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Speaker 1: Yao. Hello, it's Josephine here at the Animal Tales podcast.

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We don't normally repeat stories, but as it's nearly Christmas,

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we thought you might like to hear some of our

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earlier Christmas stories again. So if you're sitting comfortably, I'll

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begin a sabertoothed celebration. A long time ago, there lived

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a smilodon named Archie. He was a type of sabertoothed tiger,

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about the size of a modern day lion, and he

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had two large, pointed teeth that stuck out from his mouth.

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Archie had been away from home for a very long time.

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He'd gone traveling, wanting to visit far away places and

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meet you and interesting animals. But now he was ready

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to return home and see his old friends. It was

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getting late by the time Archie returned to the hills

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he called home, and all he wanted to do first

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was collapse in his own bed and sleep until dawn. However,

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when he entered his cave, he was surprised to find

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a rather large pine tree propped up in the back,

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and quite a few pine needles littering the stone floor.

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What on Earth's this, Archie said, Confused, he certainly hadn't

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left the tree there, and it clearly hadn't just grown

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there while he was away. Luckily, he didn't have to

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wonder for long. A large shape lumbered out of the

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shadows of the cave, and Archie was happy to see Seth,

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a cave bear and one of his oldest friends. Seth,

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Archie said, what are you doing here? The cave bear

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looked at him in surprise. Then, delight, Archie, you're home,

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he cried. It's so good to see you. I've been

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looking after the cave while you've been gone, making sure

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no one else moves in. Don't worry, I'll be out

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of your hair by morning. Archie grinned. It was good

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to see his friend again. Thanks for that, he said,

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but h, what's with the tree. Seth looked round at

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the pine tree and blushed. All right, sorry about that,

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he said. It's Wendy's favorite tree, and it got blown

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down a few days ago. I said I'd find a

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home for it, and I was just keeping it here

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until I found a pot big enough. Archie nodded, with understanding.

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Wendy was another friend of his, a wooly mammoth, and

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she loved her plants. She must have been devastated when

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her favorite tree fell. I suppose it can stay for

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a while, he said, until you find a pot, and

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you can stay too if you like. It'll be nice

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to have the company. Seth beamed wonderful. He said, it's

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good to have you home, Archie. Now the big question,

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what did you bring me? Why? I don't know what

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you're talking about, Archie said, innocently. I didn't bring anything

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back for you from my travels. As he said this,

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he carefully pushed a bag behind a nearby rock. Luckily,

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Seth didn't seem to have noticed it. Hmm, said the

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cave bear, raising one bushy eyebrow. All right, well, it's

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getting late. Let's sleep now, and you can tell me

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all about your travels in the morning. Archie agreed and

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settled down in his own bed for the first time

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in quite a while. He drifted off quickly, with the

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smell of pine needles filling his nose. The following day,

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Seth went out to find a large pot for the

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pine tree, leaving Archie on his own. The saber toothed

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tiger wasted no time collecting the bag of gifts from

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behind the rock and laying them out before him. Archie

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had managed to find gifts for all of his friends,

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and he couldn't wait to give them out. However, he

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also wanted it to be a surprise, and with Seth's

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big nose, he knew the cave Bear would sniff them

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out sooner or later, I know, Archie said, I'll wrap

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them in leaves. That way, even if Seth finds them,

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he won't be able to tell what they all are.

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So Archie got to work wrapping all the gifts in big, green, brown,

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and orange leaves and tying grass around them to keep

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them all together. But before he could get them back

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behind the rock, he heard Seth returning in a panic.

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Archie quickly hid the gifts behind the pine tree. Hey, Archie,

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Seth called from the caves opening, can you give me

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a hand? Curious, Archie headed outside to see what Seth

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needed help with. He was surprised to find the cave

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Bear surrounded by plates and boxes of various foods. I

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found a pot and news traveled fast that you'd come home,

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Seth said, sheepishly. Everyone kept giving me food to bring

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back to you, sort of a welcome home package. Archie

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stared at all the food wide eyed. There were potatoes

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and vegetables, meats and desserts. He felt as if he

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would never finish it all. This is too much, he said, However,

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are we going to eat it all? I guess we'd

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better get started. Then, Seth laughed. I'll tell you what

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you give me the pot I'll get the tree sorted,

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said Archie. You bring in the food and get it

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all ready. This would stop Seth from finding the gifts

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while he was so busy. By mid afternoon, they were stuffed.

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Archie had eaten turkey and ham, rolls and carrots, even

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a large slice of cake. But there was still so

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much food left. We'll get back to it later, Seth groaned,

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patting his fat belly. Now, why don't you tell me

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some of your traveling stories. For the rest of the afternoon,

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Archie recounted his adventures. He told Seth about his trek

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through the mountains and swimming across the Great Lakes. He

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talked about meeting weird and wonderful animals he'd never seen before,

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and the shenanigans they'd got up to. And he talked

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about the strange cave people he'd met and how odd

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they were. The only fur they had was on top

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of their heads, he explained, and they wore the fur

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of other animals to keep warm. Oh, and they only

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walked on two legs. How peculiar, Seth said, puzzled. I

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hope I never meet one. Just then they heard a

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crack of thunder outside. They'd been talking for so long

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and so intently that they hadn't realized that it had

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started pouring with rain. Oh, dear, Seth said, this rain

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looks terrible. Good thing. We're nice and dry inside here.

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The saber toothed tiger nodded in agreement. I'd hate to

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be caught out in that. However, they soon came to

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learn that not everyone was as lucky as them. There

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were some animals who were unfortunate enough to be outside

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when the rain started, resulting in many of Archie's friends

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running to his door in order to try to get dry.

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Wendy the Mammoth and Ronnie the wooly Rhino were the

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first to arrive. They were soaked to the bone, dripping wet,

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but jumped for joy when they saw Archie. You're a home,

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Wendy cried, giving him a big wet hug with her

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soggy trunk. We're so glad you were gone too long.

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I thought you'd have wanted me to be gone longer,

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Archie teased, After all, you're leaving all your things here.

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Wendy looked horrified. Oh is my tree in the way,

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She said, I'll move it. I'm sorry. She went to

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lift up the pine tree. Archie stopped her. No, no,

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it's fine, he laughed, I was joking. Besides, I like

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the smell. Wendy relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief.

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Archie did the same, knowing the gifts were still tucked

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away behind it. Hey, Archie, is there anywhere I can

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hang my mittens? Ronnie asked. They're soaked and I want

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them to dry off. Oh, use the tree, Wendy suggested,

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its branches will dry them. Archie did as she said,

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hanging Ronnie's purple mittens on one of the pine branches,

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and as more and more of his friends began to

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show up, all having wet mittens, the pine tree was

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soon covered in them and bursting with all sorts of colors. Pretty.

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Wendy said, I'm glad the tree was useful. They were

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just settling down when the last of the animals arrived.

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It was a family of fireflies, and Archie urged them inside.

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They were all wet and cold, shivering as they flew in. Hey,

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Archie said one of the fireflies, it's good to see you.

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We're all a little frozen. Is there anywhere we can

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warm up? Archie looked around his gaze, landing once more

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on the tree. The branches near the trunk should be warmer,

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he said, get cozy, we're all trying to warm up.

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The fireflies followed his advice, swarming the pine tree and

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settling down within the branches beside the drying mittens. Archie

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was so pleased to see all his friends here and

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warmly greeted them all. It's so good to see you

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all after so long, he said, I've missed you all

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so much, and it's nice to be together again. He

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noticed some of the animals were still shivering. Seth, is

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there anything we can do to warm every one up?

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He whispered to the cave bear. Seth looked thoughtful. Oh

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I know, he said, and disappeared to the back of

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the cave. He soon emerged with plates of food and

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a grin on his face. Food and plenty of it,

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he cried. Food always gets me warm. Every One dig in.

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Soon every one was happily munching on all the food

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Archie had been given. He felt relieved that it was

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being eaten. He'd never have finished it, and it was

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always good to share. Now all his friends had full bellies.

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Looking around at every one, Archie felt a surge of warmth.

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He'd enjoyed his travels, but it was nice to come

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home to those he loved. Standing up, Archie got every

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one's attention. And while I have you all here, I

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just wanted to say thank you, he said. I loved

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traveling around the land, meeting new animals and seeing amazing places.

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But it's good to be here now with all of you,

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and to show you all how much I care. I

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brought each of you back a little something. Murmurs of

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interest went around the table as Archie collected the leaf

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wrapped gifts from behind the pine tree. As he began

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to hand them out, Seth laughed. I knew you'd got

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me something, he said, accusingly, before ripping the leaves off.

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The animals all shared cries of delight at their gifts.

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Pretty shells, colorful paintings, and woven clothing were being shown

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around as everyone delighted over their presence, and in that moment,

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the saber toothed tiger felt happier than he'd ever done.

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He was surrounded by friends who had all loved their gifts.

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Their bellies were full of good food, and laughter filled

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the cave, and now that the fireflies were warm, their

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lights made the pine tree sparkle, especially as they reflected

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off of the colorful mittens that decorated it. We'll have

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to do this again, Archie thought to himself. Perhaps when

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it's cold and wet again next year, it can be

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something to look forward to and bring us together. Archie

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rejoined his friends at the table as outside the rain

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turned to snow. He didn't know what the next year

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would bring, but that didn't matter. For now they were together, warm,

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happy and full, and having a very merry time. Animal fact,

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there have been many saber tooth cats the history of

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our planet, but the one in our story is known

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as Smilodon. The name means tooth shaped like a double

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edged knife, which gives you some idea of what kind

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of fearsome predator. It must have been found in the

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Americas between two point five million years ago and around

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ten thousand years ago, Smilodon would most certainly have run

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into early humans. It died out around the same time

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as many of the large animals known as megafauna disappeared.

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We don't know yet and may never know, what a

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smilodon's coat looked like. Was it striped like a tiger,

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speckled with spots like a leopard, or plane like a lion?

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I wonder how you imagine it? A great prehistoric animal suggestion, Archie.

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Thank you. Although we can't write stories for every animal

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suggestion we receive, we're always happy to hear from those

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of you that want to sugges. Just one, and don't

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forget to check out the Animal Tales books on Amazon.

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Great for encouraging reading or for revisiting your favorite stories.

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Make sure you join us next time for another great

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animal tale. Good Bye,