What is going to happen on Christmas?

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