Not An Elephant

An elephant shrew is mistaken for a creature that is much, much bigger. 
Written especially for this podcast by Alice. 

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In order to allow us to make these stories we offer a premium subscription and run adverts. The adverts are not chosen by us, but played automatically depending on the platform you listen through (Apple Podcasts, Spotify, etc) and the country you live in. The adverts may even be different if you listen to the story twice.

We have had a handful of instances where an advert has played that is not suitable for a family audience, despite the podcast clearly being labelled for children. If you’re concerned about an advert you hear, please contact the platform you are listening to directly. Spotify, in particular, has proven problematic in the past, for both inappropriate adverts and the volume at which the adverts play. If you find this happening, please let Spotify know via their Facebook customer care page. 

As creators, we want your child’s experience to be a pleasurable one. Running adverts is necessary to allow us to operate, but please do consider the premium subscription service as an alternative – it’s advert free.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:12):
Yea. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast,
where you suggest the animal for us to write a
story about. My name's Josephine and I've got a brand
new animal story here just for you. There are new
stories every Monday and Wednesday, with a new premium story

(00:33):
every Friday. If you're enjoying Animal Tales, please take a
moment to leave us a review so others can find us.
It helps us get noticed amongst all the other podcasts
out there. Archer and Thomas are from South Africa and
they would like a story featuring an elephant shrew and

(00:53):
an ant. You can learn more about these creatures in
the animal facts after the story. Now, settle back, relax,
and I'll begin. Not an elephant Ada felt like she
was being watched. She couldn't quite figure out where the

(01:13):
feeling was coming from. There were a lot of bushes
around the puddle she'd been drinking from, but she couldn't
see any movement. Had she been imagining things. The elephant
shrew slowly lowered her head to the water, again, keeping
an eye out in case something swooped down to grab her.

(01:34):
It was hard being an elephant shrew. She was small,
not much bigger than a mouse, which meant that she
was always running into animals bigger than her, many of
which looked at her hungrily drinking her fill. Ada was
about to scamper for cover when she was surprised by
a voice. Hello, it said. Ada looked up and around her,

(02:00):
but couldn't see anyone there. Down here, came the voice.
Once more. Ada looked down to see two tiny little
ants staring up at her. Hi, they called, waving their
little legs and antenna. Oh hello, said Ada. It made

(02:22):
a change for her to be looking down at something.
This is Archer, and I'm Thomas, said one of the ants. Formerly,
and can we say it's a pleasure to meet you? Really,
said Ada, surprised. Why is that we've heard everything about you,

(02:44):
Archer said, with a grin. You're so cool. Yeah, agreed Thomas.
We've always wanted to meet an elephant. Ada laughed, thinking
they were joking, but the two aunts were quite seen.
Oh I'm not an elephant, she said. Of course you are,

(03:06):
said Thomas. You have a long nose and big ears,
and you're the biggest animal we've ever seen. You're exactly
how an elephant was described to us. I'm afraid you're
making a mistake, insisted Ada. Yes, I suppose my nose
is rather long, but that doesn't make it a trunk.

(03:28):
And my ears really aren't that big. Oh but they are,
said Archer in awe, they're the biggest I've ever seen.
Us aunts don't have any ears at all. That may
be so, said Ada patiently, But that still doesn't make
me an elephant. I know that compared to you tiny insects,

(03:53):
I'm rather big, and yes I have a long nose
and large ears, but I promise I'm not an elephant.
Archer and Thomas were not convinced. Well what are you, then,
Thomas asked. Ada opened her mouth to speak and groaned

(04:13):
when she realized what she was going to say. I'm
an elephant shrew, she said. The two ants cheered and
began hopping up and down. We were right, laughed Archer.
An elephant, a real life elephant, cried Thomas. Ada sighed

(04:37):
it was proving hard to convince them, but maybe she
could disprove it in another way. When you were told
about elephants, what else did they say, she asked? We
were told that you were strong enough to knock down
trees and big enough that you could cross a river
with a single stride, said Archer, please to share his knowledge,

(05:02):
and that dangerous predators are scared of you. Thomas cried, well,
I can't do any of that, Ada said, as if
that was the end of the matter. But the pair
of ants just grinned at her, clearly thinking she was
teasing them. At that moment, an idea came to her,

(05:24):
one so obvious that she wondered why she hadn't thought
of it sooner. She would just introduce them to a
real elephant. Then they would have to believe her. If
you want to see something really impressive, Ada said, follow me.
We must be going to tear up a tree, giggled Archer,

(05:48):
or stride across a river, gasped Thomas as they trotted
after the elephant's shrews somewhere beneath the tall grass. All
Aida needed to do was fine a real elephant. This
meant searching out upon the savannah, a trek that Ada
didn't like to do for fear of being spotted. To

(06:10):
remain as safe as possible, she stuck beneath the thick,
overhanging grass and bushes. The ants, however, didn't seem worried
at all, although they had to scurry to keep up
with her. Have you really never met an animal bigger
than me? Ada asked her little companions never, Archer replied,

(06:34):
We've met a grasshopper and a big black beetle, and spiders.
Thomas said, shuddering, we've met spiders before. Ada couldn't believe it.
She was the biggest animal they'd ever met, A little
elephant shrew like her. They were going to be in

(06:54):
for such a surprise when they saw a proper elephant.
They were four to stop when a stick blocked their path.
Beyond it, through the grass, Ada could see a huge
acacia tree. Oh, mighty elephant, please, could you lift up
that tree? Archer asked. Oh, I really can't, insisted Ada,

(07:19):
as she lifted the stick out of their way. She
did it. Thomas cried, amazing, you lifted that fallen tree
so easily. Archer gasped, as we were told an elephant could.
The ants hadn't been talking about the acacia tree at all.

(07:41):
They'd been focused on the stick. Ada looked at what
she'd moved aside. While to her it was but a twig,
light and moveable, it appeared as a much bigger obstacle
to the tiny little ants. Please, I promise that smaller
than you think, She tried to explain. Sure, okay, Archer said,

(08:06):
before winking at Thomas. All she'd managed to do so
far was convince them she was lying. She really did
need to find that elephant. Just past the shade of
the acacia tree, they came across a natural spring where
a small trickle of water bubbled up from the ground

(08:27):
to run down a gentle slope. It really wasn't much
more than a dribble, so Ada hopped over it with ease.
She turned back to help the answer cross, but they
were stood staring at her in wonder. You crossed the
river with a single stride, Thomas said, excitedly, just like

(08:50):
we said. But that's not a river, Ada tried to say,
not even much of a stream. She lifts trees and
crosses rivers. Archer declared loudly, it's all true. Ada was
exasperated she'd gone and done it again, convinced them all

(09:14):
the more. Look, I'm really really not an elephant, she
said firmly, But I'm going to find you on and
prove it to you. That's where we're going Okay, you're
such a tease, chuckled Archer, but lots of fun. We'll

(09:35):
play this game for a little longer. It's not a game,
insisted Ada. There are dangerous predators out here on the savannah.
We need to be careful, if you say so, winked Thomas.
It's not like we don't know that you can scare
dangerous animals away. Oh never mind, sighed Ada. Here, let

(10:01):
me help you across the water. This she did, but
they were still in sight of the crossing when the
ground below them began to shake. A large camel spider
exploded from the dirt, its sights set on the two
little ants as it clashed its hungry jaws together. The

(10:22):
ants screeched in terror, fearing the worst. Ada, though bravely
came to their rescue. She was much bigger than the
camel spider, leaping before it with a threatening snarl. Elephant
shrews have quite a taste for spider, and this one
seemed to know it. One look at Ada sent the

(10:44):
camel spider scuttling back down his burrow as quickly as
he had arrived. That got rid of him, said Ada,
with satisfaction. The two ants, though were staring up, open mouthed.
That said Thomas, was, said Archer, amazing, They shouted together.

(11:11):
Ada couldn't help but blush. Oh, it really was nothing,
she insisted. Spiders don't scare me, Are you kidding? They're terrifying,
Thomas said, And he was scared of you, Archer added.
You elephants really are the best animals ever. Ada had

(11:36):
done it again. These insects were completely and utterly convinced
that she was something she wasn't. No matter how hard
she tried, she kept making matters worse. O k enough
of that, she said, I'm going to show you to
a real elephant if it's the last thing I do.

(12:00):
They continued up a small hill, which to the ants
was more like a mountain, then eventually down the other side.
The air was getting cooler as the sun dropped lower
in the sky. Ada was beginning to think they would
never find a real elephant, when from somewhere up ahead,
she heard a loud trumpeting sound. We're nearly there, called

(12:25):
the elephant shrew with excitement. The two aunts struggled to
keep up with her. As she raised ahead, the grass
parted before her to reveal that she was looking down
upon a watering hole. Sure enough, a herd of elephants
had gathered there, taking long cooling drinks. Ada thought they

(12:47):
were truly glorious, with their enormous ears, incredible trunks, and
astounding sighs. Found you, she said to herself. She raced
back under the grass, keen to urge the ants on
to see for themselves. She found them sat upon a

(13:07):
piece of grit, looking quite exhausted. Sorry, Ada, said Thomas.
It's been a long walk for us to day. Yeah,
panted Archer, and it's getting late. We think we really
should head home, but protested Ada. But we really wanted

(13:29):
to thank you, said Archer, with a happy smile. When
we heard about elephants, they sounded almost magical. We never
thought we'd actually get to meet one. No aunt believes
that such a mighty creature could ever be friends with
bugs like us. Thomas continued, But you've proved them all wrong.

(13:52):
Thank you for everything, Archer said. To Day's been a
lot of fun. It's been really nice to get to
know proper elephant. Ada didn't know what to say. They
really truly meant it. But if she showed them the
elephants now the real elephants What would that do to them?

(14:14):
Would they feel foolish? And what if the elephants weren't
as nice to them as she had been? What if
they didn't even notice the ants? It would be such
a shame to have come so far just to be ignored.
Perhaps on this occasion it was best to let the
ants believe that she really was an elephant. After all,

(14:37):
I've really enjoyed getting to know you both, too, she said.
I can see you're tired, so I have one more
treat in store for you. What's that, asked Archer? How
about a ride on an elephant's back? She suggested, I'll
have you home in no time. Always nodded excitedly and

(15:02):
climbed aboard. Wow, yelped Thomas. We're so high up. This
made Ada grin. She may have been just a little
elephant shrew, but to these two tiny ants, Ada was
the best elephant of all animals. Fact. When first discovered,

(15:27):
elephant shrews were thought to resemble European shrews, so got
their name through a combination of that and their obvious
long noses, But recent DNA studies have proved otherwise. They
are not closely related to shrews. At all, and are
bizarrely more closely related to the elephant. There are a

(15:50):
staggering amount of ants in the world, with over twelve
thousand different kinds. Most ants are social creatures, living in
vast colonies where they're all related to one another. It's
thought that for every human on the planet, there are
two point five million ants. That means there are twenty

(16:12):
quadrillion ants on planet Earth, which is an incredibly big number.
Thank you for your suggestions, Archer and Thomas. We hope
that you all enjoyed the story. Wherever you're listening in
the world, there are over four hundred animal tales now
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(16:34):
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for another great animal tale. Goodbye,