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Speaker 1: Yo, 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. If you

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know someone that might enjoy Animal Tales, please do mention

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us to them. Lunar and Banksy are from Melbourne, Australia

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and they would like a story with a fruit bat,

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a flamingo, and a red back spider. You can learn

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more about these creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay,

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are you ready? That's good, then I'll begin the not

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scary fruit Bat. It was breakfast time and Luna was

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very hungry. It was time to eat. Finding a nice

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flat rock, the fruit bat laid out her favorite breakfast treats,

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a papaya, some figs, a couple of plums, and a

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nice juicy red apple. Just looking at the spread made

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Luna's mouth water. She was halfway through the papaya juice,

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dribbling down her chin when she heard a chuckle. Well

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that's something you don't see every day, said an amused flamingo.

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Would you like to share? Luna asked, offering him a ripe,

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shiny plum. No, I do not, the flamingo replied firmly,

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And you shouldn't either. Bats shouldn't be eating fruit. They

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should be eating bugs or drinking blood. Oh no, not me,

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said Luna, understanding the flamingo's confusion. I don't eat that

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sort of thing. I'm a fruit bat. I like fruit.

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That may be so, said the flamingo. But eating fruit

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is not very scary scary, Luna repeated, feeling uncomfortable. Why

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would I need to be scary because you're a bat?

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The flamingo said, bats are scary, you know Halloween vampires

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flying around at night. I could be scary, Luna said, defensively.

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I am quite big and I have sharp teeth. Pah,

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the flamingo snorted, it's not just how you look. You

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have to act scary and you're not. Having had his say,

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the flamingo left, head held high, leaving poor Luna alone.

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Was the flamingo right? Was she really supposed to be scary? Well?

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I think he was being awfully unfair, said Luna's apple.

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At least she thought it was her apple until she

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noticed a small green caterpillar poking out of it. In

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my opinion that Flamingo doesn't know what he's talking about.

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Oh why, Luna asked, Just because you don't look scary

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doesn't mean you can't be. The caterpillar said, there are

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other ways to be scary. I don't feel very scary.

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Luna admitted, you should talk to Banksy. The caterpillar suggested

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she lives by the old bottle tree. Okay, I'll do that,

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said Luna, cheering up slightly. The old bottle tree was

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brittle and leafless, with many cracks across its gray, lifeless trunk.

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Just the sight of it gave Luna the shivers as

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she flew towards it. Hullo, she called out, is Banksy here?

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A small black spider with a red line on its

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abdomen crawled out. Who's asking, wondered the spider suspiciously. I'm Luna,

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said the fruit bat, looking surprised. I was told you

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might be able to help me be scarier. You look disappointed,

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said the spider. I'm sorry, said Luna. It's just that

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I thought you'd be a bit bigger. Size isn't everything,

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said Banksy. I'll have you know I'm a red back spider,

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one of the most venomous creatures in all the forest.

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Most animals are terrified of me. I see, said Luna.

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If such a tiny spider were so scary, then surely

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a big bat like her could be. Could you teach

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me how to be scary? Banksy's eight little eyes narrowed

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as she considered this. Perhaps, she said, if you follow

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my rule. I'm good at following rules, said Luna, proudly,

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glad to hear it, said the spider. That rule is

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that you don't have to look scary to be scary.

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It's more about how you behave, how you present yourself

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to others, and the stories they hear about you. I

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like stories, said Luna, but I'm not sure I fully understand.

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Can you show me what to do? The red back

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spider tapped her foot, king most animals avoid me, said Banksy.

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It would be nice to have someone to talk to

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for a while. Okay, I'll help you. We'll start with

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how you behave. Come on, follow me, Banksy led Luna

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a short distance away from the old bottle tree to

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where a fallen log lay across the forest floor. I

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want you to hide behind here and wait for an

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animal to pass, said the red back spider, then jump

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out and give them a fright. It's a really easy

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way to scare someone. Luna nodded she could do that.

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Jumping out and surprising someone didn't sound too hard. Someone's coming,

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Banksy whispered. Ready, Luna nodded. It was a wombat, calmly

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going about his business. As he passed the log, Luna pounced. Wooo,

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she said, waving her wings above her head. The woe

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bat stumbled sideways in surprise, stubbing his toe on a root. Ouch.

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He cried, rubbing his injured toe. Oh no, Luna wailed,

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rushing over to help him. Are you all right? No, no, no,

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said Banksy, scuttling up onto the log. You don't help

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the animals you're trying to scare. But he hurt himself,

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Luna said, giving the wombat a comforting hug. Is that better? Yes,

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thank you, said the wombat bravely. Banksy was not impressed.

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Did she at least scare you, the spider asked the wombat. Well,

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to be honest, I was more surprised than scared, he admitted,

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But I did like the ghost sound she made. That

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was good, Banksy sighed. Next time, Luna try, saying boo.

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Now come back here, we'll have to try that again.

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Can't we try something else? Luna asked, I don't really

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want to hurt anyone again. Very well, groaned the red

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back spider. If that's what you want. Happy that the

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wombat was okay, Luna allowed Banksy to guide her deeper

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into the forest. Next, we'll concentrate on how you present

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yourself to others, said Banksy. What does that mean, asked Luna. Well,

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I may be small, but animals are scared by my

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creepy crawliness and the fact that I hide in small,

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dark spaces. You're a large bat, so we need to

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work with that. They arrived at a wide grassy clearing

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where a group of wallabies were grazing. Bats have distinctive wings,

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so use those and show those teeth, Banksy instructed, make

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sure those wallabies see what you've got, and you'll soon

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cause a wallaby stampede. Okay, nodded Luna. I can do that.

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She launched into the air, flying over the wallabi's heads

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with her wings spread wide and teeth bared. You all

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right there, asked one of the wallabies. Why the funny face,

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asked another, are you feeling poorly. Ah, she's not going

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to be sick, is she asked another. After a few

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moments of this, Luna returned to Banksy. One of them

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was scared, I think, suggested Lue, only because he thought

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you might be sick, pointed out the spider. Couldn't you

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have tried to act a little more, I don't know dangerous.

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I did my best, Luna said, and she had. She

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just didn't have it in her to act scarily. All right,

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Banksy said, If you can't act scary, we'll try something else.

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The final way of being scary is by having others

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already believe that you are. Lots of animals have never

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met me, but they know how dangerous I am through

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the stories they've heard. If we can convinced just one

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animal that you're scary, then we can just wait for

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the rumor to spread. I can see that working, Luna said,

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So what do we need to do to work? They

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needed just the right animal to talk to, and it

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didn't take long to find one. Beside a pond, Banksy

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spider platypus. Wait here, she said to the fruit bat

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before scuttling away. The platypus was shocked to see a

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fearsome red back spider heading towards him, but reminded himself

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that it couldn't reach him in the middle of his pond.

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Um Can I help you, he asked nervously. You bet

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you can, said the spider, pretending to be afraid. There's

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a big, bad animal in these woods with sharp teeth

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and leathery wings. I'm so scared that I'm having to

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run away. You've not seen it near here, have you.

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The platypus gulped. There was an animal out there that

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a red back spider was afraid of. What sort of

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nightmare creature could this be? N No, no, trembled the platypus,

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and I don't want to see it either. It travels

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at night, swooping through the darkness, continued Banksy. What type

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of animal is it, muttered the shaking platypus, A gray

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headed flying fox, Banksy said, imagine that a fox that

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flies quite suddenly. The platypus wasn't looking afraid at all.

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That's just another name for a fruit bat, the platypus said,

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are you talking about Luna? At the sound of her name,

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Luna lifted her head from her hiding place. Hey, Gordon,

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She said, The platypus laughed. Oh you really had me

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going there. He said to the spider, I almost believed you.

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Every One knows that Luna wouldn't hurt a fly, they do,

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asked Banksy, Sure, said Gordon, Luna's one of the nicest

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animals I know. The last thing Luna is is scary.

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Banksy gave up, returning to Luna. Well, that didn't work either,

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and by the sounds of it, was never going to work. Sorry,

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Luna sighed, this is silly. I don't really know why

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I even tried. See why exactly did you try, Banksy asked.

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You're clearly not naturally a scary animal, so what made

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you come to me and ask for my help. Someone

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told me that bats are supposed to be scary, she replied,

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so I thought I ought to try. Listen, Luna, said

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the red backspider. You should try to be what others

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say you should be. You should be who you want

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to be, and if that's the thoughtful, kind and friendly

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fruit bat that you are, then well there's nothing wrong

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with that. Thank you, grinned Luna. You're right. Look, you've

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been so good to me. Please let me give you

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a lift home. Thank you very much, said Banksy, scurrying

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on to Luna's back. But before Luna could take to

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the air, something large and pink landed in Gordon's pond.

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Oh no, not you, again, grumbled the flamingo, off to

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eat some more fruit. Are you actually? I was? Began

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Luna before the flamingo cut her off. You're a disgrace

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to all bats, said the flamingo rudely as he marched

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up to her. In fact, you're a disgrace to all

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flying things. This brought the flamingo close enough to notice

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movement on the fruit bat's shoulder. His eyes went as

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wide as dinner plates. Don't move, the flamingo hissed. There's

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a highly venomous spider on you, I know, said Luna,

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not sounding the least bit bothered. Put But what if

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it bites you, said the flamingo, recoiling in fright. Aren't

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you afraid it will bite you? Oh? I'm not scared

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about that, said Luna, who truly believed that Banksy would

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never do such a thing to her. Come a bit

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closer and say hello. No, I will not, screamed the

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flamingo as he turned and ran, shedding pink feathers everywhere. Well,

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you look at that, said the spider. Luna. The fruit

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bat scared someone at last. To be fair, we both did,

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said Luna, and on this occasion, I don't feel bad

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about it at all. Animal fat. Gray headed flying foxes

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or fruit bats, are the largest bats in Australia, with

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a wingspan of up to one meter that's just over

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three feet. Despite the name fruit bat, they also eat

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nectar and pollen. Flamingo's wingspans are almost double that of

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the gray headed flying foxes. Their diet consists of brine, shrimp, insects, mollusks,

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and plankton. The red backed spider is also called the

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Australian black widow, with females being much larger than males.

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They'll tackle most creatures that get caught up in their web,

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which will mostly be insects, but can include other spiders, lizards,

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and even mice. Thank you for your suggestions, Luna and Banksy.

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We hope you enjoyed the story, and thank you to

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all of you across the world for listening to it.

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In addition to the five hundred free to listen stories,

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next time for another great animal tale. Good Bye,