March 16, 2025 • 25 mins
Be ready for a spooky episode of Happy Pants this week! An episode you can really sink your teeth into... Geraldine's happy pants are dark brown, the kind that make her think of leather belts and shoes. While Jo's happy pants are light brown and... furry! Just like a bat's belly! Yikes...
You'll also be able to follow along with some activities, do some dancing (so clear a space in your living room), plus you'll hear a very fun story about the vampire next door to a little girl named Lee. Hopefully your neighbours are more friendly and less toothsome!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:04):
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:20):
Good day. And welcome to Happy Pants, a show specially
for kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine
and my name is Joe. And together we're your happy
pants team for today. Today my happy pants are a
dark brown. This kind of brown makes me think of
(00:42):
leather belts and shoes. Well, my happy pants are a
light brown. Oh, a bit like the color of the earth. Mhm.
And they feel kind of furry. Furry happy pants. That's
a new one. Joe, have you checked your pockets? Oh
not yet. Geraldine. Oh they're pretty heavy. Why don't you
(01:07):
check yours while I try and get what's in mine? Out. Okay. Oh,
look at this. I have a big black cape. And.
Hang on a minute. What's this? Some pointy teeth. 000.
I've managed to pull mine out. I have some juicy
(01:28):
fruit in this pocket. And from the other one, I
pulled out a handful of insects and a. Oh, a
cricket bat. What on earth have capes and teeth and
insects and fruit and a cricket bat got to do
with each other. I have no idea. Oh, but we
do know Happy Pants always gives us clues, I know.
(01:51):
Why don't you try on the cape and your pointed teeth, Geraldine? 0000.
You look like a vampire now. A vampire? Ah! that's
it Joe. I look like a vampire. And you have
a cricket bat. And fruit and insects. Mm. Fruit and insects.
(02:16):
I think Happy Pants wants us to talk about a
different kind of bat. The kind that flies. Bats, eat
insects and fruits and are associated with vampires. Most bats
have furry bodies and leathery wings. So today must be
all about bats. Oh, yes. I think you're right, Geraldine. Yes.
(02:40):
And do you know what? There's two groups of bats.
Mega bats, which are large bats with big round eyes.
And they eat fruit and drink nectar from flowers. And
they're also called flying foxes because their face looks a
little bit like a fox. And that microbats are smaller
(03:00):
and eat insects. Do you know the smallest bat is
called the bumblebee bat, and is about as big as
the tip of your finger and weighs about as much
as two jelly beans. And the biggest bat is the
giant Golden Crown flying fox, and it is 1.5m from
(03:22):
wingtip to wingtip. That's about one and a half really
big steps across the room. Wow. Did you know that bats,
along with insects and birds, are the only animals that
can fly? And they're very important for our forests. Not
(03:44):
only do they spread seeds from the fruit they eat,
but pollen from flowers stick to their fur while they're
feeding on nectar, and they are able to pollinate many
trees over long distances.
S3 (03:59):
Big red alert.
S2 (04:01):
Pollinate means to move or carry pollen to a plant,
causing the seeds to fertilize in order to grow new plants.
When they're born, the young microbats are called pups. The
pups feed on their mums milk for about six weeks,
but by the time they're three weeks old, the pups
(04:22):
have already grown teeth and can feed on insects as well.
They grow very quickly and are fully grown by the
time they're two months old. The pups mum goes out
2 or 3 times a night hunting for food to
feed herself and her pup, and she leaves her pup
with all the other pups and they're looked after by
(04:43):
another female bat. You know, it's a bit like daycare,
except at night. Night care for young bats. And when
the mum returns, she recognises her pup by the high
squeaking noise it makes. The pup starts to fly at
about three weeks old and at first its mum helps
it find insects and learn which are good to eat.
(05:05):
It doesn't take long, though, for the pup to learn
to do all this by itself. And the megabats, or
fruit bats, eat plant foods like nectar, fruit, leaves and bark,
and once they've collected their dinner, fruit bats hang from
the branch of a tree to eat it. They crush
the fruit between their teeth and tongue to squeeze out
(05:27):
the juice which they drink. Wow. Just imagine hanging upside
down every night to eat your dinner. The fruit bats
are also called flying foxes. And here in Australia we
have four types of flying foxes. There's the spectacled flying fox,
whose name comes from the markings around its eyes, making
(05:50):
it look as though it's wearing glasses. And they like
to eat rainforest fruits. Then there's the grey headed fox,
and they're the biggest flying fox. And they like to
eat nectar and pollen of our native gum trees. The
black flying fox is found all the way from Western
Australia to New South Wales. And lastly, there's the little
(06:14):
red flying fox. These are the smallest flying foxes in Australia,
and some adults only weigh about 300g. That's about as
heavy as, oh, about six chicken eggs. And they're all
very important for our forests. The seeds they drop from,
(06:35):
the fruit they eat help to grow new trees and flowers.
You might be lucky enough to see thousands of flying
foxes hanging upside down in a eucalyptus tree during the day.
But don't be surprised if you see them for a
few days or weeks and then don't see any for
a while. They move on from place to place looking
(06:55):
for food, and they've done this for thousands of years.
If you live in an area where there are flying
foxes to help look after them, You can plant native
shrubs and flowers in your garden so that they can
feed on them. Keep your cat indoors at night and
train your dog not to bark at or chase the bats.
(07:17):
All this talk about fruit has got my mouth watering. Geraldine. Hmm.
How about a fruity song to flap around to? Good idea.
How about you find a space and flap around like
a bat? To do this, stretch your arms out and
pretend they're wings. Then spread your fingers out. That's it.
(07:40):
Now just move your hands up and down. Okay, let's
do it to the music. You can fly around from
tree to tree and gather fruit and nectar to eat.
(09:25):
That bat flying was fun. Hey, Geraldine, have you ever
seen a bat flying around during the day? Well, I haven't.
Probably because bats are asleep during the day. When they're
not flying around at night, they roost in places like
caves or under bridges, in trees, or sometimes even in
(09:46):
people's roofs. Big word alert. To roost means to settle
for a sleep. One of the things I love about
bats is they sleep upside down. Their legs aren't very
strong and they can't stand on the ground, so they
hang upside down, gripping on with their sharp claws. They
(10:09):
have special tendons in their legs that keep their toes
curled and stop them from letting go when they fall asleep.
If they are in danger or frightened, they can just
let go and fly away. Big word alert. A tendon
is a tough band that connects muscle to bone. Hey, Joe,
(10:35):
if bats hang upside down. What do bats sing when
it's raining? Um, I don't know. Raindrops keep falling on
my feet. Oh, dear.
S1 (10:52):
Oh, shush. Mom and dad, I'm trying to listen to
Happy Pants.
S2 (10:57):
Bat wings are made from two layers of skin that
are stretched over its arms. And its four extra long fingers.
The wings are very, very strong and reach all the
way down to the bat's legs. The bat also has
a thumb that sticks out the top of each wing.
Each thumb has a claw which helps them to climb
(11:19):
and clean themselves. Some bats have short, wide wings, and
these bats fly slowly and are good at changing direction.
That makes it easy for them to fly around trees.
Other bats with long, narrow wings fly much faster and
are good at flying long distances. When they're sleeping, bats
(11:42):
wrap their wings around themselves to keep warm. A bit
like a sleeping bag, or if it's very hot, they
can flap them like a fan to cool down. Do
you know bats are friendly creatures and they like to
live together in groups? And these groups are called colonies
or camps. And there can be as few as 30
(12:03):
or as many as thousands of bats living in a colony,
and they're able to make a special smell, and they
rub this special smell all over themselves and the other bats.
And this way, all the bats in the colony will
smell the same, and they can all recognize each other.
A fun thing about Microbats is that they are great listeners.
(12:27):
They can see, hear, smell and feel, but hearing is
their most important sense when they hunt at night. The
bat makes high pitched sounds as it flies around. The
sound is too high pitched for our human ears to hear,
and these sounds bounce off things like trees and houses
(12:49):
and create echoes. The bat hears these echoes and makes
a picture in its brain of where the things are
and how big they are. This is called echolocation, and
it's how the bats find their way around and hunt
for food. But the MacRobert or flying foxes. The fruit
eaters use their excellent sight and smell for flying and
(13:11):
finding food. They have eyes with cones, which let them
see things in colour and find their way around at night,
so they don't need echolocation, and bats make the sound
through their mouths, but when their mouth is full of food,
they can't make the sounds. So some bats have solved
(13:32):
this problem by making sound through their noses. Oh, um,
can you make a sound through your nose, Geraldine? I
don't know, Joe. I've never tried. Why don't you give
it a go with me? Mm mm mm. Ah, this
(13:53):
is hard. I don't think I can. How did you
go when you tried? Were you able to make any
noise through your nose? But what about vampire have bats.
Are they real or just made up in storybooks? Oh,
vampire bats are definitely real. They're found in Central and
South America. Vampire bats feed on the blood of other animals,
(14:17):
and they use their very sharp teeth to make two
tiny holes in the sleeping animal and then lick the
blood that flows out. They feed mostly on the blood
of horses, pigs, and cows. So we humans needn't be
worried about. Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure I
like the sound of the vampire bat too much.
S4 (14:36):
Yay! Story time.
S2 (14:39):
Today's story is all about a girl who thinks her
neighbors might be vampires. It's called The Vampires Next Door,
and it is written by Siggy Cohen and Patrick Corrigan.
The mystery began when a girl known as Lea saw
dozens of bats upside down in a tree. The tree
(15:01):
stood alongside a house down the lane belonging to Horace,
Drucilla and Shane. Our neighbors are vampires, said Lee to
her dad, but he gave her a look like he
thought she was mad. The first one to vanish was
Eddie Caruthers. The next disappearance, the Beverly Brothers detectives arrived
(15:28):
asking lots of strange questions, and some of the neighbors
had crazy suggestions. Oh, the boogeyman got them, cried Fergal McNairy,
wiggling his fingers and trying to look scary. The very
next evening, the truth became clear when Lee felt a
(15:48):
bite just below her left ear. She slapped her neck hard,
heard an ouch sort of sound, and Horace, her neighbor,
fell flat on the ground. He started to screech till
his face became blue. How dare you attack me? I'm
stronger than you. You'll be the next human that I
(16:09):
dine upon. So all of the kids on the street
will be gone. Well, after her neighbors bad tempered display,
he sprouted some wings and he fluttered away. The very
next morning, Lee rode to the deli and bought lots
of garlic bread, fresh baked and smelly. She pedaled back
(16:32):
home and started to eat, and she ate till her
breath smelt much worse than her feet. At sunset she
crept towards Horace's house and she peered through the keyhole
as still as a mouse. From down in the cellar,
she heard a weird sound, some hideous noises from under
(16:56):
the ground. She went down a stairway, opened a door,
and was shocked and amazed at the sight aside that
she saw the cellar was teeming with dozens of bats
with sharp, pointy teeth and pink party hats. Horace was
singing a rock n roll song, and Shane, his great grandpa,
(17:17):
was howling along. Drusilla was sipping what looked like red tea,
and they froze on the spot when they recognized Lee.
The vampires were startled and taken aback. In spine chilling voices.
They shouted attack! They turned into bats as big as
(17:40):
Lee's arm and circled her head as she tried to
stay calm. Screeching and flapping, they flew at her face,
but Lee stood her ground with great courage and grace.
A bat tried to bite her. She heard it go slurp,
so she let off her powerful garlicky burp. Oh.
S1 (18:03):
Wow.
S2 (18:05):
23 bats fell stunned to the floor. So she burped
once again and she dropped 20 more. The bats couldn't
handle her garlicky smell as she burped. And she burped
till the final bat fell. If you think for a bat,
that's as bad as it gets. A ranger arrived with
(18:25):
some very strong nets, and now there's a total of
72 vampire bats on display at the zoo and trapped
in a cage where they'll always remain a Horus, Drusilla,
and great Grandpa Shane. That was the vampires next door
(18:49):
by Ziggy Cohen and Patrick Corrigan. And it was read
by Joe. Even though they are spooky, vampires aren't real.
And so there's no need to be scared of them.
They're just made up and they've been around in stories
for many, many years. And some fun, spooky facts about
(19:09):
vampires are. Let's see, vampires have no reflection in the mirror,
and they're scared of the sun because it can turn
them into dust. So, like bats, they only come out
at night and they can change into bats and fly.
And they are very, very strong. They are ten times
stronger than humans. And did you know a vampire can't
(19:33):
come into your home unless you invite it in? It's
fun to dress up as a vampire for fancy dress
parties in Halloween. Vampires have black hair, dark eyes, and
pale skin. They also have two very sharp teeth or
fangs that stick out of their mouths, and they wear
(19:53):
dark clothes. Oh, and very often a black cape like
this one. They also have something called Arithmomania. Big word
alert Arithmomania means the strong need to count all things
(20:15):
around you. Speaking of Arithmomania. 000. Time to get our
thinking caps on. If there were five bats in a
cave and five more flew in, how many bats would
there be in the cave? Oh, okay. Five bats plus
(20:35):
five more is five, six, seven. Eight. Nine, ten. There
would be ten bats in the cave. Yes. And now,
if ten bats are roosting upside down in a cave
and two flew away, how many bats would be left
hanging upside down? Oh, um, tend to start with minus
(20:59):
two is ten, minus two is eight. There would be
eight bats left. Yes. Now, four bats have flown back
home to join the eight roosting. How many do we
have now? Okay, there are eight roosting. Plus four is eight. Nine, ten, 12.
(21:19):
There are 12 bats in the cave. Oh, wonderful. Joe.
And what about if they all flew away? How many
bats would be left then? Geraldine. That's easy. If they
all flew away, well, there would be none left. Of course. Yes.
Well done. Joe. Oh, I need a stretch after that.
(21:41):
Let's stretch our bat arms up high in the air
and stand on our tippy bat toes reaching up high,
high to the top of our cave. Then let out
a big breath. Oh, and drop down, down, down and
touch your toes once more. up up up. Oh, down
(22:09):
down down. Why don't we have some stretching music? Oh,
(23:14):
I feel so much better after a good stretch. Oh,
but that's about all we have time for today. Oh, well,
what have we done today? Well, we learned lots about bats,
including that they sleep upside down and come out at night. Yes.
And we had four big word alerts to pollinate, which
(23:36):
means to move or carry pollen to a plant, causing
the seeds to fertilize in order to grow new plants
to roost, which means to settle or stay for a
sleep tendon, which is a tough band that connects muscle
to bone and arithmomania, which means a strong need to
(23:57):
count all things around you. We also had a story
about vampires. and we did some bad maths. If there
was anything in today's programme you'd like to know more about,
you can reach us on radio at Vision australia.org. Keep
wearing those happy pants and we'll catch you next time.
S5 (24:32):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land across our working area. We pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(24:56):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
One, two, three. It's happy pants.
S2 (00:20):
Good day. And welcome to Happy Pants, a show specially
for kids and especially for you. My name is Geraldine
and my name is Joe. And together we're your happy
pants team for today. Today my happy pants are a
dark brown. This kind of brown makes me think of
(00:42):
leather belts and shoes. Well, my happy pants are a
light brown. Oh, a bit like the color of the earth. Mhm.
And they feel kind of furry. Furry happy pants. That's
a new one. Joe, have you checked your pockets? Oh
not yet. Geraldine. Oh they're pretty heavy. Why don't you
(01:07):
check yours while I try and get what's in mine? Out. Okay. Oh,
look at this. I have a big black cape. And.
Hang on a minute. What's this? Some pointy teeth. 000.
I've managed to pull mine out. I have some juicy
(01:28):
fruit in this pocket. And from the other one, I
pulled out a handful of insects and a. Oh, a
cricket bat. What on earth have capes and teeth and
insects and fruit and a cricket bat got to do
with each other. I have no idea. Oh, but we
do know Happy Pants always gives us clues, I know.
(01:51):
Why don't you try on the cape and your pointed teeth, Geraldine? 0000.
You look like a vampire now. A vampire? Ah! that's
it Joe. I look like a vampire. And you have
a cricket bat. And fruit and insects. Mm. Fruit and insects.
(02:16):
I think Happy Pants wants us to talk about a
different kind of bat. The kind that flies. Bats, eat
insects and fruits and are associated with vampires. Most bats
have furry bodies and leathery wings. So today must be
all about bats. Oh, yes. I think you're right, Geraldine. Yes.
(02:40):
And do you know what? There's two groups of bats.
Mega bats, which are large bats with big round eyes.
And they eat fruit and drink nectar from flowers. And
they're also called flying foxes because their face looks a
little bit like a fox. And that microbats are smaller
(03:00):
and eat insects. Do you know the smallest bat is
called the bumblebee bat, and is about as big as
the tip of your finger and weighs about as much
as two jelly beans. And the biggest bat is the
giant Golden Crown flying fox, and it is 1.5m from
(03:22):
wingtip to wingtip. That's about one and a half really
big steps across the room. Wow. Did you know that bats,
along with insects and birds, are the only animals that
can fly? And they're very important for our forests. Not
(03:44):
only do they spread seeds from the fruit they eat,
but pollen from flowers stick to their fur while they're
feeding on nectar, and they are able to pollinate many
trees over long distances.
S3 (03:59):
Big red alert.
S2 (04:01):
Pollinate means to move or carry pollen to a plant,
causing the seeds to fertilize in order to grow new plants.
When they're born, the young microbats are called pups. The
pups feed on their mums milk for about six weeks,
but by the time they're three weeks old, the pups
(04:22):
have already grown teeth and can feed on insects as well.
They grow very quickly and are fully grown by the
time they're two months old. The pups mum goes out
2 or 3 times a night hunting for food to
feed herself and her pup, and she leaves her pup
with all the other pups and they're looked after by
(04:43):
another female bat. You know, it's a bit like daycare,
except at night. Night care for young bats. And when
the mum returns, she recognises her pup by the high
squeaking noise it makes. The pup starts to fly at
about three weeks old and at first its mum helps
it find insects and learn which are good to eat.
(05:05):
It doesn't take long, though, for the pup to learn
to do all this by itself. And the megabats, or
fruit bats, eat plant foods like nectar, fruit, leaves and bark,
and once they've collected their dinner, fruit bats hang from
the branch of a tree to eat it. They crush
the fruit between their teeth and tongue to squeeze out
(05:27):
the juice which they drink. Wow. Just imagine hanging upside
down every night to eat your dinner. The fruit bats
are also called flying foxes. And here in Australia we
have four types of flying foxes. There's the spectacled flying fox,
whose name comes from the markings around its eyes, making
(05:50):
it look as though it's wearing glasses. And they like
to eat rainforest fruits. Then there's the grey headed fox,
and they're the biggest flying fox. And they like to
eat nectar and pollen of our native gum trees. The
black flying fox is found all the way from Western
Australia to New South Wales. And lastly, there's the little
(06:14):
red flying fox. These are the smallest flying foxes in Australia,
and some adults only weigh about 300g. That's about as
heavy as, oh, about six chicken eggs. And they're all
very important for our forests. The seeds they drop from,
(06:35):
the fruit they eat help to grow new trees and flowers.
You might be lucky enough to see thousands of flying
foxes hanging upside down in a eucalyptus tree during the day.
But don't be surprised if you see them for a
few days or weeks and then don't see any for
a while. They move on from place to place looking
(06:55):
for food, and they've done this for thousands of years.
If you live in an area where there are flying
foxes to help look after them, You can plant native
shrubs and flowers in your garden so that they can
feed on them. Keep your cat indoors at night and
train your dog not to bark at or chase the bats.
(07:17):
All this talk about fruit has got my mouth watering. Geraldine. Hmm.
How about a fruity song to flap around to? Good idea.
How about you find a space and flap around like
a bat? To do this, stretch your arms out and
pretend they're wings. Then spread your fingers out. That's it.
(07:40):
Now just move your hands up and down. Okay, let's
do it to the music. You can fly around from
tree to tree and gather fruit and nectar to eat.
(09:25):
That bat flying was fun. Hey, Geraldine, have you ever
seen a bat flying around during the day? Well, I haven't.
Probably because bats are asleep during the day. When they're
not flying around at night, they roost in places like
caves or under bridges, in trees, or sometimes even in
(09:46):
people's roofs. Big word alert. To roost means to settle
for a sleep. One of the things I love about
bats is they sleep upside down. Their legs aren't very
strong and they can't stand on the ground, so they
hang upside down, gripping on with their sharp claws. They
(10:09):
have special tendons in their legs that keep their toes
curled and stop them from letting go when they fall asleep.
If they are in danger or frightened, they can just
let go and fly away. Big word alert. A tendon
is a tough band that connects muscle to bone. Hey, Joe,
(10:35):
if bats hang upside down. What do bats sing when
it's raining? Um, I don't know. Raindrops keep falling on
my feet. Oh, dear.
S1 (10:52):
Oh, shush. Mom and dad, I'm trying to listen to
Happy Pants.
S2 (10:57):
Bat wings are made from two layers of skin that
are stretched over its arms. And its four extra long fingers.
The wings are very, very strong and reach all the
way down to the bat's legs. The bat also has
a thumb that sticks out the top of each wing.
Each thumb has a claw which helps them to climb
(11:19):
and clean themselves. Some bats have short, wide wings, and
these bats fly slowly and are good at changing direction.
That makes it easy for them to fly around trees.
Other bats with long, narrow wings fly much faster and
are good at flying long distances. When they're sleeping, bats
(11:42):
wrap their wings around themselves to keep warm. A bit
like a sleeping bag, or if it's very hot, they
can flap them like a fan to cool down. Do
you know bats are friendly creatures and they like to
live together in groups? And these groups are called colonies
or camps. And there can be as few as 30
(12:03):
or as many as thousands of bats living in a colony,
and they're able to make a special smell, and they
rub this special smell all over themselves and the other bats.
And this way, all the bats in the colony will
smell the same, and they can all recognize each other.
A fun thing about Microbats is that they are great listeners.
(12:27):
They can see, hear, smell and feel, but hearing is
their most important sense when they hunt at night. The
bat makes high pitched sounds as it flies around. The
sound is too high pitched for our human ears to hear,
and these sounds bounce off things like trees and houses
(12:49):
and create echoes. The bat hears these echoes and makes
a picture in its brain of where the things are
and how big they are. This is called echolocation, and
it's how the bats find their way around and hunt
for food. But the MacRobert or flying foxes. The fruit
eaters use their excellent sight and smell for flying and
(13:11):
finding food. They have eyes with cones, which let them
see things in colour and find their way around at night,
so they don't need echolocation, and bats make the sound
through their mouths, but when their mouth is full of food,
they can't make the sounds. So some bats have solved
(13:32):
this problem by making sound through their noses. Oh, um,
can you make a sound through your nose, Geraldine? I
don't know, Joe. I've never tried. Why don't you give
it a go with me? Mm mm mm. Ah, this
(13:53):
is hard. I don't think I can. How did you
go when you tried? Were you able to make any
noise through your nose? But what about vampire have bats.
Are they real or just made up in storybooks? Oh,
vampire bats are definitely real. They're found in Central and
South America. Vampire bats feed on the blood of other animals,
(14:17):
and they use their very sharp teeth to make two
tiny holes in the sleeping animal and then lick the
blood that flows out. They feed mostly on the blood
of horses, pigs, and cows. So we humans needn't be
worried about. Oh, I don't know. I'm not sure I
like the sound of the vampire bat too much.
S4 (14:36):
Yay! Story time.
S2 (14:39):
Today's story is all about a girl who thinks her
neighbors might be vampires. It's called The Vampires Next Door,
and it is written by Siggy Cohen and Patrick Corrigan.
The mystery began when a girl known as Lea saw
dozens of bats upside down in a tree. The tree
(15:01):
stood alongside a house down the lane belonging to Horace,
Drucilla and Shane. Our neighbors are vampires, said Lee to
her dad, but he gave her a look like he
thought she was mad. The first one to vanish was
Eddie Caruthers. The next disappearance, the Beverly Brothers detectives arrived
(15:28):
asking lots of strange questions, and some of the neighbors
had crazy suggestions. Oh, the boogeyman got them, cried Fergal McNairy,
wiggling his fingers and trying to look scary. The very
next evening, the truth became clear when Lee felt a
(15:48):
bite just below her left ear. She slapped her neck hard,
heard an ouch sort of sound, and Horace, her neighbor,
fell flat on the ground. He started to screech till
his face became blue. How dare you attack me? I'm
stronger than you. You'll be the next human that I
(16:09):
dine upon. So all of the kids on the street
will be gone. Well, after her neighbors bad tempered display,
he sprouted some wings and he fluttered away. The very
next morning, Lee rode to the deli and bought lots
of garlic bread, fresh baked and smelly. She pedaled back
(16:32):
home and started to eat, and she ate till her
breath smelt much worse than her feet. At sunset she
crept towards Horace's house and she peered through the keyhole
as still as a mouse. From down in the cellar,
she heard a weird sound, some hideous noises from under
(16:56):
the ground. She went down a stairway, opened a door,
and was shocked and amazed at the sight aside that
she saw the cellar was teeming with dozens of bats
with sharp, pointy teeth and pink party hats. Horace was
singing a rock n roll song, and Shane, his great grandpa,
(17:17):
was howling along. Drusilla was sipping what looked like red tea,
and they froze on the spot when they recognized Lee.
The vampires were startled and taken aback. In spine chilling voices.
They shouted attack! They turned into bats as big as
(17:40):
Lee's arm and circled her head as she tried to
stay calm. Screeching and flapping, they flew at her face,
but Lee stood her ground with great courage and grace.
A bat tried to bite her. She heard it go slurp,
so she let off her powerful garlicky burp. Oh.
S1 (18:03):
Wow.
S2 (18:05):
23 bats fell stunned to the floor. So she burped
once again and she dropped 20 more. The bats couldn't
handle her garlicky smell as she burped. And she burped
till the final bat fell. If you think for a bat,
that's as bad as it gets. A ranger arrived with
(18:25):
some very strong nets, and now there's a total of
72 vampire bats on display at the zoo and trapped
in a cage where they'll always remain a Horus, Drusilla,
and great Grandpa Shane. That was the vampires next door
(18:49):
by Ziggy Cohen and Patrick Corrigan. And it was read
by Joe. Even though they are spooky, vampires aren't real.
And so there's no need to be scared of them.
They're just made up and they've been around in stories
for many, many years. And some fun, spooky facts about
(19:09):
vampires are. Let's see, vampires have no reflection in the mirror,
and they're scared of the sun because it can turn
them into dust. So, like bats, they only come out
at night and they can change into bats and fly.
And they are very, very strong. They are ten times
stronger than humans. And did you know a vampire can't
(19:33):
come into your home unless you invite it in? It's
fun to dress up as a vampire for fancy dress
parties in Halloween. Vampires have black hair, dark eyes, and
pale skin. They also have two very sharp teeth or
fangs that stick out of their mouths, and they wear
(19:53):
dark clothes. Oh, and very often a black cape like
this one. They also have something called Arithmomania. Big word
alert Arithmomania means the strong need to count all things
(20:15):
around you. Speaking of Arithmomania. 000. Time to get our
thinking caps on. If there were five bats in a
cave and five more flew in, how many bats would
there be in the cave? Oh, okay. Five bats plus
(20:35):
five more is five, six, seven. Eight. Nine, ten. There
would be ten bats in the cave. Yes. And now,
if ten bats are roosting upside down in a cave
and two flew away, how many bats would be left
hanging upside down? Oh, um, tend to start with minus
(20:59):
two is ten, minus two is eight. There would be
eight bats left. Yes. Now, four bats have flown back
home to join the eight roosting. How many do we
have now? Okay, there are eight roosting. Plus four is eight. Nine, ten, 12.
(21:19):
There are 12 bats in the cave. Oh, wonderful. Joe.
And what about if they all flew away? How many
bats would be left then? Geraldine. That's easy. If they
all flew away, well, there would be none left. Of course. Yes.
Well done. Joe. Oh, I need a stretch after that.
(21:41):
Let's stretch our bat arms up high in the air
and stand on our tippy bat toes reaching up high,
high to the top of our cave. Then let out
a big breath. Oh, and drop down, down, down and
touch your toes once more. up up up. Oh, down
(22:09):
down down. Why don't we have some stretching music? Oh,
(23:14):
I feel so much better after a good stretch. Oh,
but that's about all we have time for today. Oh, well,
what have we done today? Well, we learned lots about bats,
including that they sleep upside down and come out at night. Yes.
And we had four big word alerts to pollinate, which
(23:36):
means to move or carry pollen to a plant, causing
the seeds to fertilize in order to grow new plants
to roost, which means to settle or stay for a
sleep tendon, which is a tough band that connects muscle
to bone and arithmomania, which means a strong need to
(23:57):
count all things around you. We also had a story
about vampires. and we did some bad maths. If there
was anything in today's programme you'd like to know more about,
you can reach us on radio at Vision australia.org. Keep
wearing those happy pants and we'll catch you next time.
S5 (24:32):
Happy pants is produced on the lands of the Whadjuk
Noongar people. Vision Australia Radio acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander peoples as the first Australians, and the traditional owners
of the land across our working area. We pay our
respects to elders past, present and future in maintaining their cultures,
countries and their spiritual connection to the lands and waters.
Vision Australia Radio acknowledges and respects the genuine diversity and
(24:56):
richness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples across Australia.
Happy pants has been made possible with the support of
the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
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