koala Story: Qiqi the Koala
In a eucalyptus tree lived a tree spirit named An’an. Every night, she would sew herself a quilt made of eucalyptus leaves with green threads and wrap herself in it. An’an loved the smell of eucalyptus leaves so much that she would sniff them and soon drift off into a sweet sleep.
One night, while An’an was sleeping soundly, she suddenly felt someone biting her. It hurt so much! An’an jumped out of her eucalyptus leaf quilt in a flash, and to her surprise, it was a koala that had been biting her.
“No wonder, it didn’t taste good at all,” said the koala. It had mistaken An’an for eucalyptus leaves and tried to chew on her. Fortunately, An’an was a tree spirit and wasn’t eaten by the koala.
“Why have I never seen you before? Do you also live in this eucalyptus forest?” An’an asked curiously.
“My name is Qiqi. I used to stay in my mom’s pouch, but today I turned one year old, so I have to start feeding myself,” replied the koala.
“Hello there, little koala,” said a squirrel mom, popping out of a tree hole.
“Hello, Squirrel Mom,” Qiqi greeted back.
“Aren’t you a koala? Why did she call you ‘little koala’?” An’an asked, puzzled.
“‘Koala’ means ‘no water.’ We koalas can go for months without drinking water, and some koalas never drink water their entire lives. I’ve never had any water before. But don’t worry, we can get moisture from eucalyptus leaves,” Qiqi explained, and then started munching on a big bunch of eucalyptus leaves again.
Mischievous An’an blew gently at the eucalyptus leaves in Qiqi’s hands, and the leaves floated away. Qiqi quickly tried to catch them, but accidentally fell off the tree.
“Wonderful! It’s like manna from heaven, or a koala falling from a tree! Delicious and tender koala meat!” exclaimed a leopard that was passing by, almost crazy with excitement. But the leopard never imagined that the seemingly clumsy koala would jump into the nearby river and swim faster than a water rat!
－－－－－－Animal Knowledge Tip－－－－－－
Koalas live in Australia and are marsupials. Koala mothers have a pouch on their bodies, which is specifically used to nurture their babies.
Eucalyptus leaves are the main food source for koalas. Eucalyptus leaves are toxic to most mammals, but koalas have a special substance in their stomachs that can break down the toxins and oils in the leaves.
Koalas spend most of their time either eating or sleeping, with more than half of their day spent sleeping in trees.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
