# Treetop Strop

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 7 Oct 2025, 16 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/67930079/at432_treetop_strop_mixdown.mp3

It's time for a red panda to find herself a new tree to call her home. Written especially for this podcast by Simon. 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: Yea. Hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast,
[0:18] Speaker 1: where you suggest the animal for us to write a
[0:21] Speaker 1: story about. My name's Josephine and I've got a brand
[0:24] Speaker 1: new animal story here just for you. We always welcome
[0:29] Speaker 1: suggestions for animals for our stories, but please bear in
[0:32] Speaker 1: mind we receive lots and premium members get priority. You
[0:37] Speaker 1: can find out how to become a Premium member in
[0:40] Speaker 1: the text that accompanies this episode. Savannah is from New
[0:45] Speaker 1: South Wales in Australia, and she would like a story
[0:48] Speaker 1: with a squirrel and a red panda. You can learn
[0:52] Speaker 1: more about these creatures in the animal facts after the story.
[0:56] Speaker 1: Now settle back, relax, and I'll begin tree top stop.
[1:04] Speaker 1: When a red panda grows up, there comes a day
[1:07] Speaker 1: when it's time to say good bye to their family
[1:10] Speaker 1: and go in search of a home of their own.
[1:13] Speaker 1: Savannah was such a red panda, and to day she
[1:17] Speaker 1: was setting out to find her own home. She gave
[1:21] Speaker 1: her family a tearful hug, took a final look around
[1:24] Speaker 1: the branches of the tree she had grown up in,
[1:27] Speaker 1: then bravely headed off to find a tree of her
[1:30] Speaker 1: very own. Savannah lived in a forest that grew amongst
[1:35] Speaker 1: the foothills of the Himalayan Mountains. Being a forest, there
[1:40] Speaker 1: were plenty of trees to choose from, but Savannah was
[1:43] Speaker 1: determined to find one that was just right. She wanted
[1:48] Speaker 1: one that faced the sun when it rose in the morning,
[1:51] Speaker 1: but wouldn't be too high up the slopes that it
[1:53] Speaker 1: would be chilly at night. She wanted one with lots
[1:57] Speaker 1: of branches to climb amongst, and a good spot to
[2:00] Speaker 1: make her bed. And she wanted a tree that was
[2:04] Speaker 1: so old that its top stood tall of the others
[2:08] Speaker 1: around it, giving her a beautiful view in the dappled sunshine.
[2:14] Speaker 1: The red panda made her way through the hills, stopping
[2:18] Speaker 1: every now and again to study a lightly tree, But
[2:22] Speaker 1: time and time again, the tree was either in the
[2:24] Speaker 1: wrong place, had too few branches, or was too short.
[2:30] Speaker 1: Over the course of the day, Savannah had walked very far,
[2:34] Speaker 1: and by the evening she was weary from all the effort.
[2:38] Speaker 1: Just as she was losing hope of finding anything suitable
[2:41] Speaker 1: that day, she came to the roots of a large,
[2:44] Speaker 1: sprawling tree that was simply perfect. It would face the
[2:49] Speaker 1: right way come morning, it wasn't too far up the
[2:53] Speaker 1: slopes to be chilly at night, It had plenty of branches,
[2:57] Speaker 1: and it was larger than all the tree around it.
[3:02] Speaker 1: Relieved and happy, Savannah climbed its trunk, made herself the
[3:06] Speaker 1: simplest of nests amongst the crook of some branches, and
[3:10] Speaker 1: fell into a welcome sleep. As the morning sun rose
[3:15] Speaker 1: over the neighboring mountain, it cast a warm light upon
[3:19] Speaker 1: the red pander's body. She woke up smiling and content.
[3:24] Speaker 1: This tree was everything she had hoped for. Savannah spent
[3:29] Speaker 1: the morning exploring the branches, starting at the tip and
[3:33] Speaker 1: making her way down. She was very pleased by what
[3:37] Speaker 1: she saw. Now all she needed to do was make
[3:41] Speaker 1: a proper nest. Last night was okay, but if this
[3:45] Speaker 1: was going to be her home, she'd need something much
[3:48] Speaker 1: stronger and long lasting. For that, she was going to
[3:53] Speaker 1: need plenty of thin, flexible sticks, and to find them
[3:57] Speaker 1: she'd need to return to the forest floor. So back
[4:01] Speaker 1: down the tree's trunk she went. It just so happened
[4:06] Speaker 1: that the red panda wasn't the only animal in the
[4:08] Speaker 1: mountain's shadow in search of a new home. High in
[4:13] Speaker 1: the branches of the next tree was an orange bellied
[4:16] Speaker 1: him a layan squirrel he like Savannah the previous evening,
[4:21] Speaker 1: was gazing at the big old tree and thinking what
[4:25] Speaker 1: a wonderful home it would make. With a powerful leap,
[4:29] Speaker 1: he sprang across the gap, landing effortlessly on the other side. Oh,
[4:35] Speaker 1: this is exactly what I'm looking for, said the squirrel
[4:39] Speaker 1: as he glanced around. He jumped from branch to branch,
[4:44] Speaker 1: nodding happily at what he saw, until he came to
[4:48] Speaker 1: the cluster of sticks that the red panda had used
[4:51] Speaker 1: as her nest. My my, what's this mess. I can't
[4:55] Speaker 1: have this cluttering up my new home, tutted the squirrel.
[5:00] Speaker 1: He pulled the nest apart and tossed the collection of
[5:04] Speaker 1: sticks to the forest floor below. With this done, the
[5:09] Speaker 1: squirrel made his way down the trunk until he found
[5:12] Speaker 1: a pleasing hole just above the spreading roots. This will
[5:17] Speaker 1: make a good place to sleep, he grinned. There was
[5:21] Speaker 1: a fern growing amongst the roots, so he chewed through
[5:24] Speaker 1: the fronds and stuffed them into the hole to make
[5:28] Speaker 1: it cozy to sleep on. Perfect he said, Now all
[5:33] Speaker 1: I need to do is find something to eat, and
[5:37] Speaker 1: so off he went amongst the neighboring trees to find it.
[5:42] Speaker 1: Savannah the red Panda, had been busy returning to the
[5:46] Speaker 1: tree with her arms full of sticks. That's silly of me,
[5:51] Speaker 1: she said. There's a pile of perfectly good sticks right
[5:55] Speaker 1: here beneath the tree. I'm not sure how I missed
[5:59] Speaker 1: them earlier. Of course, she couldn't know that these were
[6:03] Speaker 1: the sticks hurled to the ground by the squirrel. Climbing
[6:08] Speaker 1: the tree with an armful of nest building material would
[6:11] Speaker 1: be difficult, so Savannah decided to do one stick at
[6:15] Speaker 1: a time, Placing her carefully gathered pile amongst the roots,
[6:20] Speaker 1: she set off up the tree, looking forward to improving
[6:24] Speaker 1: her nest. But when she arrived at the crook in
[6:27] Speaker 1: the branches, there was no nest to be seen. I'm mistaken,
[6:33] Speaker 1: she said to herself. I must have built my bed
[6:37] Speaker 1: in a different part of the tree, But no matter
[6:40] Speaker 1: how much she looked, she couldn't see it anywhere. She
[6:44] Speaker 1: even began to doubt that she had the right tree.
[6:49] Speaker 1: Never mind, Savannah said, returning to the crook of branches,
[6:54] Speaker 1: I'll just have to start again. She bent the first
[6:58] Speaker 1: stick into place, then went to get a second. By
[7:03] Speaker 1: the time she went down for the sixth stick, the
[7:05] Speaker 1: new nest was really taking shape. Meanwhile, the squirrel had
[7:11] Speaker 1: filled his belly and was returning through the tree tops.
[7:15] Speaker 1: He landed in the upper branches of his new home
[7:18] Speaker 1: and was surprised to see a pile of twisted sticks
[7:21] Speaker 1: in a crook of branches. Didn't I just clear a
[7:25] Speaker 1: mess like this, he asked himself. I must have missed
[7:30] Speaker 1: this one. I best clear it now. He got to
[7:34] Speaker 1: work taking it apart. Savannah saw none of this. She'd
[7:40] Speaker 1: used up the pile of sticks she'd collected, so was
[7:43] Speaker 1: now gathering up the sticks that she had seen scattered
[7:46] Speaker 1: across the ground. This took her around the tree just
[7:50] Speaker 1: far enough to spy the green fronds of a fern
[7:53] Speaker 1: poking from a hole in the tree's trunk. What a
[7:57] Speaker 1: curious sight, said the red pand such a mess spoiling
[8:02] Speaker 1: my nice new home. I'd best take a moment to
[8:05] Speaker 1: clear this up. She tugged out the fronds, carrying them
[8:10] Speaker 1: a short distance away so not to litter the ground.
[8:14] Speaker 1: With that done, she then picked up a stick from
[8:17] Speaker 1: the ground and headed back up to her nest, Unable
[8:21] Speaker 1: to see on the other side of the tree the
[8:24] Speaker 1: tumbling sticks being dropped by the squirrel. I can't wait
[8:30] Speaker 1: to snuggle into my soft bed, grinned the squirrel as
[8:34] Speaker 1: he scampered down the trunk, But when he reached the roots,
[8:38] Speaker 1: he found his hole was completely empty. My ferns, he cried,
[8:45] Speaker 1: my lovely soft bed, Where has it gone? Up in
[8:50] Speaker 1: the tree, Savannah was arriving at the crook of branches.
[8:55] Speaker 1: My sticks, she cried, my lovely new nest, Where has
[9:01] Speaker 1: it gone? She scrabbled to and fro along the branches,
[9:06] Speaker 1: but couldn't see any trace of her hard work. With
[9:10] Speaker 1: a big sigh, she said, well, I guess I'll just
[9:14] Speaker 1: have to start again. Starting with the stick she had
[9:18] Speaker 1: carried up, she bent it into place, then returned to
[9:22] Speaker 1: the forest floor for another. As she picked one up,
[9:27] Speaker 1: her eye caught a glimpse of green near to the
[9:30] Speaker 1: tree's base. The hole had a piece of fern sticking out.
[9:36] Speaker 1: I must have missed that bit, she said. Wanting to
[9:40] Speaker 1: do a proper job, she pulled it out. Hey shouted
[9:45] Speaker 1: a cross sounding voice. It was an orange bellied himalay
[9:49] Speaker 1: and squirrel with an armful of fern fronds. What are
[9:53] Speaker 1: you doing at my tree? Your tree, replied Savannah. I
[9:59] Speaker 1: think you'll find this is my tree. No, it's not,
[10:04] Speaker 1: insisted the squirrel. I'm making a bed in that hole.
[10:08] Speaker 1: I saw it first. Well, actually, I think you'll find
[10:13] Speaker 1: that I saw it first, Savannah said, as politely as
[10:17] Speaker 1: she could muster. I spent the night up in the
[10:20] Speaker 1: tree in my nest. I didn't see any nest, hrumphed
[10:25] Speaker 1: the squirrel. Just an ugly pile of sticks that I
[10:29] Speaker 1: tossed to the ground. That was my nest, shrieked Savannah,
[10:35] Speaker 1: shaking her hand angrily. Unfortunately, it was the hand holding
[10:40] Speaker 1: the piece of ferns she just removed from the hole
[10:44] Speaker 1: my bed, yelled the squirrel, you're holding my bed, Savannah
[10:51] Speaker 1: gasped when she realized what she'd done. I'm terribly sorry.
[10:56] Speaker 1: I didn't realize. But the squirrel wasn't listening. He pointed
[11:02] Speaker 1: accusingly at the ground and said, so these sticks are
[11:06] Speaker 1: your bed, are they? He snatched one up, gripping it
[11:10] Speaker 1: with two hands as he raised it high. He then
[11:14] Speaker 1: brought it down across his knee, snapping it in two.
[11:18] Speaker 1: I'd like to see you bend that one into a nest,
[11:22] Speaker 1: he declared. This was all getting out of hand. Savannah
[11:27] Speaker 1: knew she had two choices. She could retaliate and do
[11:32] Speaker 1: something equally as mean to the squirrel, but chances were
[11:36] Speaker 1: that he'd then use that as an excuse to do
[11:38] Speaker 1: something right back again. Fortunately, the red panda was smart
[11:44] Speaker 1: enough not to fall into that trap, so Savannah took
[11:49] Speaker 1: the second choice open to her. Wait, she said, this
[11:54] Speaker 1: is nothing but a misunderstanding. Misunderstanding, repeated the squirrel. But
[12:02] Speaker 1: you destroyed my bed, but I didn't know it was
[12:06] Speaker 1: your bed, said Savannah, so I'm sorry. The squirrel snorted
[12:13] Speaker 1: and crossed his arms. He was still annoyed, but he
[12:16] Speaker 1: realized he was just as guilty. He'd poured the red
[12:20] Speaker 1: panda's nest a part not once, but twice. Well, I
[12:26] Speaker 1: guess i'm sorry too, he said, sounding defeated. I suppose
[12:32] Speaker 1: i'd better start looking for a new tree. You were
[12:35] Speaker 1: clearly here first. I'll be on my way. There's no
[12:40] Speaker 1: need for that, said Savannah. Kindly. This is a big tree.
[12:45] Speaker 1: There's more than enough room for both of us if
[12:48] Speaker 1: you want to stay. The squirrel smiled. I would like that,
[12:54] Speaker 1: he said. So. For the next ten minutes, Savannah helped
[13:00] Speaker 1: the squirrel find the best and softest ferns they could see,
[13:04] Speaker 1: and together they filled the hole for the squirrel's bed. Then,
[13:09] Speaker 1: as Savannah bent to stick into place, the squirrel would
[13:13] Speaker 1: bring up the next one. In no time, they'd constructed
[13:17] Speaker 1: the perfect nest together. It looks good, admitted the squirrel
[13:22] Speaker 1: as he admired their handiwork, I like it, admitted Savannah.
[13:29] Speaker 1: I think we're going to be very happy here. What
[13:33] Speaker 1: made you choose this tree in the first place, asked
[13:36] Speaker 1: the squirrel. Lots of reasons, said Savannah, but the best
[13:42] Speaker 1: one is up there. They climbed to the topmost branch,
[13:47] Speaker 1: and Savannah gestured to the beautiful view across the valley.
[13:52] Speaker 1: It's amazing, grinned the squirrel. And this particular view is
[13:58] Speaker 1: all ours to endure whenever we like, said the red panda.
[14:04] Speaker 1: I think we just might have the best home in
[14:06] Speaker 1: all the forest. And do you know what she just
[14:11] Speaker 1: might have been right? Animal fact, the squirrel in our
[14:19] Speaker 1: story is an orange bellied Himalayan squirrel. These are found
[14:24] Speaker 1: in China, India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Mayanmar, and Nepal. It's one
[14:31] Speaker 1: of two hundred and seventy nine different species found across
[14:35] Speaker 1: the world. Red pandas like to live in trees, close
[14:39] Speaker 1: to bamboo and water. They spend most of their time
[14:43] Speaker 1: in trees and are excellent climbers. They make lots of
[14:48] Speaker 1: different noises, including barks, grunts, squeals, and growls. The sounds
[14:55] Speaker 1: vary depending on the situation, such as making a hooting
[14:59] Speaker 1: noise if a coached by another red panda. Thank you
[15:03] Speaker 1: for your suggestion, Savannah. We hope that you all enjoyed
[15:07] Speaker 1: the story. Wherever you're listening in the world, there are
[15:10] Speaker 1: over four hundred animal tales now and all are available
[15:14] Speaker 1: on our premium service alongside over sixty premium only stories
[15:20] Speaker 1: for a tiny fee. They are all advert free, and
[15:24] Speaker 1: don't forget to look for the Animal Tales books on Amazon.
[15:28] Speaker 1: Make sure you join us next time for another great
[15:31] Speaker 1: animal tale. Good Bye,

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