# The Not-Scary Fruit Bat

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 7 Jun 2026, 18 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/72369747/at502_the_not_scary_fruitbat_mixdown.mp3

Should bats be scary? One particular flamingo seems to think so. Written especially for this podcast by Alice. If you enjoyed this story, please do leave us a review. And, if you'd like to suggest an animal for a future Animal Tales story, you can do so by emailing podcast@animaltales.uk. We would love to hear from you. Animal Tales Books! Collections of Animal Tales children’s stories are available to buy exclusively at Amazon. Simply search for Animal Tales Short Stories or follow this link: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CLJQZ9C9?binding=paperback&ref=dbs_dp_sirpi Become a PREMIUM Subscriber You can now enjoy Animal Tales by becoming a Premium Subscriber. This gets you: • All episodes in our catalogue advert free • Bonus Premium-only episodes (one per week) which will never be used on the main podcast • We guarantee to use one of your animal suggestions in a story You can sign up through Apple Podcasts or through Supercast and there are both monthly and yearly plans available. Discover a brand new story every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – just for you! You can find more Animal Tales at www.animaltales.uk A Note About The Adverts 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.

## Transcript

[0:12] Speaker 1: Yo, Hello, My name's Josephine and this is the Animal
[0:18] Speaker 1: Tales podcast where you suggest the animals featured in our stories.
[0:23] Speaker 1: There are new tales to enjoy every Monday and Wednesday,
[0:26] Speaker 1: with a third premium only story every Friday. If you
[0:31] Speaker 1: know someone that might enjoy Animal Tales, please do mention
[0:35] Speaker 1: us to them. Lunar and Banksy are from Melbourne, Australia
[0:41] Speaker 1: and they would like a story with a fruit bat,
[0:44] Speaker 1: a flamingo, and a red back spider. You can learn
[0:48] Speaker 1: more about these creatures in the animal facts after the story. Okay,
[0:53] Speaker 1: are you ready? That's good, then I'll begin the not
[0:59] Speaker 1: scary fruit Bat. It was breakfast time and Luna was
[1:05] Speaker 1: very hungry. It was time to eat. Finding a nice
[1:09] Speaker 1: flat rock, the fruit bat laid out her favorite breakfast treats,
[1:14] Speaker 1: a papaya, some figs, a couple of plums, and a
[1:18] Speaker 1: nice juicy red apple. Just looking at the spread made
[1:23] Speaker 1: Luna's mouth water. She was halfway through the papaya juice,
[1:29] Speaker 1: dribbling down her chin when she heard a chuckle. Well
[1:34] Speaker 1: that's something you don't see every day, said an amused flamingo.
[1:39] Speaker 1: Would you like to share? Luna asked, offering him a ripe,
[1:43] Speaker 1: shiny plum. No, I do not, the flamingo replied firmly,
[1:50] Speaker 1: And you shouldn't either. Bats shouldn't be eating fruit. They
[1:55] Speaker 1: should be eating bugs or drinking blood. Oh no, not me,
[2:01] Speaker 1: said Luna, understanding the flamingo's confusion. I don't eat that
[2:06] Speaker 1: sort of thing. I'm a fruit bat. I like fruit.
[2:11] Speaker 1: That may be so, said the flamingo. But eating fruit
[2:16] Speaker 1: is not very scary scary, Luna repeated, feeling uncomfortable. Why
[2:24] Speaker 1: would I need to be scary because you're a bat?
[2:29] Speaker 1: The flamingo said, bats are scary, you know Halloween vampires
[2:36] Speaker 1: flying around at night. I could be scary, Luna said, defensively.
[2:43] Speaker 1: I am quite big and I have sharp teeth. Pah,
[2:48] Speaker 1: the flamingo snorted, it's not just how you look. You
[2:53] Speaker 1: have to act scary and you're not. Having had his say,
[2:59] Speaker 1: the flamingo left, head held high, leaving poor Luna alone.
[3:05] Speaker 1: Was the flamingo right? Was she really supposed to be scary? Well?
[3:12] Speaker 1: I think he was being awfully unfair, said Luna's apple.
[3:16] Speaker 1: At least she thought it was her apple until she
[3:20] Speaker 1: noticed a small green caterpillar poking out of it. In
[3:24] Speaker 1: my opinion that Flamingo doesn't know what he's talking about.
[3:29] Speaker 1: Oh why, Luna asked, Just because you don't look scary
[3:35] Speaker 1: doesn't mean you can't be. The caterpillar said, there are
[3:40] Speaker 1: other ways to be scary. I don't feel very scary.
[3:45] Speaker 1: Luna admitted, you should talk to Banksy. The caterpillar suggested
[3:52] Speaker 1: she lives by the old bottle tree. Okay, I'll do that,
[3:57] Speaker 1: said Luna, cheering up slightly. The old bottle tree was
[4:02] Speaker 1: brittle and leafless, with many cracks across its gray, lifeless trunk.
[4:08] Speaker 1: Just the sight of it gave Luna the shivers as
[4:11] Speaker 1: she flew towards it. Hullo, she called out, is Banksy here?
[4:19] Speaker 1: A small black spider with a red line on its
[4:22] Speaker 1: abdomen crawled out. Who's asking, wondered the spider suspiciously. I'm Luna,
[4:31] Speaker 1: said the fruit bat, looking surprised. I was told you
[4:35] Speaker 1: might be able to help me be scarier. You look disappointed,
[4:41] Speaker 1: said the spider. I'm sorry, said Luna. It's just that
[4:46] Speaker 1: I thought you'd be a bit bigger. Size isn't everything,
[4:51] Speaker 1: said Banksy. I'll have you know I'm a red back spider,
[4:55] Speaker 1: one of the most venomous creatures in all the forest.
[4:59] Speaker 1: Most animals are terrified of me. I see, said Luna.
[5:06] Speaker 1: If such a tiny spider were so scary, then surely
[5:09] Speaker 1: a big bat like her could be. Could you teach
[5:13] Speaker 1: me how to be scary? Banksy's eight little eyes narrowed
[5:19] Speaker 1: as she considered this. Perhaps, she said, if you follow
[5:24] Speaker 1: my rule. I'm good at following rules, said Luna, proudly,
[5:31] Speaker 1: glad to hear it, said the spider. That rule is
[5:35] Speaker 1: that you don't have to look scary to be scary.
[5:39] Speaker 1: It's more about how you behave, how you present yourself
[5:43] Speaker 1: to others, and the stories they hear about you. I
[5:49] Speaker 1: like stories, said Luna, but I'm not sure I fully understand.
[5:54] Speaker 1: Can you show me what to do? The red back
[5:58] Speaker 1: spider tapped her foot, king most animals avoid me, said Banksy.
[6:05] Speaker 1: It would be nice to have someone to talk to
[6:07] Speaker 1: for a while. Okay, I'll help you. We'll start with
[6:12] Speaker 1: how you behave. Come on, follow me, Banksy led Luna
[6:17] Speaker 1: a short distance away from the old bottle tree to
[6:20] Speaker 1: where a fallen log lay across the forest floor. I
[6:24] Speaker 1: want you to hide behind here and wait for an
[6:27] Speaker 1: animal to pass, said the red back spider, then jump
[6:32] Speaker 1: out and give them a fright. It's a really easy
[6:35] Speaker 1: way to scare someone. Luna nodded she could do that.
[6:41] Speaker 1: Jumping out and surprising someone didn't sound too hard. Someone's coming,
[6:47] Speaker 1: Banksy whispered. Ready, Luna nodded. It was a wombat, calmly
[6:55] Speaker 1: going about his business. As he passed the log, Luna pounced. Wooo,
[7:03] Speaker 1: she said, waving her wings above her head. The woe
[7:07] Speaker 1: bat stumbled sideways in surprise, stubbing his toe on a root. Ouch.
[7:14] Speaker 1: He cried, rubbing his injured toe. Oh no, Luna wailed,
[7:21] Speaker 1: rushing over to help him. Are you all right? No, no, no,
[7:27] Speaker 1: said Banksy, scuttling up onto the log. You don't help
[7:32] Speaker 1: the animals you're trying to scare. But he hurt himself,
[7:37] Speaker 1: Luna said, giving the wombat a comforting hug. Is that better? Yes,
[7:44] Speaker 1: thank you, said the wombat bravely. Banksy was not impressed.
[7:50] Speaker 1: Did she at least scare you, the spider asked the wombat. Well,
[7:56] Speaker 1: to be honest, I was more surprised than scared, he admitted,
[8:01] Speaker 1: But I did like the ghost sound she made. That
[8:05] Speaker 1: was good, Banksy sighed. Next time, Luna try, saying boo.
[8:12] Speaker 1: Now come back here, we'll have to try that again.
[8:17] Speaker 1: Can't we try something else? Luna asked, I don't really
[8:21] Speaker 1: want to hurt anyone again. Very well, groaned the red
[8:27] Speaker 1: back spider. If that's what you want. Happy that the
[8:32] Speaker 1: wombat was okay, Luna allowed Banksy to guide her deeper
[8:36] Speaker 1: into the forest. Next, we'll concentrate on how you present
[8:41] Speaker 1: yourself to others, said Banksy. What does that mean, asked Luna. Well,
[8:49] Speaker 1: I may be small, but animals are scared by my
[8:53] Speaker 1: creepy crawliness and the fact that I hide in small,
[8:56] Speaker 1: dark spaces. You're a large bat, so we need to
[9:01] Speaker 1: work with that. They arrived at a wide grassy clearing
[9:06] Speaker 1: where a group of wallabies were grazing. Bats have distinctive wings,
[9:12] Speaker 1: so use those and show those teeth, Banksy instructed, make
[9:17] Speaker 1: sure those wallabies see what you've got, and you'll soon
[9:21] Speaker 1: cause a wallaby stampede. Okay, nodded Luna. I can do that.
[9:29] Speaker 1: She launched into the air, flying over the wallabi's heads
[9:33] Speaker 1: with her wings spread wide and teeth bared. You all
[9:38] Speaker 1: right there, asked one of the wallabies. Why the funny face,
[9:43] Speaker 1: asked another, are you feeling poorly. Ah, she's not going
[9:48] Speaker 1: to be sick, is she asked another. After a few
[9:52] Speaker 1: moments of this, Luna returned to Banksy. One of them
[9:57] Speaker 1: was scared, I think, suggested Lue, only because he thought
[10:02] Speaker 1: you might be sick, pointed out the spider. Couldn't you
[10:06] Speaker 1: have tried to act a little more, I don't know dangerous.
[10:11] Speaker 1: I did my best, Luna said, and she had. She
[10:16] Speaker 1: just didn't have it in her to act scarily. All right,
[10:21] Speaker 1: Banksy said, If you can't act scary, we'll try something else.
[10:27] Speaker 1: The final way of being scary is by having others
[10:31] Speaker 1: already believe that you are. Lots of animals have never
[10:35] Speaker 1: met me, but they know how dangerous I am through
[10:38] Speaker 1: the stories they've heard. If we can convinced just one
[10:42] Speaker 1: animal that you're scary, then we can just wait for
[10:46] Speaker 1: the rumor to spread. I can see that working, Luna said,
[10:52] Speaker 1: So what do we need to do to work? They
[10:57] Speaker 1: needed just the right animal to talk to, and it
[11:00] Speaker 1: didn't take long to find one. Beside a pond, Banksy
[11:05] Speaker 1: spider platypus. Wait here, she said to the fruit bat
[11:10] Speaker 1: before scuttling away. The platypus was shocked to see a
[11:15] Speaker 1: fearsome red back spider heading towards him, but reminded himself
[11:20] Speaker 1: that it couldn't reach him in the middle of his pond.
[11:24] Speaker 1: Um Can I help you, he asked nervously. You bet
[11:29] Speaker 1: you can, said the spider, pretending to be afraid. There's
[11:34] Speaker 1: a big, bad animal in these woods with sharp teeth
[11:37] Speaker 1: and leathery wings. I'm so scared that I'm having to
[11:41] Speaker 1: run away. You've not seen it near here, have you.
[11:46] Speaker 1: The platypus gulped. There was an animal out there that
[11:50] Speaker 1: a red back spider was afraid of. What sort of
[11:54] Speaker 1: nightmare creature could this be? N No, no, trembled the platypus,
[12:00] Speaker 1: and I don't want to see it either. It travels
[12:04] Speaker 1: at night, swooping through the darkness, continued Banksy. What type
[12:11] Speaker 1: of animal is it, muttered the shaking platypus, A gray
[12:16] Speaker 1: headed flying fox, Banksy said, imagine that a fox that
[12:23] Speaker 1: flies quite suddenly. The platypus wasn't looking afraid at all.
[12:30] Speaker 1: That's just another name for a fruit bat, the platypus said,
[12:36] Speaker 1: are you talking about Luna? At the sound of her name,
[12:41] Speaker 1: Luna lifted her head from her hiding place. Hey, Gordon,
[12:46] Speaker 1: She said, The platypus laughed. Oh you really had me
[12:51] Speaker 1: going there. He said to the spider, I almost believed you.
[12:57] Speaker 1: Every One knows that Luna wouldn't hurt a fly, they do,
[13:02] Speaker 1: asked Banksy, Sure, said Gordon, Luna's one of the nicest
[13:08] Speaker 1: animals I know. The last thing Luna is is scary.
[13:14] Speaker 1: Banksy gave up, returning to Luna. Well, that didn't work either,
[13:21] Speaker 1: and by the sounds of it, was never going to work. Sorry,
[13:26] Speaker 1: Luna sighed, this is silly. I don't really know why
[13:31] Speaker 1: I even tried. See why exactly did you try, Banksy asked.
[13:38] Speaker 1: You're clearly not naturally a scary animal, so what made
[13:42] Speaker 1: you come to me and ask for my help. Someone
[13:47] Speaker 1: told me that bats are supposed to be scary, she replied,
[13:51] Speaker 1: so I thought I ought to try. Listen, Luna, said
[13:57] Speaker 1: the red backspider. You should try to be what others
[14:01] Speaker 1: say you should be. You should be who you want
[14:04] Speaker 1: to be, and if that's the thoughtful, kind and friendly
[14:08] Speaker 1: fruit bat that you are, then well there's nothing wrong
[14:12] Speaker 1: with that. Thank you, grinned Luna. You're right. Look, you've
[14:20] Speaker 1: been so good to me. Please let me give you
[14:23] Speaker 1: a lift home. Thank you very much, said Banksy, scurrying
[14:28] Speaker 1: on to Luna's back. But before Luna could take to
[14:32] Speaker 1: the air, something large and pink landed in Gordon's pond.
[14:38] Speaker 1: Oh no, not you, again, grumbled the flamingo, off to
[14:43] Speaker 1: eat some more fruit. Are you actually? I was? Began
[14:49] Speaker 1: Luna before the flamingo cut her off. You're a disgrace
[14:54] Speaker 1: to all bats, said the flamingo rudely as he marched
[14:58] Speaker 1: up to her. In fact, you're a disgrace to all
[15:02] Speaker 1: flying things. This brought the flamingo close enough to notice
[15:08] Speaker 1: movement on the fruit bat's shoulder. His eyes went as
[15:12] Speaker 1: wide as dinner plates. Don't move, the flamingo hissed. There's
[15:18] Speaker 1: a highly venomous spider on you, I know, said Luna,
[15:24] Speaker 1: not sounding the least bit bothered. Put But what if
[15:28] Speaker 1: it bites you, said the flamingo, recoiling in fright. Aren't
[15:34] Speaker 1: you afraid it will bite you? Oh? I'm not scared
[15:38] Speaker 1: about that, said Luna, who truly believed that Banksy would
[15:43] Speaker 1: never do such a thing to her. Come a bit
[15:46] Speaker 1: closer and say hello. No, I will not, screamed the
[15:52] Speaker 1: flamingo as he turned and ran, shedding pink feathers everywhere. Well,
[16:00] Speaker 1: you look at that, said the spider. Luna. The fruit
[16:04] Speaker 1: bat scared someone at last. To be fair, we both did,
[16:10] Speaker 1: said Luna, and on this occasion, I don't feel bad
[16:15] Speaker 1: about it at all. Animal fat. Gray headed flying foxes
[16:26] Speaker 1: or fruit bats, are the largest bats in Australia, with
[16:31] Speaker 1: a wingspan of up to one meter that's just over
[16:34] Speaker 1: three feet. Despite the name fruit bat, they also eat
[16:39] Speaker 1: nectar and pollen. Flamingo's wingspans are almost double that of
[16:45] Speaker 1: the gray headed flying foxes. Their diet consists of brine, shrimp, insects, mollusks,
[16:52] Speaker 1: and plankton. The red backed spider is also called the
[16:56] Speaker 1: Australian black widow, with females being much larger than males.
[17:02] Speaker 1: They'll tackle most creatures that get caught up in their web,
[17:05] Speaker 1: which will mostly be insects, but can include other spiders, lizards,
[17:11] Speaker 1: and even mice. Thank you for your suggestions, Luna and Banksy.
[17:16] Speaker 1: We hope you enjoyed the story, and thank you to
[17:19] Speaker 1: all of you across the world for listening to it.
[17:23] Speaker 1: In addition to the five hundred free to listen stories,
[17:27] Speaker 1: there are over one hundred extra stories for our premium
[17:31] Speaker 1: members only, available through Apple or Supercast, and for a
[17:36] Speaker 1: tiny fee. All the stories are advert free. Join us
[17:41] Speaker 1: next time for another great animal tale. Good Bye,

Shows are listed from Apple Podcasts' charts and directory, and Podcast Index where it is used. Every show and episode belongs to its publisher and plays from the publisher's own feed; this site hosts none of them.