national geographic_kids_usa_8_2022

NATGEOKIDS.COM • AUGUST 2022 COOL BOOK GIVEAWAY NEW CRITTER MOVIES CHAT ROCKS AND How MINERALS dolphins, CUTE wild dogs, HAMSTERS and other animals ‘talk’ in the wild

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IN THIS ISSUE Editor in Chief, 12 How to Kids and Family, Magazines and Digital Speak Animal Rachel Buchholz Get your guide Senior Design Editor, Magazines Eileen O’Tousa-Crowson to the secret language of Editorial Kay Boatner, Senior Editor / Digital Producer; eight creatures. Allyson Shaw, Editor / Digital Producer Photo Shannon Hibberd, Senior Photo Editor Production Sean Philpotts, Manager Digital Laura Goertzel, Senior Manager PUBLISHED BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS, LLC 20 The Truth DEPARTMENTS Behind EVP and General Manager 3 Awesome 4 Weird David E. Miller Movies But True! See how these new flicks Managing Editor, Magazines 5 Guinness David Brindley stack up to reality. World Records Advertising Offices John Campbell, Senior Vice President, 22 Porcupine 6 All About Money Partnerships, [email protected] Rescue Bet You Didn’t Know! Detroit Karen Sarris, [email protected] Find out how kind humans 8 Brain Candy Los Angeles Eric Josten, [email protected] nursed this prickly 10 Amazing Animals New York Hilary Halstead, [email protected] creature back to health. 28 Fun Stuff International Publishing Yulia Petrossian Boyle, 24 30 Cool Things COOL BOOK Vice President; Jennifer Jones, Manager; About Rocks Leanna Lakeram, Account Manager and Minerals GIVEAWAY! Get the scoop on what Finance Jeannette Swain, Director; SEE PAGE 17 Tammi Colleary-Loach, Senior Manager, Rights Clearance; makes stones and other THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY IS MAJORITY Joey Wolfkill, Senior Business Specialist earthy things so awesome. OWNER OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS. COVER: ERIC CHENG (DOLPHIN); Consumer Marketing John MacKethan, Director, Print 26 Wild © 2022 DISNEY / PIXAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Operations; Mark Viola, Senior Manager, Circulation Planning; Hamsters (CAT FROM LIGHTYEAR); KENNEDY NEWS & MEDIA (COOKIE MONSTER ROCK); ERIC BAC- Janet H. Zavrel, Manager, Circulation Planning Farmers try to CEGA / NATURE PICTURE LIBRARY (HAMSTER). make peace with PAGE 3: NICK UPTON / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES Manufacturing and Distribution Kristin Semeniuk, Senior these pesky critters. (OTTERS); © WARNER BROS. PICTURES (DC Manager; James Anderson, Manager, Global Distribution; LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS); COURTESY OF Jennifer Hoff, Manager, Production BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER (PORCUPINE); SUNCHAN / GETTY IMAGES (WATERMELON Publicity Anna Kukelhaus, [email protected]; STONE); ERIC BACCEGA / NATURE PICTURE Caitlin Holbrook, [email protected] LIBRARY (HAMSTER) NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS(ISSN 1542-3042) is published ten times a year EXPLORATION HAPPENS by National Geographic Partners, LLC, Washington, DC 20036. For more because of you. information contact natgeo.com/info. Periodical postage paid at Washington, DC, and additional mailing offices. When you read with us, you help further POSTMASTER: Send address changes to NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS, P.O. the work of our scientists, explorers, and Box 37545, Boone, IA 50037. Subscriptions: United States, $30.00; to Canada, $37.00; elsewhere, $48.00; all in U.S. funds. Single copy: United educators around the world. States, $5.00; to Canada, $10.00; elsewhere, $15.00; all in U.S. funds. In Canada, Agreement number 1000010298, return undeliverable Canadian Parents, to learn more, visit natgeo.com/info addresses to NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS, P.O. Box 819 STN Main, Markham, Ontario L3P 9Z9. The submission of photographs and other material to NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS is done at the risk of the sender; NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS cannot accept liability for loss or damage. SUBSCRIBE TO NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS! JUST FOR PARENTS CALL TOLL FREE 1–800–647–5463 For corrections and clarifications, go online. natgeo.com/corrections MON.–FRI., 8 A.M.–9 P.M. EST, SAT., 9 A.M.–7 P.M. EST For a subscription to NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS, send written requests— Follow us on Twitter@NGKids including name, address, zip code, and payment in U.S. funds or equivalent—to and like us on Facebook. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS, P.O. BOX 37545, BOONE, IA 50037 For gift subscriptions, send giver’s name and address as well as recipient’s. Copyright © 2022 National Geographic Partners, LLC. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents of NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS without written permission is prohibited. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS and Yellow Border: Registered Trademarks ® Marcas Registradas. Printed in the U.S.A. ISSUE 522 PRINTED ON 100% PEFC-CERTIFIED PAPER—PEFC/29-31-58— Please recycle.

Check out these CHECK OUT outrageous facts. THE BOOK! BY JULIE BEER AND MICHELLE HARRIS A SEED CAN BLOW ACROSS THE OCEAN Some cows make AND SPROUT best friends with other ON ANOTHER cattle in their herd. CONTINENT. A NEW SKYSCRAPER Swiftlet birds’ nests are made goes up entirely from EVERY saliva. month in MOONDUST WALKING CHINA. ANIMALS ANIMALS / SUPERSTOCK (COWS); PAUL STICKS TO HAWTHORNE / STARPIX / SHUTTERSTOCK (CAR) USES A TOY CAR ASTRONAUTS’ dipped in GOLD SPACE SUITS. 200 and covered in MUSCLES. JEWELS sold for $60,000. 4 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS BY KAY BOATNER SUPER-TALL SANDCASTLE You’d need a really big wave to wash away this beachy build. The world’s tallest sandcastle stood a staggering 69.5 feet—that’s about as high as four adult giraffes stacked on top of each other. Entirely handmade in Denmark, the castle needed more than 30 sculp- tors to create it. Wonder how long it took the builders to get the sand out of their clothes? GOAT BABY BOOM!There’s no such thing as too many baby goats. Angelica the goat holds the record for largest litter of goats, giving birth to seven babies, or kids. Births of more than three or four kids are rare, so experts were surprised that all seven of Angelica’s babies were born healthy. You go, mama goat! SPEEDY ICE-CREAM ANGELICA I NEED You better run THE GOAT A NAP. fast if you’re trying to catch (CENTER) IS TRUCKthis vehicle. The world’s fastest SURROUNDED electric ice-cream truck can BY HER travel up to 80 miles an hour. Owner Paddy McGuinness SEVEN KIDS. converted a gas-powered van to electric and added monster-truck tires. In the summer, McGuinness serves ice cream from the truck. Hope he doesn’t spill any scoops when he speeds up! GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LTD. (SANDCASTLE, GOATS); LEE BRIMBLE / BBC (ICE-CREAM 5AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS TRUCK). INFORMATION PROVIDED BY © 2022 GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS LIMITED.

ALL BY KRISTIN BAIRD RATTINI ABOUT MONEY This year, the U.S. Mint Coins created in began issuing quarters with 1616 for what is U.S. WOMEN on now BERMUDA one side. The first were nicknamed two are poet “HOGGIES” MAYA ANGELOU and astronaut SALLY RIDE, because they the first U.S. woman in space. pictured HOGS. A PORTRAITof George Washington is on the other side. UZBEKISTAN’S In 1917, ROMANIA issued a banknote tiyin coin is worth a that was about theSIZE of aPOSTAGE STAMP. THOUSANDTH UNITED STATES COIN IMAGES FROM THE UNITED STATES MINT (QUARTERS, ALL); PHOTOMASTER / SHUTTERSTOCK (PIGLET); as much as a IVAN VDOVIN / ALAMY (TIYIN COINS); SUSAN STOCKWELL 2010, PAPER CURRENCY, COTTON THREAD & STAND, LIFE SIZE. © COLIN HAMPDEN WHITE (BANKNOTE DRESS); BNR / WORLD RECORD ACADEMY (ROMANIAN BANKNOTE); JACK GUEZ / AFP / PENNY. GETTY IMAGES (GOLD COINS); MAOGG / GETTY IMAGES (CANADIAN BANKNOTES); ALBLEC / GETTY IMAGES (MAPLE SYRUP) In February 2015, SCUBA DIVERS A British artist OFF ISRAEL FOUND OVER made a dress out of used 2,600 GOLDCOINS banknotes from around dating back as far as the 9TH CENTURY. the world. 6 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022 Some people think that Canada’s $100 banknote gives off the scent of maple syrup.

2 7magnificent facts about moons More than BY PAIGE TOWLER 1 Moonquakes 200 moons occur on the Earth’s moon. are in our solar system. 3 4 NASA scientists hope to send Scientists astronauts to thinkthat gravity the moon in 2025 might one day break to explore its surface. apart Mars’s 2 moons andform 5 Saturn-like rings Neither around the planet. Venus nor Mercury has any moons. ALEXANDER RIEBER / EYEEM / GETTY IMAGES 6 7 One of The solar system’s Saturn’s moons, largest moon, Enceladus,has 2 large geysers that spew Jupiter’s Ganymede, is one water vapor and ice. and a half times larger 7AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS than Earth’s moon.

M. UNAL OZMEN / SHUTTERSTOCK, IMAGE DIGITALLY COMPOSED (ICE-CREAM CONE); TOM WANG / GETTY IMAGES (CHILD EATING ICE CREAM); SOMPOCH TANGTHAI / SHUTTERSTOCK (SCOOPS) BY JULIE BEER AND CHELSEA LIN WFEOARLILCSECCRREEAAMM. 8 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

A CAFE CHECK IN ENGLAND OUT MADE ICE-CREAM THE FLAVORS LIKE KETCHUP AND BOOK! MUSHY PEAS. NEW ZEALAND CONSUMES THE MOST ICE CREAM OF ANY COUNTRY— 6 GALLONS A PERSON EACH YEAR. OVER 1,000 YEARS AGO, CHINESE EMPERORS MADE WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN THE FIRST DAIRY ICE CREAM FROM COW, GOAT, AND BUFFALO MILK. 9AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS

White House Cat WILLOW Washington, D.C. LOUNGES IN A First Lady Jill Biden was giving a speech HALLWAY IN THE when a gray fur ball jumped onto the PRESIDENT’S stage, interrupting her talk. But the RESIDENCE. naughty cat didn’t get in trouble—in fact, the first lady fell in love with the critter. WASHINGTON MONUMENT After the event, President Joe Biden and his wife adopted the tabby and named her Willow after the first lady’s hometown of Willow Grove, Pennsylvania. Now the feline lives in style at the White House alongside a German shepherd named Commander. Willow is the first kitty to pounce, play, and nap at the White House since 2009, when former president George W. Bush’s black cat, India, ruled the residence. But the first presidential kitties belonged to Abraham Lincoln—he even fed them off golden White House forks. We hope Willow laps up some presidential attention as well. —Allyson Shaw MAYBE THEY’LL BUILD A MONUMENT TO ME NEXT. THE KITTY TAKES IN THE VIEW OF THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. 10 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

AHH ... I FEEL MUCH BETTER! Potty-Trained Cows THIS CALF Dummerstorf, Germany IS ABOUT Moo-ve over, human toddlers—cows can Most of these clever cows only needed THREE be potty-trained, too. A team of scientists between 10 and 30 rewards before they OR FOUR taught 16 calves how to use the “moo loo,” were totally potty-trained. DAYS OLD. a bathroom just for them. Cow urine contains nitrogen, which Comeback Critter: “Cows don’t normally pay attention to becomes a heat-trapping gas when it the bladder signal,” says behavioral scien- breaks down in the soil. So by teaching Saiga Babies tist Lindsay Matthews, who helped train cows to tinkle in a special spot, scientists the cows.“But we taught them to attend can capture and process the waste before Ustyurt Plateau,Kazakhstan to that feeling and go to the bathroom.” it enters the atmosphere and contributes After giving birth to twin calves, the to climate change. mama saiga steps back, allowing her When the cows were ready to go, they babies to stand on their own. In just a pushed open a door to a small room, then “The cows are willing participants in few hours, the youngsters will try to let loose inside. After finishing their busi- the solution,” Matthews says. Who knew take their first baby steps. These new- ness, they’d receive a treat, often made of cows could save the world? borns were among thousands of other molasses or barley. saiga born last year. That’s important —Cheryl Maguire because in 2019, scientists found only four newborns on this plateau. COWS Dummerstorf, About 40 years ago, millions of Germany saiga—a type of antelope—roamed across Europe and Asia. But after CAT decades of being hunted for their fur, Washington, D.C. meat, and horns, the population crashed. Then in 2015, a disease killed more than 200,000 animals. Conservationists pushed through laws to prevent poaching and create protected areas. The work paid off: Last summer, scientists counted 842,000 saiga. That’s compared with just 334,000 animals three years ago. “It was a record year,” saiga conser- vationist Albert Salemgareyev says. Good luck, baby saiga! —Cheryl Maguire SAIGA Check out more stories, tips, and Ustyurt Plateau, crafts to help the planet! Kazakhstan natgeokids.com/planet ERIN SCOTT / THE WHITE HOUSE VIA AP (WILLOW, BOTH); ORHAN CAM / SHUTTERSTOCK 11AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS (WHITE HOUSE); @ NORDLICHT / FBN (COW); ALBERT R. SALEMGAREYEV / ACBK (SAIGA)

HOWSTPOEAK Name- Droppers ANIMAL Humans can’t carry on a Your guide to the secret language of eight critters conversation underwater, but bottlenose dolphins BY JASON BITTEL definitely can. Typically living in groups of up to You might think a walk in nature is peaceful: no chatty TV 15 dolphins, they squeak, screens or pinging text messages! But if you know how to listen, whistle, click, and squawk. you’ll discover that the animal kingdom is anything but quiet. “Dolphins need to com- Animals squeak, squawk, chatter, and hum. Some send sig- municate about many nals with smells or communicate with color. And they’ve got a things,” says Kel Melillo surprising amount to say. Read on to uncover eight secret codes Sweeting, a scientist of the animal kingdom. studying animal behavior with the Dolphin Commun- WHAT’S ication Project. “They YOUR ‘talk’ to keep track of individuals in the group, WHISTLE, find food,discuss preda- AGAIN? tors,establish and main- tain relationships,and even sort out disagreements.” Even more amazing: Some dolphins have signa- ture whistles that these animals might use like a name. Researchers have found that the dolphins will often make up their own whistle, and they’ll mimic the special whistles of other dolphins.Perhaps they’re calling out to a pal. 12 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

Hey! Tone Tuners you’re IN my When different species of animals compete for space or food, they might spot! battle it out with claws and teeth. But golden-handed tamarins prefer to GOLDEN-HANDED TAMARIN talk to their rainforest neighbors, pied tamarins. Both are small monkeys that like to nest in tree holes and eat similar foods, like fruit, flowers, insects, and tree gum. Researchers discovered that the golden-handed tamarins change the tone of their calls to match the pied tamarins’ tone when they’re nearby.“You can think of it like talking with a different accent,” says biologist Jacob Dunn. It’s as if the golden-handed NA-na-na, tamarin says “poh-TAY-toh” instead of “poh-TAH-toh.” That way, I can’t when they say “Get out of my tree!” the pied tamarins will hear you. understand them perfectly. “Animals want to avoid fighting if they can,” Dunn says. So by speaking in the other animals’accent,these tamarins can be clearly under- stood. Message received! Butt-Dialers RUMP AMANDA COTTON / ALAMY (DOLPHINS); ONDREJ CHVATAL / SHUTTERSTOCK (GOLDEN-HANDED TAMARIN); ELVIS01 / SHUTTERSTOCK (PIED TAMARIN); BONNIE OTT (MASKED BIRCH CATERPILLAR); SERGIO PITAMITZ / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (RHINOS) A human butt-dial is an PIED TAMARIN accidental phone call. But for Dung Decoders masked birch caterpillars, butt-dials are the best way to If text messages were just smells,maybe the scent of buttery popcorn would mean reach out. “I’m at the movies!” Well,white rhinoceroses do add smelly messages on their group When the youngsters need to build a safe hiding place, they make chat: the dung pile.When a white rhino wants to know what’s going on in its neighbor- little thumps to call others to come help.(It takes many caterpillars to hood,it walks over to the shared dung heap,which is called a midden,and takes a whiff. spin enough silk for the shelter.)They create these vibrations by rubbing Different types of bacteria in rhinos’ poo give off different smells; the odors can tell tiny hairs on their rumps against birch leaves. the sniffer about the age of the rhino that left it,and whether the animal is male or But you can’t eavesdrop on the female.They can even learn which rhino is in charge. hubbub: Scientists can only hear the drumming by using a special device “White rhinos’ eyesight is poor, and their hearing is just fair,” ecolo- called a laser vibrometer.“It’s neat to know that sometimes caterpillars are gist Courtney Marneweck says.“So their sense of smell is how they ‘chatting’ to each other on leaves, even though you can’t hear them,” ‘see’ their world.” Young rhinos might use that information to steer I just zoologist Jayne Yack says. clear of danger, and the dominant animals can learn the location got a Once the caterpillars have called of potential mates. That’s nothing to sniff at! text. over enough friends to build the for- tress, scientists think they continue drumming to communicate who’s doing what to keep the shelter strong.“It gets really noisy,” Yack says.

OK, OK— And You wIn! don’t you forget It! WHILE SCIENTISTS I FEEL STUDY THEM, A SNEEZE THESE TWO MALE CHAMELEONS USE COMING COLOR TO SIGNAL ON. WHO’S BOSS. Social Sneezers Color Changers How do you say “Let’s hunt!” in African wild dog? Achoo! Some people blush when they’re embarrassed, but These animals are some of the most successful preda- human color changes can’t keep up with the skin displays tors in Africa, thanks to their ability to work together. of chameleons. And though you might have heard the But with up to 32 canines in a pack, the group members color-changing ability is mainly for camouflage, reptile need a way to get every dog to agree on what to do. expert Daniel Hughes says that’s a myth. Instead, it’s all about chameleon-to-chameleon communication. In a behavior called a rally, a hungry dog will A WILD DOG try to get the other dogs excited for a hunt by (RIGHT) BEGS For example, male veiled chameleons switch from lime running around, wagging its tail, and touching FOR FOOD FROM green to a combo of tangerine and banana yellow when and sniffing the other animals’ bodies. Then AN OLDER they want to show another male who’s in charge. And when PACKMATE. a chameleon knows he’s lost, he’ll “turn off” his colors, changing to a muted gray to call off the fight. The cool color patterns come from tiny crystals in the reptiles’ skin that allow them to adjust what kind of light is reflected.“It’s a really complicated way of communicating,” Hughes says. the dog will blow air out of its nostrils as if it’s sneezing! The more dogs that sneeze in agreement, the more likely the group will go hunting. And if the dogs in charge are sneezing, the pack will probably head off sooner.(If they can’t agree, they might take a snooze in the shade instead.)“It’s like if you see someone who looks like they’re in charge doing something, you might think,‘Hey, maybe I should do what they’re doing,’” says Dani Rabaiotti, an African wild dog researcher. Do you agree—or is it just dusty in here? Walky Talkers Y’all sure that’s European bison let their big bodies do the talking. Standing taller than six feet and weighing more than 2,000 pounds, they live in herds of up to 200 the rIght individuals. So how do the bison make group decisions on what to do next, way? like whether to find a creek or head to a meadow? According to scientists,bison decision-making is like a game of follow- the-leader. First, one animal stands up and points its body in the direction it wants to go, says animal behavior expert Cédric Sueur. If other bison agree, they do the same. Eventually, one bison takes a few steps—if it moves in the direction most are pointed in, the group will follow. Although any bison can lead the charge, the scientists found that older females usually set the course for the group. 14 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

Chatty MOm says I’m the Squeakers you have log to share! When Kevin the Asian small- ruler! clawed otter wants to share a fish with his sister Rutabaga, ASIAN SMALL- he makes a throaty, low- CLAWED OTTERS pitched eeeeeee sound. PLAY-FIGHT AT A SANCTUARY It’s one of at least 12 dif- IN ENGLAND. ferent vocalizations that Asian small-clawed otters make to communicate with each other, says Olivia Twyman, an animal keeper at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Zoo in Washington, D.C. “The otters chirp, snort, growl, cough, screech, and scream,” Twyman says. For instance, when an otter gets separated and wants to rejoin its family group, it will make a rapid wheeuk squeak. Sometimes one group at the D.C. zoo catches the scents or calls from another group.(They’re housed separately because the species is super territo- rial.) When that happens, both groups make a noisy chatter that basically means “Stay away from my yard!” 1 2 3 4 5 ANSWERS: 1. horse, 2. chimpanzee, 3. polar bear, 4. elephant, 5. wolf. Back Hello! I’m You’re off! Let’s scared! play! stressing me out. PLAY! Animals use body language to tell each other what they’re thinking. Match the thought above to each animal below. RUSSEL LIGON (CHAMELEON CONTEST); CATHY KEIFER / GETTY IMAGES (CHAMELEON); ONDREJ PROSICKY / SHUTTERSTOCK (AFRICAN WILD 15AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS DOG); SAM DCRUZ / SHUTTERSTOCK (AFRICAN WILD DOG PAIR); GRZEGORZ LESNIEWSKI / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (BISON); NICK UPTON / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (OTTERS); ANDY ROUSE / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (CHIMP); WILD SPIRIT WOLF SANCTUARY (WOLF); YVA MOMATIUK AND JOHN EASTCOTT / MINDEN PICTURES (ELEPHANT); BUFFY1982 / ADOBE STOCK (HORSE); MICHIO HOSHINO / MINDEN PICTURES (POLAR BEAR)

C RITTER + CHAT yow ANT “ROOM” If animals were online, what would they say? Read these just-for-fun posts to find out. BY ROSEMARY MOSCO Too risky! Rreeavidewm!y YiPadvisor Ocean cruise on a lemon shark Never Whistling again! Slender sharksucker thorn tree Like all sharksuckers, I travel in style. I’ve got a Giraffe natural suction cup on my head that helps me stick to whales, sharks, rays, and more. So I get to relax ,,,, while my host carries me to new and exciting places. When I first saw this tree, I thought its leaves looked Recently, I decided to take an ocean cruise on a tasty. I stretched my neck, lemon shark. At first, I was having tons of fun. My opened my mouth, stuck shark ate a lot of prey, so I got to feed on plenty of out my long tongue, and … ow! leftovers. Usually An ant bit me! This tree grows sharks leave me hollow bulbs that ants use alone to do my thing, as rooms to live in. The ants but this time another get a home, and they protect lemon shark tried to the tree from harm. But I eat me! I think I’ll don’t like it when my meal stick with laid-back bites back! sea turtles on future vacations. << FOR MORE SHARK STATS, CHECK OUT SHARKFEST ON NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC. 16 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

Dolphinstagram harmony matches profile + clouded_leopard my photos Southeast Asia CIGDEM COOPER / SHUTTERSTOCK (SHARKSUCKER); FRHOJDYSZ / DREAMSTIME (LEMON SHARK); PRZEMYSLAW SKIBINSKI / SHUTTERSTOCK (GIRAFFE BEHIND TREE); PRAPASS / SHUTTERSTOCK (GIRAFFE, PROFILE); ROBERT WINSLOW / AGE FOTOSTOCK (TREE, CLOSEUP); JÜRGEN OTTO / SHUTTERSTOCK Cwoitnhnmecet! (PEACOCK SPIDER, BOTH); SELYUTINA OLGA / SHUTTERSTOCK (DISCO BALL); SYLVAIN CORDIER / GETTY IMAGES (CLOUDED LEOPARD); JUERGEN & CHRISTINE SOHNS / MINDEN PICTURES (KOALA); LUCA SANTILLI / SHUTTERSTOCK (FLOWERS). © ANUP SHAH / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (LION, PAGES 18-19) SparkleButt ANIMAL Peacock spider LIKES Crickets, hanging out on the forest floor DISLIKES Dance clubs that won’t let spiders in ABOUT ME If you’re look- I wanna ing for a dance partner, dance with search no further. You’ll be wowed by my rainbow- some 127 likes colored backside and the spider! clouded_leopard Welcome to my catwalk: the forest! I steps I use to show it off. bet you’ve never seen style like mine. I’m a tree climber, and my cloudy spots help me hide among branches and I’ll flail my legs, tap on a twig, and sway back and forth. Just leaves. You could say I’m sitting pretty. #WildStyleInspo one request: Don’t be a hater. Some females will eat a male for lunch if they don’t like his groove. I’d rather live to dance another day. gifts for marsupial ... WIN THE BOOK! TRY ONLINE amazon JULY 6-13. natgeokids the BEASTplace to shop .com/august Better shop flavorful flowers elsewhere. Bouquet of flowers CUSTOMER REVIEWS ,,,, Decidedly not yummy Koala Verified Customer My pal sent me this pretty bouquet of flowers for my birthday. It was a nice gesture, but I only eat eucalyptus, so I couldn’t chow down on most of these plants. What am I supposed to do—just look at them? 17AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS



Female lions often do most of the hunting for the pride. A lion cub can’t roar until it’s about two years old. These big cats don’t chew—they gulp their meals in chunks. Lions can communicate by swishing their tails. Lions rest about 20 hours a day.

TheTruth Behind 3AWESOMESee how these new flicks stack up to reality. BY STEPHANIE WARREN DRIMMER 2 DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS » » » When a team of human superheroes is kidnapped, PB the potbellied pig has the In the movie, Merton the Superman’s dog, Krypto, assembles a group of shelter power to change size. She can turtle can move at super pets with superpowers to rescue them. “Like his owner, make herself as small as an ant speeds. Real-life turtles are Krypto’s got some cool powers: He can fly, he’s got super- or as big as an elephant. Real-life pretty slow on land, but strength, and he’s as fast as a speeding train,” director potbellied pigs change sizes many species move quickly Jared Stern says. A real dog breed called the Rhodesian pretty quickly, too. At birth, they in water. The leatherback ridgeback helped inspire Krypto’s look and behavior. can weigh less than a pound. But sea turtle can swim up These dogs don’t have superpowers, but they’re known two years later, they can weigh to 22 miles an hour, a bit for their speed and endurance: They could keep up with more than 200 pounds. That’s as slower than a car driving a running horse! much as some refrigerators! on neighborhood streets. CHIP THE SQUIRREL, PB THE POTBELLIED PIG, DOGS KRYPTO AND ACE, AND MERTON THE TURTLE TEAM UP.

1 LIGHTYEAR BUZZ AND » Before he inspired a superconfident toy in the HIS ROBOT Toy Story series, this movie’s Buzz Lightyear SIDEKICK, SOX, was a space ranger. “That’s movie-speak for PREPARE FOR ‘astronaut,’” director Angus MacLane says. TAKEOFF. In Lightyear, Buzz uses a special fuel called a hyperspeed crystal to fly his spacecraft hun- BUZZ TRAVELS dreds of millions of miles a second. Real space- AT HYPERSPEED. craft can reach speeds of only about a hundred miles a second. » During a mission, Buzz gets stuck on a planet called T’Kani Prime, where the sun never sets. Earth has night and day because it spins while orbiting around our sun; but some real planets— like the made-up T’Kani Prime—are “locked,” with one side always facing the star they move around. That means one half of the planet is forever in daylight, and the other is in darkness. » “Buzz travels with a cute cat robot called Sox,” MacLane says. Real-life astronauts have robotic companions in space, too: On the International Space Station, flying bots called Astrobees help document experiments and move cargo. MORE MOVIE SCOOP! Go online to check out more photos from Lightyear. natgeokids.com/lightyear 3 JURASSIC A T. REX SURPRISES WORLD: THE AUDIENCE AT DOMINION A DRIVE-IN MOVIE THEATER. » » » In the movie, T. rex goes head-to- The massive Therizinosaurus—which In one scene, an Oviraptor steals eggs from head with another enormous could weigh 11,000 pounds—stalks another species’ nest. In real life, Oviraptor predator named Giganotosaurus. movie character Claire through a dark did have a reputation for stealing eggs: When These dinosaurs never would’ve forest. In real life, Therizinosaurus was scientists found the first fossil in the 1920s, it met in real life, though: “They lived indeed a scary-looking dinosaur, with was atop a nest of what they thought were on separate continents, about 30 claws as long as baseball bats and a Protoceratops eggs. Scientists therefore million years apart,”says pale- huge belly. But it probably wasn’t figured Oviraptor was robbing the nest. Later, ontologist Steve Brusatte, who a predator—it was likely a peaceful they discovered those eggs actually belonged served as the movie’s scientific plant-eater that used its knifelike to Oviraptor; now experts say these dinosaurs adviser. claws to pull down leaves from trees. probably were caring parents—not thieves. THE WALT DISNEY COMPANY IS MAJORITY OWNER OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC PARTNERS. © 2022 DISNEY / PIXAR. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (LIGHTYEAR, 21AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS BOTH); © WARNER BROS. PICTURES (DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS); © 2022 UNIVERSAL STUDIOS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (JURASSIC WORLD: DOMINION)

How kind humans nursed this prickly creature back to health BY ALLYSON SHAW A North American porcupine huddles in the stairwell of a parking garage in Winchester, Virginia. The youngster is sick, exhausted, and missing a patch of quills on his back. Far from his forest home, the confused porcupine must have crawled into the building in search of shelter. Eventually, a surprised maintenance worker stumbles on the critter and quickly calls the local police. CAR CHASE hundred years ago. Conservationists porcupine had have been glad to see them slowly “I thought for sure the worker had seen moving back to their historic range been in a tussle a raccoon because I’d never heard of a over the past 30 years. But a parking porcupine in our area,” police officer lot is no place for a porcupine. with another Felicia Marshall says. These animals were once considered pests and had been Using a long pole with a loop around wiped out from Virginia more than a the end, Marshall chases the 10-pound thIs Is male as he scurries around and a weIrd under parked cars for about dream. 15 minutes.“Whenever I was able to get close enough to put the catch pole around him, he animal. would use his paws and break free,” she says.“And all the while They also see he made these huffing sounds, like he was annoyed that I was he’s breathing chasing him.” heavily and has PRICKLY PATIENT ticks on his face. “When animals Eventually, Marshall captures feel sick, they’re the animal and drives him to less likely to the Blue Ridge Wildlife Center. groom them- There, the veterinary team selves and get those AFTER FILLING ticks off,” Riley says. UP ON TWIGS, gives the porcupine a full check- After plucking off the THE PORCUPINE bloodsuckers, the team IS TOO STUFFED up: While a worker holds the FOR LETTUCE. prickly animal with leather gloves, head veterinarian Jen takes x-rays of the Riley carefully feels patient.“With porcupines, it’s important VET JEN RILEY around for injuries. to use the x-ray because it’s hard to feel LISTENS TO THE From the missing everything around those quills.” PORCUPINE’S LUNGS WITH A quills, they guess From those scans, Riley sees that the STETHOSCOPE. that the year-old animal has a lung infection—without 22 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022 COURTESY OF BLUE RIDGE WILDLIFE CENTER (ALL)

The scientific name for porcupine means “quill pig.” A porcupine has about 30,000 quills. During the day, baby porcupines stay hidden on the ground while Mom sleeps in the trees. THE HEALTHY PORCUPINE IS RELEASED IN A WOODED AREA OF FREDERICK COUNTY, VIRGINIA. care, this little porcupine might twigs, and branches that the rescue not survive. workers clip from oak and maple trees BEDDING AND BREAKFAST behind the center. “Each evening we’d The team places the porcupine in fill his whole cage with twigs and his own room at the wildlife center: Porcupines are nocturnal, so they don’t branches—you could barely see him!” want to disturb his rest during the day. His cage is filled with soft towels, comfy Riley says. “Then the next morning, it’d blankets, and lots of twigs and leaves. Each day, the workers mix a little cherry- all be picked apart and we’d have to go flavored medicine into a few teaspoons of baby food made of pumpkin, apples, or out and do it again.” squash.(The medicine is meant for kids, but the veterinarian approves it for the After 10 days, the caretakers can porcupine, too.) see that the porcupine is breathing At first, the porcupine sits hunched in the corner, and he wants to eat only easier and moving around his cage. His the supersweet baby food. But as the medicine starts to work, he begins eyes are bright and alert. It’s time to eating normal porcupine chow: leaves, release him back into the wild. The team carries the porcupine in a pet carrier to a patch of woods. As soon as they open the door, the animal scurries straight up a tree. “They feel safe up in the trees—they can get a good THE PORCUPINE look around,” Riley says. “It’s SCAMPERS UP like he went up there to A TREE SOON check out his new home.” AFTER HIS RELEASE.

2 Scientists study how lava flows by melting billion-year-old rock.1 Rocks are made up of a 3 The moon is made mix of minerals. mostly of basalt rock. 5 VON DER DECKEN’S Tall, skinny SIFAKAS limestone structures in 4 Found in South Africa, Madagascar’s Tsingy de the oldest known Bemaraha emeralds, National Park a mineral, are almost 3 billion years old. provide homes for animal species found nowhere else 30COOL ROintheworld. THINGS ABOUT 6 7 Naturaliceformations,suchas 8 icebergsand icicles, Crystals can be are minerals. Some 13th-century eyeglasses D GUEST SMITH / SHUTTERSTOCK (1); RALF LEHMANN / SHUTTERSTOCK (2); JACKSON PEARSON / ADOBE STOCK (3); PHOTO- as large as a used tiny WORLD / ADOBE STOCK (4); STEPHEN ALVAREZ / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (5); CARSTEN PETER / SPELEO- tree trunk or so bits of RESEARCH & FILMS / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (6); ROBERT / ADOBE STOCK (7); PI-LENS / SHUTTERSTOCK the mineral (8); MIKEUK / ISTOCK PHOTO (10); SUNCHAN / GETTY IMAGES (13); V&G STUDIO / GETTY IMAGES (14) tiny that the minerals aquamarine are only visible for the through a lenses. microscope. 9 10 Obsidiancanbeso sharp 11 12 Called fool’s gold, that doctors have used the Our planet A professional contains over a mineral called pyrite is rocks as blades during rock oftenmistaken for gold. surgery. 5,000 expert known minerals. is called a petrologist. 13 14 Alexandrite, one of Tourmaline minerals with the rarest gems in green edges the world, changes and pink centers color depending on are called whether the mineral is watermelons. viewed in sunlight or indoor light. 24 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022 SUNLIGHT INDOOR LIGHT

15 In India, thin sheets called varak 16 17 are made from the mineral A form of the silver to decorate mineral copper desserts. turns some octopus STALACTITES blood blue. 18 19 The mummified 20 Some stalactite remains of a 5,300- In the 5th century, Mongolian warriors year-old man— The inside of a mineral createdflaming arrowsby and his rock tools— geode rock discovered were found preserved in Brazil looks just like in ice on the border Cookie Monster. dipping them in oil from shale rocks, between Austria formations DINODIA PHOTOS / ALAMY (15); BORIS PAMIKOV / SHUTTERSTOCK (16); SERGEY CHERNYAEV / ADOBE STOCK (17); PDQ1000 / GETTY IMAGES (18); ROBERT CLARK / NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC IMAGE COLLECTION (19); KENNEDY NEWS & MEDIA (20); MAYBEIII / ADOBE STOCK (21); PHOTOROMAN / SHUTTERSTOCK (22); BJÖRN WYLEZICH / then lighting them on fire. and Italy. have been ADOBE STOCK (26); EYEEM / ALAMY (27); SURONIN / SHUTTERSTOCK (28); MACKENZIE BROCKMAN / CENTRAL MICHIGAN UNIVERSITY (29); PHOTASTIC / SHUTTERSTOCK (30) growing in caves for nearly 200,000 years! OCKSMINERALSAND 21 BY MICHAEL BURGAN According to 23 22 Chalk used legend, the giant In Bolivia, some rock formations people make a to come from a rock called, of HaLongBayin soup called uh, chalk, but today most of it Vietnam were kalapurka comes from the mineral gypsum. created by on hot 24 25 volcanic dragons to rock. About 10,000 The softest years ago, some mineral in the keep out invaders. 55 billion tons of world is talc. 26 27 rock created a You can If you heat a 9-mile landslide in what is now Iran. crumble it diamond to A rock formation in North America with your fingers! 1405°F, called the Canadian Shield has 28 Different layers of sandstone the mineral will granite that’s believed to be part of mountains in China’sZhangye vaporize. Earth’s original crust. Danxia GeologicalPark show off 29 A man in Michigan 30 One pencil has CHECK rainbow-like colors. used a rock as a OUT enough of the THE doorstop—until he mineral graphite BOOK! learned it was a to draw a line meteorite rock 35 miles worth$100,000! long.

Hamsters Farmers try to make peace with these pesky critters. BY KATE JAIMET PHOTOGRAPHS BY ERIC BACCEGA In a sun-dappled wheat field in France, a prowling barn cat meets a black-bellied hamster. Too far from her burrow to run for shelter, the wild hamster rises on her hind legs to face her enemy. She puffs out her cheeks, flashes her black underbelly, growls, and bares her teeth. The cat backs away. This black- bellied hamster is one tough rodent. “They’re afraid of nothing,” says Alexandre Lehmann, a biologist who has worked with these wild hamsters for over a decade. “They fight against cars, dogs, and even farmers. They try to fight against tractors. The Germans call them small bears.” Good thing the black-bellied hamster won’t go down without a fight. Because in France, where fewer than a thousand remain in the wild, these critters are in a fight for their lives. The earliest During hamsters lived hibernation, a more than 2.5 hamster’s heart million years beats only about ago. six times a minute. PLAY A GAME! Go online to help a hamster scale obstacles and answer trivia questions. natgeokids.com/august 26 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

HAMSTER A HAMSTER A HAMSTER BURROW PEEKS OUT FOLLOWS ENTRANCE FROM ITS A TUNNEL BURROW. INSIDE ITS FEISTY RODENTS BURROW TO A NEST. Don’t confuse the black-bellied hamster with its puny tame rela- NEST tive, the golden hamster. At about 12 inches long, the black-bellied hamster But a few decades ago, naturalists noticed is twice as big. And it’s way more feisty. that the rodents were in trouble. Although “They’re very pretty, with reddish brown, white, and black markings,” says Bruno plenty of hamsters were still in Russia and Ulrich, former vice president of the Group for the Protection and Study of the Mam- Ukraine, their numbers had been dwindling mals of Alsace, in France.“But they’re not kept as pets because, frankly, these ham- in western Europe. A movement began to a field with lots of leafy hiding places. That’s sters aren’t very friendly.” save the black-bellied hamsters. In 1993, a problem in Alsace, where most farmers Ranging from the eastern steppes of Rus- sia to the plains of Alsace in France, black- France passed a law protecting them as an plant corn. When hamsters come out of the bellied hamsters have long been seen as pests, chowing down on farmers’ grains, endangered species in that country. winter burrows from hibertation, the corn beets, and cabbage. And because mother hamsters can give birth to as many as 14 HELPING HANDS hasn’t sprouted yet. The bare fields make the babies a year, sometimes the population hamsters easy targets for many predators. exploded. Humans tried everything to get rid of them. Some farm- At the Stork and Otter Reintroduction Some farmers don’t want hamsters on ers remember a time when, as kids, they Center in Alsace, Lehmann and his colleagues their property because of their reputation were paid to kill hamsters and breed captive hamsters and release their as crop-chewing pests. But most are willing bring their tails to city pups into the wild. But breeding black-bellied to help. The French government pays them hall. hamsters isn’t exactly easy. These critters to grow early-sprouting crops such as alfalfa TWO-DAY-OLD HAMSTERS have attitude. Forget humans—they and winter wheat and release hamsters on don’t even like each other.“You have their lands. It’s a way to protect not just the to make sure the male and female hamsters, but also other small animals that don’t kill each other,” Lehmann says. thrive in a landscape of leafy fields. If all goes well, a mother hamster “Protecting the hamster means protecting will give birth to a litter of about the hares,the larks,and even the insects that seven pups in three weeks. One live in hamster burrows,”Ulrich says. year later, the pups will be ready for Sounds like this “bad” beast is up to some release into the wild. good after all. GROWING HABITAT Black-bellied hamsters might think of themselves as tough. But to a fox or an eagle, they’re just a four-legged snack. To RESEARCHERS USE RADIO- survive, hamsters need to be released into TRACKING DEVICES TO FUN PETS DWARF HAMSTER MONITOR HAMSTERS’ Black-bellied hamsters are wild animals, SUCCESS IN but golden and dwarf hamsters can make THE WILD. great pets for families with older kids. CAPTIVE-BRED Here are some handy tips. HAMSTERS ARE READY FOR RELEASE INTO THE WILD. 1 23 Hamsters are Golden hamsters Hamsters’ teeth active at night and attack each other never stop growing. sleep during the if they’re kept Let your pet hamster day. If you wake a together. Always chew on a twig or dog napping hamster, keep them in biscuit to grind its it might bite. separate cages. teeth down. © REDMOND DURRELL / ALAMY (DWARF HAMSTER)

PLAY! GAMES, LAUGHS, AND LOTS TO DO! STUFF CAMPGROUND CHAOS Raccoons have overrun the Summertime Sleepaway Campsite at sunset for some lighthearted playtime. Look past the sidesplitting fun to find 20 compound words—a word made of two words put together. Read a word on the list below, then find a picture in the scene that completes the compound word.(The first one has been done for you.) 1 _______b_a_n_dstand 8 scare__________ 15 egg____________ 2 pop___________ 9 leap___________ 16 wind___________ 3 cart___________ 10 ___________site 17 ____________tub 4 __________worm 11 rattle__________ 18 honey__________ 5 sun___________ 12 sweet__________ 19 space__________ 6 finger_________ 13 ___________gaze 20 ___________cake 7 __________wood 14 sand___________ ANSWERS ON PAGE 31 BONUS: How many compound words can you find in the first paragraph above? 28 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022 JAMES YAMASAKI (ART); RUTH A. MUSGRAVE (CONCEPT)

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FINDTHE ANIMALSHIDDEN Animals often blend in with A their environment to hide. E Find each animal listed below in the pictures, then write the letter of the correct photo next to each animal’s name. ANSWERS ON PAGE 31 1. snowshoe hare __ 2. gray seal __ 3. modest forest dragon __ 4. emperor shrimp __ 5. northern leaf-tailed gecko __ 6. eastern screech owl __ 7. Vietnamese mossy frog __ D NIALL BENVIE / NPL / MINDEN PICTURES (A); DONALD M. JONES / MINDEN PICTURES (B); © EMANUELE BIGGI / FLPA / MINDEN PICTURES (C); STEVE GETTLE / MINDEN PICTURES (D); PIOTR NASKRECKI / MINDEN PICTURES (E); CHRIS NEWBERT / MINDEN PICTURES (F); MARTIN WILLIS / MINDEN PICTURES (G) 30 NAT GEO KIDS • AUGUST 2022

BCAnswers FG “Campground Chaos” (pages 28-29): AUGUST 2022 • NAT GEO KIDS 31 1. band, 2. corn, 3. wheel, 4. book, 5. flower, 6. nail, 7. fire, 8. crow, 9. frog, 10. web, 11. snake, 12. heart, 13. star, 14. castle, 15. shell, 16. sock, 17. bath, 18. comb, 19. ship, 20. cup. Bonus: 8. 8 19 7 15 13 3 12 17 2 9 18 1 10 16 20 6 14 54 11 “Find the Hidden Animals” (this page): 1. B, 2. A, 3. E, 4. F, 5. G, 6. D, 7. C.

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Check out how Nat Geo Kids readers responded to this poll, then go online to vote in the next one! natgeokids.com/whatchathink 14% TENNIS 23% Which sport do you OBRASSOEFBTABLALLL most like to 34 play? 29% SOCCER 24% 10% YOSHIYOSHI HIROKAWA / GETTY IMAGES (BASEBALL); VISUAL ART AGENCY / GETTY IMAGES (TENNIS); MUZSY / SHUTTERSTOCK (SOCCER); 2DESIGN / ADOBE BASKETBALL KICKBALL STOCK (BASKETBALL); © ST. PETERSBURG TIMES / ZUMA WIRE (KICKBALL)

PLAY MORE FUNNY FILL-IN! natgeokids.com/ffi DINING WITH DINOSAURS BY EMILY KRIEGER Ask a friend to give you words to fill in the blanks in this story without showing it to him or her. Then read out loud for a laugh. Having dinner with dinosaurs is a really big deal. and I were invited to eat at the home of a(n) friend’s name named with her two dinosaur friends. She’s much bigger than type of dinosaur female celebrity a(n) and a better cook, too. Dinner was a heaping portion of barbecued mythical creature something gross, plural with a side of steamed . We sat atop the chef’s pet, a(n) . I started to type of seafood, plural animal take a bite of my meal, but a(n) suddenly color same type of seafood past-tense verb across the table! Surprised, I jumped back from the food, everywhere. verb ending in -ing liquid “ !” roared the chef as she dropped the she was holding. Barbecue silly expression noun sauce splashed everywhere—including on the pet. I think I’ll skip dessert. DAN SIPPLE 35

Swim straight for these amazing books! Everyone knows that sharks are soooo cool, and we’ve got everything you need for a super summer binge- read all about these sleek and stealthy powerhouse predators! Discover More at natgeokids.com © 2022 National Geographic Partners, LLC