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Speaker 1: Yeah, Hello, My name's Josephine and this is the Animal

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Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.

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There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,

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with a third premium only story every Friday. Please continue

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to share Animal Tales with your friends and leave us

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reviews where you can. Or Anne is from Perth in

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Australia and he is asked for a story featuring a

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flea and a tick. You can learn more about these

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creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay, are

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you ready? That's good, then I'll begin jump and scratch.

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Somewhere on the back end of a large hairy dog,

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Richard was enjoying an afternoon nap. Richard was a tick,

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a very small kind of creature that is related to spiders,

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but ticks don't spin webs or catch flies, although they

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do have plenty of legs, and this particular tick used

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his legs to crawl around on the back of this

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particular hairy dog. As far as Richard was concerned, he

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could not have picked a better dog. It lived in

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a cozy house, spent its evenings in front of a

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warm fire, and best of all, its owners rarely gave

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it a bath, which meant that Richard could relax amongst

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the dog's shaggy coat, knowing he was unlikely to be

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troubled by anyone or anything. He was awoken from his

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nap when he felt the dog get to its feet

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and give a shake. Richard always had two of his

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legs holding on to a hair just in case a

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shake happened. After all, he didn't want to be thrown

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from his home. It was around this time of day

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that the dog would go for its walk. The first

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time the dog had done this, Richard had climbed to

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the top of a hare to see where they were going.

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The tick found the hugeness of what he could see

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beyond the dog very confusing. He didn't understand where they

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were going or why, especially when they always ended up

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right back where they started. Consequently, Richard never climbed up again.

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He much preferred it deep down within the fur. Although

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he couldn't see from amongst the hair, he could still

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hear the traffic and bird song or like to day,

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when his dog met another Sometimes this was accompanied by barking,

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but more often than not he'd hear the snuffling sniffs

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of the the other dog's nose as it passed by

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somewhere overhead. Richard took no notice of these other dogs.

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Everything he needed was right here on his own dog.

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He didn't need to concern himself with them. As always.

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The sniffing soon stopped, and his dog carried on its journey. Hey, there,

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said a cheery voice. Hello. It took a moment for

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Richard to realize that the voice wasn't coming from somewhere

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beyond the dog, but from somewhere much much closer. He

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looked up. Clinging to one of the hares was one

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of the most cheerful looking creatures the tick had ever seen.

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The little animal was waving at him. Nice place you've

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got here, said the newcomer, and I'd like it to

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stay that way, replied Richard rudely, so kindly be on

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your way, whoever you are. I'm or Anne, said the creature,

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still smiling. I'm a flea. I don't care if you're

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a kangaroo, snapped Richard. This is my dog and you're

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not welcome. Ha It's funny you should say kangaroo, said

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or Anne. I can jump just like a kangaroo can.

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In fact, for my size I'm probably the best at

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jumping on the entire planet. I'm not interested in your jumping,

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said Richard grouchily. And I certainly have no idea what

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a planet is, nor do I care to learn. Now,

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be gone, be off with you. But the flea, instead

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of leaving, climbed down the hair a little further. You

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don't know what the planet is, asked the flea. Are

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you joking? I most certainly am not joking, insisted I

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don't joke. I'm a very serious tick. But how can

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you not know what the planet is? Asked or am

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the flea? It's like everything, it's where you live. No,

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it's not, said Richard, dismissing the comment with a wave

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of one of his legs. This dog is where I live,

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and it's the only place I want to live. I

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rather like living on this dog, and I intend to

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do it forever, Thank you very much. But what about

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all the other dogs? Asked or An They're all so different.

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Don't you want to experience how different living on another

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dog could be? No, thank you, said Richard sniffily. My

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dog suits me just fine. And what about other animals?

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There are cats and cows and rats and mice? Are

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kowala's and wallabies and wombats and bandicoots. Don't you want

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to know what they're like? No, no, I do not,

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said Richard crossly. I have everything I need right here. Wow,

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said or An in disbelief. I've never met anyone quite

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like you before. Richard was quiet for a moment. What

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do you mean by that? Well, lah, I don't want

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to sound rude, but well, you're not very adventurous, are you,

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said the flea as nicely as he could manage. I

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am too protested the tick. I'll have you know I

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once went all the way to the dog's ear and back.

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Or An dropped down onto the dog's flaky skin and

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looked around. Yeah, but that's still the same dog. Doesn't

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this view get, you know, a bit boring? He gave

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the dog's skin a poke. The pair of them suddenly

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lurched sideways as the dog abruptly changed its position. Hold

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on tight bellowed Richard, suddenly wrapping all his legs around

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the hair he was holding. Or Anne had just enough

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time to copy him before a giant claw raked through

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the hair, once, twice and for a third time. WHOA,

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that was more like it? Laughed Oran. That was much

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more exciting. No it wasn't, replied Richard angrily. You caused

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that scratching with all your poking about. I'll thank you

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not to repeat that sort of behavior. I could have

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been knocked off my home. You really are quite comfortable

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on your dog, aren't you, said Oran gently. I'm sorry

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if I gave you a scare. In fact, I'm sorry

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to have bothered you. I'll head back to the surface

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and jump on to the first creature I see. Wait,

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said Richard suddenly, I mean, just a moment before you go.

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Were you telling the truth when you say you've been

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on more than one dog? Ah, I've ridden on hundreds,

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said or An proudly. Sometimes I hang around for a while,

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but usually I bounced straight off onto another one. And

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did you mean it when you say you've been on

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animals that aren't dogs? Asked the tick, Of course, laughed

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the flea. I hitched a ride on a bat once.

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That was the maddest night of my life. Ended up

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hung upside down under a bridge. Richard looked terrified. But why,

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he asked, Why, repeated Oram Because there's so much to

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experience out there, so much to see, to hear, to smell,

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to touch. It's all so big and so amazing. That's

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what terrifies me, sniffed Richard. Everything so enormous. I used

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to think like that, said the flea. When you're as

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small as we are, everything is a giant. But when

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I learned just how gigantic the planet is, well, even

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this dog we're on is tiny in comparison. There you

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go again, talking about a planet. Is that another animal?

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Asked Richard. Or An laughed, Not even close, he said.

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A planet is where we all live, every animal. More.

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You can think of every human, every tree, every object,

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all lives on the planet. Wow, said Richard quietly. His

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tiny brain was working very hard to imagine such a

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colossal thing. And you say that even my dog is

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tiny on this planet you're talking about it's titchy teeny weeny,

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itsy bitsy, laughed or Anne. If it were a flea

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living on a flea that had a flea, it still

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wouldn't be as small as a dog living on a planet. Wow,

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said Richard. Again, impressive, isn't it, said or Anne. And

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because the planet is so big, it's very different. The

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further you travel, I want to see as much of

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it as possible. In fact, I'm even thinking I might

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visit Africa next. They've got some amazing animals. I'd like

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to take a ride on Africa, repeated Richard. Is that

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where the kangaroos live? No, that's Australia. You're already in Australia,

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although I guess from your point of view you're from

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a dog that lives in a small part of Perth,

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which is in Australia. Australia is massive, though, but not

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as big as the planet, asked Richard. That's right, you're

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catching on, said or An. Africa is like a whole

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other Australia, but with different people and places and animals.

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They've got cats bigger than dogs, and these creatures called

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elephants that would take you a week to walk all

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the way from nose to tail. And you're going to

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go there, said Richard. That's right. I'll jump about from

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animal to until I find one heading in that direction,

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and then bam, I'll be experiencing a whole new country.

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Or Anne was extremely enthusiastic, so much so that for

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the first time in his life, Richard was experiencing a

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feeling he'd never had before. I never realized there was

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so much out there beyond my dog. Richard whispered, I

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must have missed so much. It's never too late to start,

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said or An. You could come with me. We can

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see the planet together. But you're a flea. You can

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jump from animal to animal, said Richard. I'm just a tick,

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and we can't jump at all. I wouldn't even be

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able to get off of my dog. Of course you can,

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smiled or Anne. My legs are strong enough to carry

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both of us us. If you're serious, we could leave

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right now. I've already told you I'm serious, smiled Richard.

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I'm a very serious tick. Let's do it, and so

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the two tiny animals climbed on to the surface of

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the dog's shaggy coat. The bright sunlight was dazzling at first,

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and it took a moment for Richard's eyes to adjust,

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But once he had, he began to realize just how

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much he'd been missing. He'd never bothered to understand what

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was beyond his dog, but now he gazed up at trees,

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passing people, and towering buildings. Far above him. He could

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see white clouds drifting underneath a pale blue sky. Now's

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our chance, said or An. There's a cockatoo on a

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branch up ahead that I think I can reach. Come on,

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hold on tight. Richard made sure to do exactly that.

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He had just enough time to look along his dogs

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long back towards the distant head. It all looked so

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far away, but compared to the jump he was about

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to make, it was nothing. Here we go, said or

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An suddenly, and they jumped. What followed was the most

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astounding few hours of Richard's life. The cocker tooo had

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flown to a tree, where Oran transferred them both to

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a cuoko barre. This had flown them over the houses

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to where they jumped on to a brush tailed possum.

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Then it was on to a rainbow lur keat until

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it stopped to rest upon a fence. Where are we

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asked Richard. He trembled nervously at first, but the wonder

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of the wider world had won him over. Now he

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just couldn't get enough of it. All over there, that's

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an airport, said or Anne. They've got these giant machines

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that fly to other countries. I think we should try

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to get on board one of those. There's bound to

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be something we can catch a ride on, even if

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it has to be a human. A roaring noise overhead

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made them look up in time to see a plane

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about to land. Hey, what's happening to the sky, asked Richard.

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It's changed color? And what are those dots of light? Ah?

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That said or Anne, almost sounding guilty. You know I

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said that the planet was everything, Yes, nodded Richard. The

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biggest thing I could imagine, Well, out there is the universe,

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grinned or Anne. And you're not going to believe how

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big that is. Animals fat ticks are just a few

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millimeters that's not even a quarter of an inch in size.

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Because they can't jump, they use a technique called questing.

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This involves climbing up onto objects such as a blade

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of grass, and extending some of their legs outwards, waiting

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for an animal to brush past. Fleas are a miniature

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insect about the same size as a tick. There are

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over two and a half thousand different species of flea,

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and some of them are amazing at leaping, reaching over

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one hundred times their own body length in distance and

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fifty times in height. Thank you for your excellent suggestion,

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or Anne, we hope you enjoyed the tale, and thank

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you to all of you across the world for listening

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to it. Remember, if you prefer your stories adverts free,

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then please consider our premium service through Apple or Supercast.

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For a tiny fee, the stories are advert free. Join

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us next time for another great animal tale. Good Bye,