Speaker 1: Yeah, hello, My name's Josephine and this is the Animal
Speaker 1: Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.
Speaker 1: There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,
Speaker 1: with a third premium only story every Friday. To learn
Speaker 1: more about Animal Tales, please visit our new website at
Speaker 1: Animaltales dot uk, where you can now find stories more
Speaker 1: easily by animal type. THEO lives in Spain and he
Speaker 1: would like a story featuring a scorpion. You can learn
Speaker 1: more about these creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay,
Speaker 1: are you ready? That's good, then I'll begin a scorpion.
Speaker 1: The desert was hot and blistering. High above the sun
Speaker 1: shone bright, with not a cloud in the sky to
Speaker 1: obscure it. The rocks burned to the touch, the sand fizzled,
Speaker 1: and the few thin plants that grew in the harsh
Speaker 1: sunlight became even more withered and browned. In this heat,
Speaker 1: a lone yellow fat tailed scorpion scuttled from rock to rock,
Speaker 1: hiding in what little shade he could find. His name
Speaker 1: was Theo, and he was desperately looking for some place
Speaker 1: to rest from the sun's rays. Yellow fat tailed Scorpions,
Speaker 1: like THEO, are hardy creatures. Their outer body, their exoskeleton
Speaker 1: is thick, allowing them to survive even the harshest sandstorms.
Speaker 1: They fear very little due to the strength of their sting.
Speaker 1: But the blazing sun that was a different matter, and
Speaker 1: on this particular day it was even too hot for THEO.
Speaker 1: He felt like he was melting. His search continued as
Speaker 1: he scurried across the burning sand, even though his feet
Speaker 1: were uncomfortable and he was beginning to feel dizzy from exhaustion.
Speaker 1: He kneeded water, and he needed shade and fast. Luckily,
Speaker 1: for THEO, he stumbled upon the right place. A sandstone
Speaker 1: cliff loomed up before him, and near its base was
Speaker 1: an opening. This would offer the relief from the sun
Speaker 1: that he needed. Hurrying over, he was delighted to find
Speaker 1: that it was perfect, just the right size for a scorpion. Pleasingly,
Speaker 1: it was not only cooler, but once inside, he realized
Speaker 1: it opened into a tunnel, taking him down further beneath
Speaker 1: the ground. The further down he went, the cooler the
Speaker 1: air became. It felt good on his back, allowing THEO
Speaker 1: to breathe a sigh of relief. He was finally out
Speaker 1: of the sun. Unfortunately, it getting cooler went hand in
Speaker 1: hand with it getting darker. He soon couldn't see where
Speaker 1: he was going, which was how he bumped into something soft.
Speaker 1: Who goes there, said a stern voice. This cave is occupied.
Speaker 1: I'm terribly sorry, spluttered THEO into the darkness. I was
Speaker 1: just looking for a place to hide from the sun,
Speaker 1: aren't we all, answered the voice. That's why we're here.
Speaker 1: Tell us stranger. Are you another Jeboah? A jeboah, thought THEO.
Speaker 1: That was a kind of jumping mouse. No, I'm not
Speaker 1: a jerboa, said THEO. I'm a scorpion. Eek, squealed the Jaboa.
Speaker 1: A scorpion. Run, Everybody run. THEO didn't mean any one
Speaker 1: any harm. He just wanted to rest from the sun.
Speaker 1: But the Joboas weren't about to let him explain. They
Speaker 1: were too busy panicking, and it was pandemonium. Joboas were
Speaker 1: leaping and bouncing about in the darkness, barely able to
Speaker 1: see one another or where they were going as they
Speaker 1: tried to escape the deadly scorpion. Unable to see THEO properly,
Speaker 1: he found himself jostled, nudged, and jumped on. In the chaos,
Speaker 1: THEO hadn't meant to scare any one, and was feeling
Speaker 1: quite guilty about the worry he was causing. All he
Speaker 1: could do was try to back up slowly and exit
Speaker 1: the way he'd come in. Arriving back at the opening
Speaker 1: to the outside, Theo toyed with waiting here until nightfall,
Speaker 1: but the noise of the screaming joboas below made him
Speaker 1: feel dreadful, so instead he headed out into the sun
Speaker 1: in search of another place to rest. Somehow, the day
Speaker 1: felt even hotter than before. Theo felt his tail wilting
Speaker 1: in the heat, while his eyes grew heavy as he tired.
Speaker 1: He needed to find another place to hide before he
Speaker 1: became barbecued scorpion. Staggering onwards, THEO saw a large shape
Speaker 1: loom up before him. It was a human building made
Speaker 1: of stone. Maybe this could be somewhere he could rest
Speaker 1: until it grew cooler. THEO scuttled up to a wooden door,
Speaker 1: but was unable to fit beneath it. There were windows,
Speaker 1: but it looked like too far to climb in this heat.
Speaker 1: That was when he noticed something on the ground. There
Speaker 1: were several pairs of shoes just outside the door. If
Speaker 1: I got inside one of those, thought THEO, I'd be
Speaker 1: out of this direct sunlight. It seemed like a sensible
Speaker 1: thing to do, But which one. Checking the shoes one
Speaker 1: by one, THEO ummed and ard as he inspected them.
Speaker 1: In the end he decided that one of the large
Speaker 1: brown boots would be best. He climbed up the side
Speaker 1: and tipped himself in. Immediately he felt cooler, and so
Speaker 1: tired was he that the scorpion soon fell asleep. Sleep
Speaker 1: though didn't last long. THEO was awoken by the shoes
Speaker 1: sudden movement. He was rocked sharply back and forth. Then,
Speaker 1: to his surprise, the light coming from the boot's opening
Speaker 1: was blocked out by the arrival of a large foot,
Speaker 1: and it was coming his way. Fearing he was about
Speaker 1: to be squashed, THEO held out his pincer and snipped
Speaker 1: at the nearest toe. Yow yelped the owner of the toe,
Speaker 1: pulling his foot free. The boot was thrown down, thumping
Speaker 1: to the ground, with THEO still in it. Shaken up,
Speaker 1: the yellow, fat tailed scorpion staggered out Ee a scorpion,
Speaker 1: The human cried, get it, get it. THEO didn't wait
Speaker 1: to be squashed by stamping feet. Instead, he ran for it.
Speaker 1: Forgetting all about the heat, he sprinted into the desert
Speaker 1: to put as much distance between himself and the humans
Speaker 1: as possible. Well, that was a mistake, he panted. Clearly
Speaker 1: the humans didn't like snippy surprises in their shoes. He
Speaker 1: would have to remember that in future. With the sun
Speaker 1: continuing to beat down, Theo's mouth was dry from thirst.
Speaker 1: He needed a drink. The thought of water made him
Speaker 1: think of a bath. Oh, yes, a bath that would
Speaker 1: surely cool him down, a nice cool bath, with the
Speaker 1: gentle water lapping against his sides, cooling his red hot exoskeleton.
Speaker 1: As THEO day dreamed, a splash of green appeared in
Speaker 1: the distance. At first, he feared it was a mirage,
Speaker 1: a strange sight that desperate creatures in the desert saw
Speaker 1: when they were hot or tired. But this patch of
Speaker 1: green just kept growing larger. Green was such an unusual
Speaker 1: color in the desert that it could only mean one thing.
Speaker 1: THEO had stumbled across an oasis. Oases were rare in
Speaker 1: the desert. They occurred whenever water flowing underground reached the surface,
Speaker 1: allowing plant life to thrive where otherwise they could not.
Speaker 1: If THEO was right, this place could present a lovely
Speaker 1: resting spot with food, water and shade. It was just
Speaker 1: what THEO needed. But the scorpion soon realized that he
Speaker 1: wasn't the only animal drawn to the oasis. It was
Speaker 1: already crowded around a central pool of water ringed by
Speaker 1: bushes and trees were lizards, snakes, foxes, and birds, all
Speaker 1: enjoying the cool w water and shade. Everyone was so
Speaker 1: relaxed that they failed to notice THEO arrive at the
Speaker 1: water's edge, where he dipped his pincers in to cool down.
Speaker 1: Oh wonderful, said THEO with a sigh. That's better. Gek
Speaker 1: e Fennick fox cried as she saw who was standing
Speaker 1: next to her, a scorpion. It was just like the
Speaker 1: joboahs all over again, except with even more animals. They
Speaker 1: shrieked as they scrambled to get away from him and
Speaker 1: his nasty looking stinger. Fearing he was about to get
Speaker 1: stepped on, THEO scuttled backwards and bolted yet again. He
Speaker 1: was back in the hot, harsh desert. To make matters worse,
Speaker 1: the sun was now at its hottest. THEO dragged himself
Speaker 1: across the squawing sand and rocks, knowing that he couldn't
Speaker 1: afford to stop, he didn't know what to do. Everyone
Speaker 1: he'd come across had been terrified of him, leaving him
Speaker 1: nowhere to shelter. At this rate, could he make it
Speaker 1: to nightfall? Or would he roast out here in the sun.
Speaker 1: He realized he was passing a low, flat rock that
Speaker 1: left just enough room beneath it for him to slide
Speaker 1: into the shade. It would have to do. He collapsed
Speaker 1: into it, grateful to be out of the direct sunlight.
Speaker 1: But as he lay in the shadow of the rock,
Speaker 1: someone screamed, eek, a scorpion. THEO sighed, but he was
Speaker 1: too tired and exhausted to even think of moving. Oddly,
Speaker 1: what he was looking at was another scorpion, although where
Speaker 1: he was yellow was brown, and she was smiling only joking.
Speaker 1: She giggled. To be honest, I'm ever so pleased to
Speaker 1: see another scorpion, you are, asked THEO. Really, of course,
Speaker 1: you look awfully hot and tired, said the brown scorpion.
Speaker 1: If you can crawl a little further, you can hide
Speaker 1: in my burrow with me. It's much cooler underground, even
Speaker 1: cooler than here. That sounds wonderful, said THEO with relief.
Speaker 1: I'm Joanne, by the way, she said, come on, it's
Speaker 1: not far, and she was right. They were soon beneath
Speaker 1: the desert's surface, in a large cool chamber that Joanne
Speaker 1: had made her home. Do you know you're the first
Speaker 1: animal I've come across that's been nice to me, pointed
Speaker 1: out THEO. Well, you are a scorpion, said Joanne, and
Speaker 1: I should know. It happens to me all the time too.
Speaker 1: It's not much fun, is it, said THEO. I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't mean anyone any harm me. Neither, said Joanne.
Speaker 1: But some folk will insist on judging others on how
Speaker 1: they look, not on what they do. I'm going to
Speaker 1: change that right now, said THEO. Thank you, Joanne for
Speaker 1: inviting me into your home. You're most welcome, grinned the
Speaker 1: brown scorpion. Please stay for as long as you like.
Speaker 1: For the first time in his life, THEO felt accepted,
Speaker 1: and perhaps he just might have found himself a home animal.
Speaker 1: Fat yellow fat taileds scorpions are found across North Africa,
Speaker 1: where they can grow up to ten centimeters in length
Speaker 1: that's around four inches. They are nocturnal, so will hide
Speaker 1: from the sun during the day and go out to
Speaker 1: hunt at night. Their sting is extremely toxic, making them
Speaker 1: one of the most dangerous scorpions on the planet. They
Speaker 1: use their sting in self defense when threatened by other
Speaker 1: animals or when they're hunting. They will feed on insects,
Speaker 1: small lizards, and occasionally small mammals too. Thank you for
Speaker 1: your suggestion THEO. We hope you enjoyed the story, and
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Speaker 1: us next time for another great animal tale. Good Bye,