# Marty Coati

An episode of [Animal Tales: The Kids' Story Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1644596989), 28 Apr 2026, 17 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/71458769/at491_martycoati_mixdown.mp3

A handyman coati takes on his friend to help him but not everything goes to plan. 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: Yes, hello everyone, and welcome to the Animal Tales podcast,
[0:18] Speaker 1: where you suggest the animal for us to write a
[0:20] 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. You can listen
[0:28] Speaker 1: to all Animal Tales stories advert free via our premium service,
[0:33] Speaker 1: where you'll also get over ninety premium only stories. Find
[0:38] Speaker 1: out more in the text that accompanies this episode, and
[0:42] Speaker 1: remember for a tiny fee their advert free. Quinn is
[0:48] Speaker 1: from Connecticut, USA, and he would like a story with
[0:51] Speaker 1: a bald eagle and a kauwate. You can learn more
[0:55] Speaker 1: about these creatures in the animal facts after the story.
[0:59] Speaker 1: Now set up, relax and I'll begin. Marty Kuwati, the
[1:07] Speaker 1: little blue truck rolled along a lane of large houses
[1:10] Speaker 1: with impressive gardens. Rainforest City was a crowded place, so
[1:16] Speaker 1: to be able to own a house and garden meant
[1:18] Speaker 1: you had quite a lot of money. They all look
[1:21] Speaker 1: so big, said Marty Kati in the truck's passenger seat.
[1:26] Speaker 1: Ha laughed Quinn, the driver. You should see the places
[1:31] Speaker 1: up on Golden Heights. Those places are mansions. Quinn was
[1:37] Speaker 1: also a Kuwati and the truck belonged to him. He
[1:41] Speaker 1: was a handyman, helping people with the odd jobs they
[1:44] Speaker 1: didn't have the time or skills to do. Quinn turned
[1:48] Speaker 1: the truck into a curving driveway to stop in front
[1:52] Speaker 1: of a brick built house with flowers growing over the door.
[1:56] Speaker 1: This is it, said Quinn, undering his seat. Thank you
[2:02] Speaker 1: so much for letting me help to day, said Marty.
[2:06] Speaker 1: I've just not had much luck with jobs lately. Don't
[2:10] Speaker 1: mention it, smiled Quinn. That's what friends are for. They
[2:15] Speaker 1: are greeted by a well to do bald eagle in
[2:18] Speaker 1: a pink dress. Ah, wonderful, there you are. Do come in.
[2:24] Speaker 1: Quinn and Marty took a moment to collect their tool
[2:27] Speaker 1: boxes from the truck's rear, then followed the bald eagle inside.
[2:32] Speaker 1: How can we help you to day, Quinn asked. I
[2:36] Speaker 1: have two little tasks for you, said the bald eagle.
[2:41] Speaker 1: First of all, I have a shelf that needs putting
[2:43] Speaker 1: up in the kitchen. And secondly, she said, opening a
[2:47] Speaker 1: door to their right, I require this painting hanging in
[2:51] Speaker 1: my powder room. It was a small downstairs bathroom with
[2:56] Speaker 1: just a sink with a mirror above it and a toilet.
[3:00] Speaker 1: The painting was propped against the wall opposite the sink.
[3:05] Speaker 1: Look straightforward enough, said Quinn. I'm sure you have all
[3:09] Speaker 1: the tools and equipment that you need, continued the bald eagle.
[3:14] Speaker 1: But you'll find a few odds and ends should you
[3:16] Speaker 1: need them, in this cupboard. She pointed to a door
[3:20] Speaker 1: beside the powder room. Ok, Marty, you hang the picture,
[3:25] Speaker 1: I'll do the shelf. We should be done in no time,
[3:28] Speaker 1: said Quinn. Right o, said Marty. As Quinn followed the
[3:34] Speaker 1: homeowner to her kitchen, Marty Kowati set down his tool
[3:39] Speaker 1: box and, standing with his back to the sink, studied
[3:43] Speaker 1: the wall in front of him. My task is easy,
[3:47] Speaker 1: he said happily. He flipped open the tool box, selecting
[3:52] Speaker 1: a picture hook from a small plastic bag, and picked
[3:56] Speaker 1: up his hammer. The picture hook had a brass pinned
[4:00] Speaker 1: through it, so all Marty had to do was hold
[4:03] Speaker 1: the hook in the right place and tap the pin
[4:06] Speaker 1: into the wall. About here should do it, he said.
[4:10] Speaker 1: After choosing the spot, he drew back the hammer and bam,
[4:17] Speaker 1: missed the pin completely. Instead, the hammer hit the wall,
[4:23] Speaker 1: punching a round hole into it. Oh, crackers, said Marty Coati.
[4:30] Speaker 1: He stepped back to look at the damage. Quinn had
[4:34] Speaker 1: given him one small task, but somehow Marty had just
[4:38] Speaker 1: created another, fixing a hole in the wall. Maybe if
[4:43] Speaker 1: I hang the painting just a little higher, it will
[4:46] Speaker 1: cover up the hole and nobody will ever need to
[4:49] Speaker 1: know about it, decided the Kuwati. This, he thought was
[4:54] Speaker 1: the sensible answer, So he held the hook a little higher,
[4:59] Speaker 1: swung the hammer for a second time, and bam, he
[5:04] Speaker 1: put another hole in the wall. Oh crackers, said Marty Kuwati.
[5:12] Speaker 1: Never mind, I'll just have to go higher. Still. He
[5:16] Speaker 1: stretched up, swung and bam. Oh double crackers, said Marty
[5:24] Speaker 1: Kuwati as he pulled the hammer from the third hole. Unfortunately,
[5:31] Speaker 1: he couldn't reach any higher, and even if he did,
[5:34] Speaker 1: the painting wouldn't then cover up the bottom hole. I'll
[5:39] Speaker 1: just have to fix them, he said to himself. He
[5:43] Speaker 1: had a rummage in the tool box Quinn had put
[5:45] Speaker 1: together for him, but there was no filler in there.
[5:49] Speaker 1: That was when he remembered the cupboard the bald Eagle
[5:52] Speaker 1: had mentioned. He'd take a quick look inside. He found
[5:57] Speaker 1: various pots of paint that had been used around that house,
[6:01] Speaker 1: a handful of old tools, and, as luck would have it,
[6:05] Speaker 1: a tub of filler. It looked old, and said mister
[6:09] Speaker 1: spoonbill spackle on the outside. I didn't know they were
[6:14] Speaker 1: still making this, said Marty as he returned to the
[6:17] Speaker 1: powder room. He removed the lid, expecting to find a soft,
[6:23] Speaker 1: squidgy material that he could squish into the holes. But
[6:27] Speaker 1: what he found was a dry, dusty lump. It was
[6:31] Speaker 1: so old that it had gone rock hard. Oh crackers,
[6:37] Speaker 1: said Marty Kowati. Now what am I going to do?
[6:42] Speaker 1: That's when he noticed his hammer resting on the corner
[6:45] Speaker 1: of the sink. He set the lump of filler on
[6:48] Speaker 1: to the floor and gave it a whack, shattering it
[6:51] Speaker 1: into several large pieces and about a million little ones
[6:56] Speaker 1: all across the floor, not that Marty noticed them. He
[7:01] Speaker 1: was busy selecting three of the lumps that he then
[7:04] Speaker 1: pushed into the holes in the wall. None of them
[7:07] Speaker 1: fitted very well, and two of them stuck out like
[7:10] Speaker 1: warts on a nose, but he thought it was better
[7:14] Speaker 1: than nothing, and he wasn't finished yet. He returned to
[7:20] Speaker 1: the cupboard to root amongst the paint tins until he
[7:23] Speaker 1: found one labeled bathroom. This must be it, he said, happily.
[7:29] Speaker 1: He selected a screwdriver from his tool box and set
[7:33] Speaker 1: about trying to leave her up the lid. It was
[7:36] Speaker 1: harder than it looked. After much grunting, the lid flew
[7:41] Speaker 1: off to clatter into the toilet bowl while paint slopped
[7:45] Speaker 1: into the sink. Oh crackers, said Marty Kowati. He'd made
[7:52] Speaker 1: quite a mess. He then realized that he didn't have
[7:56] Speaker 1: a paint brush, but he was pleased to see something
[7:59] Speaker 1: he could use instead the toilet brush. This should work,
[8:05] Speaker 1: he decided, as he dipped it into the gloopy paint.
[8:09] Speaker 1: Thick droplet splodged onto the tiled floor as Marty set
[8:13] Speaker 1: about dabbing the hard lumps of filler. Once done, he
[8:18] Speaker 1: stepped back to take a look. It was a different color.
[8:23] Speaker 1: This paint was for the upstairs bathroom. Oh cheese and crackers,
[8:30] Speaker 1: said Marty Kowati. Maybe it wasn't so bad, he thought.
[8:36] Speaker 1: If he could just get the painting hung up, perhaps
[8:39] Speaker 1: everyone would look at that and not notice the state
[8:42] Speaker 1: of the wall. I'll try hanging it just off to
[8:46] Speaker 1: the side, he nodded to himself as he picked up
[8:50] Speaker 1: the hammer and hook again. This time, he was determined
[8:54] Speaker 1: to hit the brass pin properly. Concentrating carefully, he held
[9:00] Speaker 1: hammer against the pin, drew back his arm. Then bam,
[9:05] Speaker 1: the pin was forced into the wall, where it struck
[9:08] Speaker 1: a water pipe. A thin jet of water shot out
[9:13] Speaker 1: to strike Marty right in the eye. Ah. He screeched,
[9:19] Speaker 1: staggering backwards. As he dropped the hammer. It plopped into
[9:23] Speaker 1: the open paintin, sending a splatter of paint high enough
[9:27] Speaker 1: up the opposite wall to reach the ceiling. He ducked
[9:31] Speaker 1: out of the spray, blinking his eye rapidly to clear
[9:35] Speaker 1: his vision. This meant the water was now hitting the
[9:38] Speaker 1: opposite wall and pooling on the floor below. Panicking, Marty
[9:44] Speaker 1: pulled off the mirror and held it to deflect the
[9:47] Speaker 1: spray into the sink. Oh crackers, said Marty Korati. Now
[9:55] Speaker 1: he was stuck. He needed to hold the mirror to
[9:58] Speaker 1: angle the water, otherwise the powder room would flood. If
[10:03] Speaker 1: he couldn't find something to hold the mirror in place,
[10:06] Speaker 1: he'd be stood there all day. Stretching his foot out,
[10:11] Speaker 1: Marty hooked it over the tool box and dragged it
[10:14] Speaker 1: towards him, Grunting with the effort. He got it close
[10:18] Speaker 1: enough so he could peer inside. He couldn't see anything
[10:22] Speaker 1: that he could use, and the tool box itself wasn't
[10:26] Speaker 1: tall enough to rest the mirror on. Behind him, beside
[10:30] Speaker 1: the toilet was a small cupboard. Using his stripy tail,
[10:35] Speaker 1: he flicked the door open to reveal rolls and rolls
[10:39] Speaker 1: of toilet tissue. Aha, said Marty, I can use those.
[10:46] Speaker 1: This was quite a stretch, which meant the water when
[10:50] Speaker 1: almost anywhere but into the sink. But after much effort,
[10:54] Speaker 1: he made a tower of toilet tissue on the tool box.
[10:59] Speaker 1: Very carefully, using his hammer to prop it up, he
[11:02] Speaker 1: balanced the mirror on top. The stream of water was
[11:07] Speaker 1: miraculously hitting the sink. The dusty, damp, paint splattered picture
[11:13] Speaker 1: still hadn't been hung. I'd better try again, he thought,
[11:19] Speaker 1: but couldn't see the picture hook anywhere. What had he
[11:22] Speaker 1: done with it? His eyes came to rest on the wall,
[11:26] Speaker 1: where the water was jetting out. Of course, he tapped
[11:31] Speaker 1: it into the wall. I'll have to get another one,
[11:35] Speaker 1: he said, looking for the tool box, which of course
[11:39] Speaker 1: was now under a stack of toilet tissue rolls and
[11:43] Speaker 1: the balanced mirror. Oh crackers, muttered Marty. Karate. The edge
[11:51] Speaker 1: of the picture hook bag was poking out. Maybe he
[11:54] Speaker 1: could wriggle them free without having to move the mirror.
[11:59] Speaker 1: He gave the bag a tug, causing the tower to
[12:02] Speaker 1: rock dangerously. The mirror slipped, altering the angle of the
[12:07] Speaker 1: water so that it began puddling on the floor by
[12:10] Speaker 1: the doorway. Marty tugged the bag again, threatening to topple
[12:16] Speaker 1: the entire tower onto his head, and yet somehow it
[12:20] Speaker 1: remained standing. With a final tug, the plastic bag came free,
[12:26] Speaker 1: scattering hooks everywhere. Marty plucked one up. Now, he said,
[12:34] Speaker 1: looking about him, what did I do with my hammer?
[12:38] Speaker 1: It was only a little room, and yet somehow it
[12:42] Speaker 1: lost it. Quinn arrived in the doorway to find Marty
[12:47] Speaker 1: looking thoughtful as he stood in a puddle of fillar, dust,
[12:51] Speaker 1: paint and water. Marty, he cried with disbelief. That was
[12:58] Speaker 1: the moment that the soggy power of toilet tissue gave way.
[13:03] Speaker 1: The mirror fell forwards, and for the first time that day,
[13:07] Speaker 1: Marty did something right. He caught it, although this meant
[13:12] Speaker 1: he couldn't catch his hammer that had been propping it up.
[13:15] Speaker 1: It struck the tiled floor, shattering a tile. Oh crackers,
[13:22] Speaker 1: said Marty, Kowati. You only had one task to do,
[13:27] Speaker 1: Quinn said, in shock. Now I can count at least ten.
[13:33] Speaker 1: I really am sorry, Quinn replied Marty. I really haven't
[13:38] Speaker 1: been having much luck with jobs lately. The water leak
[13:43] Speaker 1: was becoming a serious problem. But talk about it later,
[13:47] Speaker 1: said Quinn. Right now, I need to turn off the water. Fortunately,
[13:54] Speaker 1: the bald Eagle had given them some space to do
[13:57] Speaker 1: their work by heading out into the garden to ten
[14:00] Speaker 1: and her plants. This meant Quinn could get on with
[14:03] Speaker 1: tidying up without her noticing, and being good at his job,
[14:08] Speaker 1: he had everything repaired and tidy in no time. How marvelous,
[14:14] Speaker 1: said the bald Eagle a short time later. My kitchen
[14:18] Speaker 1: shelf looks splendid, and the painting is hung exactly as
[14:22] Speaker 1: I imagined it. You did a superb job of that,
[14:26] Speaker 1: she said, looking at Marty. He smiled back, trying not
[14:31] Speaker 1: to look guilty. Could you both come back to morrow.
[14:36] Speaker 1: I've got plenty more that needs doing, she continued. Marty
[14:41] Speaker 1: was quite sure that Quinn would never ask him to
[14:44] Speaker 1: help again, so was surprised to hear him say, We'd
[14:48] Speaker 1: be delighted, Marty, and I will see you then. As
[14:53] Speaker 1: they loaded the tools into the truck, Marty asked, are
[14:57] Speaker 1: you sure you still want my help after today? You're
[15:01] Speaker 1: my friend, Marty said Quinn. Of course I want your help,
[15:07] Speaker 1: but tomorrow maybe we should do the tasks together. That way,
[15:12] Speaker 1: if there's a problem, I'll be there to sort it. Thanks, Quinn,
[15:17] Speaker 1: said Marty gratefully. I don't normally get a second chance. Well,
[15:24] Speaker 1: how are you going to learn from a mistake if
[15:26] Speaker 1: nobody lets you, smiled Quinn. As they climbed into their seats,
[15:31] Speaker 1: A horrible crunching sound filled the truck's cab. Marty had
[15:37] Speaker 1: sat on his lunch. What was that, asked Quinn, as
[15:42] Speaker 1: his friend pulled out a bag of crumbs. Crackers, said Marty.
[15:48] Speaker 1: Kuwati animal's fat bored eagles make enormous nests. They can
[15:58] Speaker 1: reach three meters across that's ten feet. Both the male
[16:03] Speaker 1: and female bald eagle construct it, and they'll chase away
[16:07] Speaker 1: other eagles that get too close. Kuwats, also called kuwati mundi's,
[16:14] Speaker 1: are from the same family as raccoons. There are four
[16:18] Speaker 1: different species of kouati found across the Americas. Their striped
[16:23] Speaker 1: tails can be as long as their bodies. Which they
[16:26] Speaker 1: use for balance and signaling to other Kuwats. They are omnivores,
[16:32] Speaker 1: meaning they eat small animals such as lizards and tarantulas,
[16:36] Speaker 1: as well as fruit and eggs. Thank you for your
[16:40] Speaker 1: great suggestions, Quinn. We hope that you all enjoyed the story.
[16:44] Speaker 1: Wherever you're listening in the world, don't forget to look
[16:48] Speaker 1: at our Animal Tales books over on Amazon Great bedtime reading,
[16:53] Speaker 1: especially if you've discovered the joy of reading for yourself.
[16:57] Speaker 1: Make sure you join us next time for another a
[17:00] Speaker 1: great animal tail. Good Bye,

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