Speaker 1: Yea, hello. My name's Josephine and this is the Animal
Tales podcast, where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.
There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,
with a third premium only story every Friday. Please continue
to share Animal Tales with your friends and leave us
reviews where you can. Harun is from Sheffield in the UK,
and he has asked for a story featuring age of
Boa and a cheetah. You can learn more about these
creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay, are
you ready? That's good, then I'll begin Tiny Town. An
obvious problem in a city with animals of all different
sizes is where do they all live. An apartment or
house built for, say, a leopard, is not going to
be ideal for a giraffe or indeed, a mole. Although
animals had to make the most of the space they
could get, often animals of a certain size clustered together
into homes tailored just for them. Such a place was
Tiny Town, home to thousands of animals in tower blocks
and apartment buildings that were barely taller than an elephant.
What's more, Tiny Town took up the same amount of
ground as the average normal size building, but for the
animals that lived there, it was an ideal home where
things were just the right size and scale and there
was little danger of being accidentally trodden on. Where are
you off to with such a big smile on your face,
Harun asked missus Tuft, a pigmy marmosette, Harun, a gibbet,
grinned at his neighbor as he headed for the stairs.
I'm off to apply to be a firefighter, he replied.
But the nearest fire station is on Go to Kohla Avenue.
That's in the big part of town, shouted missus Tuft
after him. Almost everything is in the big part of town,
called back Haroun with a laugh. He came out at
street level and wound his way amongst the shops, stores,
cafes and diners that thrived in Tiny Town. He passed
a harvest mouse family on their way to school, an
elephant shrewd delivering a parcel, a humming bird ordering a coffee,
and a gecko assisting a chameleon with directions. Everyone was cheerful, helpful,
and best of all around his size. But that didn't
last long. On the edge of Tiny Town, Harun had
to stop. He'd arrived at Go Toucola Avenue. The pavement
before him was suddenly much much wider and busy with
much bigger animals. It meant looking up, looking around, and
paying attention all the time. It was the best way
to avoid being stepped on. Harun took a deep breath,
had a final look about him, then marched off into
the bigger world. Andrea was a cheetah and chief fire
officer in this part of Rainforest City. She was based
at the Go tou Cola Avenue fire station and took
her job incredibly seriously and rightly so, because being a
firefighter was all about saving lives. It didn't come more
important than that. To day was a special day for
their fire station. It was recruitment day. Anybody interested in
becoming a fire fighter was invited to drop in and
learn more, maybe even a ply on the spot. A
handful of interested animals had already called in, including an anaconda,
a kangaroo, and a mountain lion. All looked promising and
were currently chatting to some of her firefighters about what
the job was like. Andrea was just taking a moment
to stare proudly at the shiny red fire truck beside her,
when a voice down by her ankle surprised her. Where
do I sign up? Asked the little joboah Aha, stumbled
the cheetah, tripping over her own tongue. I do beg
your pardon? Are you saying you want to be a firefighter? Oh? Yes,
beamed herun I wanted to since I was little, but
began Andrea, struggling to find the right words. You are
still little, she said, somewhat awkwardly, but not little as
in young, said heron I'm all grown up and raring
to go. Oh dear, said Andrea. Look, I admire your enthusiasm,
young man, but this is a big and busy fire
station with big and heavy equipment. How would you be
able to hold a hose when it's blasting out water?
And what about a ladder? I'm not even sure you
could reach the first rung. Don't you worry about me?
Insisted harun Jerboahs are amazing jumpers. I can jump up
a ladder, no problem. Ah, I see very well, said Andrea.
She wasn't sure how to handle this. Why don't you
head over to the information table and pick up a
leaflet I'll have one of my team come across and
make your detail shortly. Great, said the delighted Harun as
he bounded away. Thanks for all your help, the cheetah
waved over the station manager. A mountain tapeier called Pablo. Yes, Chief,
said Pablo eagerly. There's a jerboah over there wants to
be a firefighter, said Andrea, gently, nodding her head so
not to draw attention. That little guy, shrieked Pablo loudly.
He's way too small, sh hushed Andrea. I know, but
he's also really keen. We're going to have to find
a way of letting him down gently. Okay, Chief winked
the tape pier. I've got an idea, leave it to me.
Harun was sat on the edge of the chair, holding
the leaflet open before him. When Pablo sat down, the
tapia couldn't help, but note that the leaflet was bigger
than the Joboa. Hi, I'm Pablo, said the station manager.
I understand you want to be a fire fighter. Oh, yes,
said Horon, sitting up straight. I want nothing more than
to fight fires and help my fellow animals. I see,
said Pablo, trying to keep the disbelief from his voice. Well,
you're in luck. We're allowing one lucky potential recruit to
ride along to our next emergency, you know, so they
can get a taste of what it's like being a firefighter,
and it just so happens that you've been selected. That's amazing,
said heron. I'm really surprised. And why's that, asked Pablo.
Is it because you're so titch well? No, said Horun.
It's because I haven't even given you any details yet,
not even my name. Ha ha ha ha ha, laughed
Pablo nervously as he snatched up a laptop. Um, yes,
we need to do that, don't we. There were lots
of questions, which Harun answered with enthusiasm. Although Pablo had
decided that a Joboah would be no good as a firefighter,
there was no denying Harun's determination. An alarm began to
squawk loudly, filling the fire station with noise. The firefighters
around them immediately stopped what they were doing and rushed
to the red fire truck. Come on, urged the tape. Here,
you're with me. I'm right behind you, jumped Haroun. This
was it his first glimpse of what being a firefighter
would be like, and he was determined to do his best.
The other firefighters were surprised to see the jaboah riding
along with them, but Pablo met their curious stairs and
urged them not to question it. What's the emergency, asked
one of the firefighters, A pronghorn kitchen pan fire. If
it spreads, it's in danger of taking out the entire
apartment block, answered another firefighter, This one a wolf. It's
very close, though, We should get there before it causes
too much damage, and she wasn't kidding. The fire truck
screeched to a halt that very second, and everyone piled out,
all except Haroun, who froze in the truck's doorway. From
this height, he had a good view across most of
Tiny Town and could see the smoke rising from the
fire they'd come to tackle. The smoke was rising from
a building near tiny Town center. His building stand back,
shouted Pablo to the pedestrians on the pavement, give us
some room. The wolf was uncoiling the fire hose, bringing
the nozzle to point towards the problem. Wait, screamed Trun,
Don't use the hose, don't turn it on. What stop
talking nonsense, growled the wolf. How are we supposed to
put out a fire without the hose? Your massive hose
will be like a tidal wave crashing down in the
middle of town, yelled Harun. You'll destroy buildings and wash
away homes. It's far too big and powerful for tiny town.
Don't panic, announced the pronghorn. He stepped forward, stomping a
boot down on a tiny town street and sending a
toad leaping for safety. I'll push through and dump this
bucket of water straight on top of it. No, no,
bellowed Horun. You're too big to do that. You'll do
no end of damage as you squeeze through, and probably
flatten a few animals on your way. This is a disaster,
yelped Pablo. We can't just let it burn. We've got
to do something. I'm the right size to handle this,
shouted Horn as he bounded forward. Leave it to me.
Before Pablo could object, the Joboa had disappeared amongst the
tiny town streets, out of the way. Emergency coming through.
His yellings sent tiny animals dashing out of his way.
He only slowed at the base of his building, taking
a second to look up at the smoke that was
thick and black as it poured from the topmost floor.
He knew exactly which apart ampment the fire was in.
It was ten floors of stairs to get there, and
somehow the Joboah bounced his way up faster than he
had ever managed before. He burst through Missus Tuft's door
to find the room thick with smoke and the Pigmy
Marmosette lifting a bowl of water ready to throw it
on the blazing pan upon the stove. Wait don't, horn, boomed,
rushing forward to knock the bowl from her hands. But Harun,
the fire, wailed Missus Tuft, clearly stunned by his actions. Harun,
though wasn't finished. He reached forward, turning the stove off,
then grabbed the metal pan lid that sat on the
side to drop it on to the flames. The fire
was now sealed within the pan, quickly burning through what
little oxygen was available to splutter out. How did you
know to do that, asked missus Tuft in astonishment. I
want to be a fire fighter, missus Tuft panted heron,
so I've been paying attention to the best ways to
fight fires with pan fires. You don't use water. It
can splash burning grease everywhere and make the fire ten
times worse. Oh but look at my lovely kitchen my apartment,
sobbed missus Tuft. There was thick black stains across the
ceilings and walls that can be repaired, said Herron gently.
We need to be thankful it wasn't any worse. Ho
Run emerged from Tiny Town to a chorus of cheers
and applause led by the fire fighting crew. To the
Joboah's surprise, the cheetah from the fire station was amongst them.
That was incredibly well handled, said Andrea, visibly impressed. Not
only did your quick thinking prevent catastrophic property damage, but
you've no doubt saved many lives as well. I was
just doing what a fire fighter is supposed to do,
said the Joboah shyly. You were agreed, the cheetah. I
confess we thought you were too small to be an
effective firefighter. Sending you on this emergency was supposed to
prove to you that you couldn't do the job. I
guess you showed us, said Pablo awkwardly. What we now
know is that we need animals like you on our
team continued, Andrea, and your actions to day have highlighted
a serious gap in our ability to serve the animals
of rain Forest City, and that's something I aim to
correct right away. Does that mean I've got the job,
Harun asked, Oh yes, grinned Andrea, Welcome to the fire service.
A few weeks later, a brand new fire truck was
delivered to the go to Cola Avenue fire station. It
was considerably smaller than the one it was parked next to,
but just the right size for a jaboah and the
specially recruited team of little animals that would operate it.
Tiny Town and all the other smaller communities of Rainforest
City would now be much safer, and all thanks to
the bravery, quick thinking and determination of her run animals.
Fat For cheetahs to be fast, it's not just about
their long legs and flexible bodies. They also have large
nostrils to draw in extra oxygen, along with bigger lungs
and hearts. All this helps power their muscles more efficiently.
Jerboas are small rodents that live in desert conditions. They
hop much like a kangaroo does, and are incredibly quick
for their size. Most hops are around ten centimeters in
length that's four inches, but when faced with danger, they
can jump up to an incredible three meters that's ten feet.
Thank you for your suggestions, Harun. We hope you enjoyed
the tale, and thank you to all of you across
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Join us next time for another great animal tale. Goodbye,