Wisconsin School of the Air; Afield with Ranger Mac; 17

It was guns in school there invites you to go afield with a ranger Mack. Today boys and girls for that hike down the radio trail Ranger Mack is going to tell you about some tales that have interesting tales. And here it is not all Ranger Mack and little girls and boys. This is your day. So up and away we quickly I walk to Spring Pond which is down the road a little way from my home. And there are usually 50 to 75 mallard ducks there. The pond is open all winter and the ducks are fed by those in charge of the arboretum. The ducks are tame sleek and content at their live this limited sort of life. When they are warmed with the new wine of the year they get especially noisy and active and I can hear them through the bedroom window in the morning and that is about the time of the year the willow turns yellow

and the dogwood turns red. The mallards have stubby tails containing 16 to 20 short feathers. But there are over I found some small muscles controlling the tails. It was while watching these ducks vibrate their tails when swimming or while noticing how the ducks twist and tilt and spread their tails when trying. They gave me the idea that tails would be a good subject for a broadcast. Because tails have interesting tails to tail. When a bird lands on a twig or a telephone wire it gets its balance by means of the tail while flying the tail is used as a rudder and elevator and a balance. It is easy to see the shape of the tail while the ducks prepared to land on the surface of the pond.

They must put on the brakes before hitting the surface of the water and a table is formed in a cup shape. This provides resistance to the air and acts like an aerial break. Tables are useful tools helping their owners the birds insects and animals carry on the business of living. We have two common mice that are brought on the land in winter. There are the field mice or the Meadow Mouse and the white footed mouse or the metal mouse has a short tail. It travels by trotting. It doesn't need a long tail a long tail would be a hindrance. But the white footed mouse has a long tail. It travels by jumping leaping through the air. It needs a long tail to act as a rudder and a balance there to keep it right side up. So jumping might have

long tails so tails are more than ornaments. They have specialized uses in the teacher's manual. We gave as an outline pretty day's broadcast a description of sixteen different kinds of tales. It was your pleasure too. In preparation for this broadcast to study these descriptions and name the creature to which each tale belongs Ranger Mack will run down the list and repeat the descriptions for the older folks listening in. And who do not have the manual they may wish to enter the contest also. After the contest after we have gone through the broadcast your trail headers can see how many you have right. Number one the tail is broad and flat. It is used by its owner as a rudder in swimming. A stool while eating and in making a warning signal by striking violently the

surface of the water when danger is near. But never as a troll as many people believe. The owner of this tale is the beaver. Number two a people have wondered what use this tail could be to its owner. Here is the description. When tightly curled it is something to gladden the heart of the farmer. For it is an indication that the animal is in good health. Now the answer is the pig. Number three. Number three is a tail that is white on the underside. When erect it is a mark aiding others of its kind to follow through the woods. I might add that the white makes a good target for the Hunter also something nature did not consider. The owner of this tale is our native deer the white tailed deer

number four at the tail in number four has an owner that is among the most highly respected of all wild creatures. By all creatures of the wild and by man alike. When its bushy tail is lifted upright it is a warning that better be heeded. The owner of this tale is the skunk number 5 the fifth tale in today's contest is not only an aid in swimming but is it is a storage place for food for a long time after birth the creature looks as though it were all its tail. But the tail is absorbed as the treat as the creature grows and there is nothing left but a stub. When the creature reaches adulthood the answer to number five is the tadpole or pollywog number six is a creature that strikes terror to people.

But the creature is fair enough to issue a warning before it strikes. And by using a method that is similar in some respects to a talk that every child has owed. That toy is the rattler and the answer is the rattlesnake with the rattle on its tail. Number seven this tail is called a prehensile tail by at the pokey owner can hang from a limb to secure fruit and nuts. By curving it over to the back it becomes a support to carry the young. The slow moving owner of this pail is the opossum number 8 the owner of this tale is the proud barnyard bird. Not very common these days when it displays its colorful tail it is in an active courtship

looking for a mate. Another creature seems to be so proud of its tail now that its simile is taking from this problemas proud as a peacock. So the peacock is the owner of the tale described Number nine the tail is used by the insect in the larval stage. Now to hang on the under surface of a water film while breathing. I might add that the insect in the adult stage is a turbo disturber of picnics. The answer is the mosquito we're glad I have which is a mosquito in the larval stage. It breezed through tubes at the tail end of its body. Number Tam is a tail that serves its owner by providing balance and direction when it jumps from branch to branch and tree tops. The answer is the squirrel the squirrel like

the cat always lands on its peak. In both cases the tail provides the balance. Each Kaila each of these creatures has a tail that is really a tail. Number 11 the tail in this case is used as a brace and when the creature is boring for insects the answer is the woodpecker. And not only the woodpecker but the sub socket and not touch the tails of these birds are short in the feathers or stick. When pressed firmly against the trunk the tail serves as a brace to support enabling the bird to bar with its beak efford insects of course the nuthatch doesn't bore into the wood. Number 12 this tail belongs to an aquatic creature that is a creature that lives in the water. The female glues the eggs on the underside of her tail

and so the tail becomes a place where the hatching of eggs. This is the crayfish or the crab as you generally know it. This is also true of lobsters. Number 13 the tail big becomes a pointer to indicate the presence of game. This you recognize readily as one of the dogs known as the pointer. It is one of the aristocrats of the dog world. It is a hunter immediately upon locating the game which is generally by scent. The dog freezes stands like a statue one of its front legs bent at the knee. The hundred is thus warned keep his finger on the trigger to be ready. Number 14 the tail becomes an egg laying tube called an appositive Ovi I meaning a big positive bar to place a tube to lay

eggs within the body of caterpillars. These are parasitic insects and that are many of them. But the one Ranger Mac had in mind is the bluish black wasp like insect known as the Neumann wasp or fly. If you have been at all observant you have seen this fly. This wass they bore through the skin of caterpillars and lay their eggs in the body of the caterpillar. You will see a picture of the work of a parasitic insect on page five of your manual. Number 15 the tail acts like an egg beater to whip up a prop in which the creature finds protection. The answer is the spittle bug known as the prog hopper. It sucks the juices from the leaves and stems of plants in the body a waxy liquid is made which

is given part at the tail. This the spittle bug beats into a profit with their tail. In this pony tent are they spittle bug lives until it is applied. Number 16 the tail is used by its proud owner as a blanket when lying down to rest in its den or on a sunny hillside. This is the tail of the fox. One of the most beautiful tails of all animals. So you can see that the tail is not merely for beauty. It apart as warmth as well. Those are the 16 tales described in the manual. The owners of which you were to determine if you gots 14 right. Give yourself a pat on the back. But if you got all right give yourself two pats at the idea Ranger Mack Once you the catch is that each animal that has a tail has the kind of a tail that serves that particular need.

The ugliest tail is that of the Porcupine. It is so full of pin giving quills that the owner needs nothing else to defend itself and so it is it has no wits no cunning no alertness no speed just an old slow poke. The most expressive tail is that of the Red Square. It can scold violently with its tail. Of course the dog has an expressive tail as well. It expresses present in us dog displeasure ugliness and shame. The dog's tail is a barometer of its emotions. And so ends our tale of tales. We'll start a new month on our next trip afield. If you divide Nineteen fifty two by four you will know why the month of February

has another date tacked to its tail during February we will start the personal visits to school that have requested the judging of conservation corners and until next week may the Great Spirit put sunshine in your heart today and evermore heap much the familiar Indian farewell brings us to the end of another trip a field where the Ranger Mack he'll be back next week boys and girls to take you on a radio hike to learn about camouflage in nature. This is the Wisconsin School of the air.