The Animal Show- Seahorse and Platypus Part 2

Jake: And now, let’s see what’s cooking in the kitchen with Yves St. La Roche.

Stinky: I just hope it doesn’t include eggs.

(cuts to Yves in his kitchen)

Yves: Bonjour, bonjour little animals out there! Today, since our episode is about animal babies, I decided to show you how to milk a cow. (blows whistle, and a cow arrives) As you know, babies drink lots of milk, and the best milk comes from cows. The pink things here are the udders, and that’s where a cow’s milk comes from. You yank the udders, and the milk comes out! (pulls on the cow’s udder, and milk gets squirted into the bucket) Simple, no? (continues milking the cow)

Cow: This is so degrading. Milking for a bug? I’m better off at a rodeo! (runs away)

Yves: Will you look at that? No cow means no more milk. (picks up the bucket) But at least I have enough to give to a mouse!

(cuts back to Stinky and Jake)

Jake: And now, all the way from Australia…

Stinky: Australia.

Jake: Please welcome Bill the Platypus!

Bill: Hi, Stinky. Hi, Jake. (looks at Stinky’s egg) Hey, I didn’t know skunks laid eggs.

Stinky: I’m gonna be the first skunk to ever hatch an egg!

Bill: Sorry, but only platypuses and echidnas lay eggs.

Jake: Do you have any movies of platypuses you brought from home!

Bill: Of course I do!

As you see, we platypuses love to swim.

Stinky: Did you get that from your parents?

Bill: What are you talking about?

Stinky: If a beaver and a duck have a baby, they’ll get a platypus!

Bill: Sorry, but that’s false! Ducks are birds. Platypuses and beavers are mammals. Beavers are rodents, while I’m a monotreme, a group of mammals that lays eggs.

Jake: Also, there are absolutely no beavers in Australia. They’re native to North America. Have you not been listening to Tizzy?

Stinky: I was trying to hatch my egg!

Jake: Sorry you had to hear that, Bill.

Bill: That’s okay, Jake. I get that a lot. Want to know something else about platypuses?

Jake: That you can actually sweat milk, and it’s healthy for humans?

Bill: That, and we are also poisonous.

Stinky: A poisonous mammal? Get out of here!

Bill: It’s true. Look at my friend Perry here.

We males have a poisonous claw at the end of our back-feet. This is used to hurt predators, but we never use it on food.

Jake: And what do you eat?

Bill: Crayfish, shrimp, bugs, worms, tadpoles, and fish.

Stinky: Do you suppose you could sing us a song?

Bill: I never sang on camera before, but I’ll try.

Jake: And now, here’s Bill singing ‘The Platypus Rap’.

Bill: If you're looking for a bird, then you're out of luck

Aside from the bill, do I look like a duck?

With the tail of a beaver and the feet like an otter

I do very well underwater!

Even though I'm a mammal, my kind lays eggs

We even have toxic spines on our legs!

Now that you know a bit about platypuses from down under

Please visit us in Australia, by thunder!

Bunnie: And now it’s time for the Animal Awards! Today, the animal with the longest pregnancy.

Armstrong: What?

Bunnie: That means a baby animal grows inside its mom until it’s ready to come out. It’s a mammalian thing.

Armstrong: Good thing birds lay eggs. It’s much quicker and less painful, except for maybe laying the egg.

Bunnie: Anyway, could the animal with the longest pregnancy be… the elephant?

Armstrong: The camel?

Bunnie: The velvet worm?

Armstrong: Or the giraffe?

Bunnie: And the winner is… The elephant, which can be pregnant for up to 22 months! That’s nearly two whole years!

Armstrong: How can a worm get pregnant? I thought they lay eggs!

Bunnie: Well, Armstrong. When a mommy velvet worm and a daddy velvet worm love each other very much…

(cuts back to Stinky and Jake, with Stinky still sitting on his egg)

Jake: And now, it’s time for a story. It’s an old favorite with Kiki the Cuckoo Wrasse! “Once upon a time, there was a lovely pink cuckoo wrasse. A cuckoo wrasse may sound like it’s supposed to be a bird, but it’s actually a fish. Anyway, because this cuckoo wrasse was pink, she knew she was a girl, because girl cuckoo wrasses are pink. ‘I think I’ll call myself Kiki,’ She said. ‘Hey, what do you think of the name Kiki?’ You can’t have it, ‘cause I want it!’ Said a bigger cuckoo wrasse. ‘Kiki should be my name.’ Calvin Cuckoo Wrasse, the only boy fish in the shoal, overheard the girl fish talking. ‘Uh-oh.’ He said to himself. ‘Sounds like there’s going to be a fight.’ Since Calvin hated fights, he left. Now, a funny thing happens to cuckoo wrasses when the only boy fish in the shoal swims away. One of the girls turns into a boy! Now that may sound strange, but it’s absolutely true. So, when Kiki found herself turning blue, she knew it was happening to her. She was turning into a boy. ‘You can’t call yourself Kiki now!’ Said the other cuckoo wrasses. ‘No, I guess you’re right,’ Said Kiki. ‘So, what should I call myself? How about Kevin? Yes, Kevin Cuckoo Wrasse! That’s a good name for a boy cuckoo wrasse.’ ‘So now I can call myself Kiki, can’t I?’ Said the fish who’d wanted the name Kiki. But thinking about it, she decided she preferred the name Coral. ‘Coral, that’s a good name for a cuckoo wrasse.’ So Kevin, Coral, and all the other cuckoo wrasses lived happily ever after. The end.”

Stinky: That was a good story, Jake! My egg liked it, too.

(cut to Armstrong and Bunnie in front of the habitat door)

Bunnie: Okay, Armstrong. It’s Habitat Time, and today, we’re going to the beach!

Armstrong: Finally, a habitat that I want to visit.

Bunnie: Then let’s go! (opens the door, and they end up at a beach)

Even though beaches are popular tourist spots for humans, there are also several animals you can find here.

Armstrong: Now, what in the world are those things?

Bunnie: Those are starfish, Armstrong. These guys usually live on ocean floors, but sometimes they wash up on beaches. And want to know how they eat their food?

Armstrong: Not really.

Bunnie: They turn their stomachs inside-out!

Armstrong: Hey, I found a shell!

Bunnie: Not just a shell, Armstrong! That’s a clam. Some species can live up to 400 years!

And here are animals that eat clams, snails!

Armstrong: That thing eats clams?

Bunnie: Maybe not this specimen, but there are snails that can eat clams whole!

Armstrong: Talk about a ravenous appetite.

And look, hermit crabs! I saw these guys when Ollie and I visited the seabed in the tusk episode.

Bunnie: You went to a seabed and you never told me? That’s amazing, Armstrong!

Armstrong: What are all those specks swimming around the seaweed?

Bunnie: Those are shrimp. Similar to how insects are important to land ecosystems, shrimp are very important to those under the sea, especially since a lot of animals eat them!

Armstrong: Can we search for more animals here? Maybe we can find a guest animal from an older episode! Maybe a pelican or a crab!

Bunnie: Sorry Armstrong, but we need to head home.

Armstrong: Home?! But we just got here!

(Bunnie and Armstrong leave the beach and head back to the Animal Show studio)

Bunnie: For Habitat Time, it’s Bunnie Bear-

Armstrong: And Armstrong the chickenhawk.

Bunnie: Just back from the beach.

(Tizzy flies around Stinky and Jake again)

Tizzy: Quiz time!

Jake: And what’s the quiz this time?

Tizzy: Well, here it is! (cuts to the screen below)

The question is can seahorses change color? Give it a think. Back in a buzz!

Stinky: What do you think the answer is, Jake?

Jake: Maybe we should ask the egg.

Tizzy: Maybe you should hear the question again. Can seahorses change color? Well, take a look!

Bee-lieve it, because it’s true!

Jake: Thanks for the quiz, Tizzy! That's all the time we have for today, and until next time, keep seeing… (Stinky’s egg started hatching)

Stinky: My egg! It’s hatching! (the egg hatches to reveal a baby chickenhawk)

Baby: (looking at Stinky) Mama. (looking at Jake) Not the mama.

Jake: Not the mama?

Stinky: A hawk? Like Armstrong?

(Armstrong flies over to see the chick)

Armstrong: Oh, this is my niece. I was wondering where she went. Thanks for taking care of her, Stinky.

Jake: Anyway, until next time, keep seeing the world through the eyes of animals. Bye!

Author's Notes: Perry, one of Bill's friends, is named after Perry the Platypus on Phineas and Ferb.

The story of Kiki the Cuckoo Wrasse was previously told in the Animal Show episode 'Chimpanzee and Hyena'.

'Kiki' after turning into Kevin.

Four of the five beach photos were all taken by me on Long Beach, Massachusetts. Can you guess which one (starfish, clam, crab, snail, and shrimp) is not found on Long Beach?

Armstrong's niece calling Jake 'not the mama' is a reference to how Baby Sinclair on Dinosaurs (a show that was best described as The Simpsons but with Dinosaurs) would call Earl 'not the mama' instead of daddy.

Armstrong and Ollie (a tapir who took Bunnie's place in the first season) actually encountered a hermit crab in the episode 'Walrus and Warthog', when the habitat was a seabed. The link to the episode will be supplied below.

Animal Show | Walrus / Warthog 🐗 | Jim Henson Family Hub - YouTube

Next week, you'll learn about regeneration when the guest stars are an axolotl and a lobster!

The Animal Show- Seahorse and Platypus Part 1

Stinky and Jake: Here on the Animal Show.

Here on the Animal Show.

Here on the Animal Show!

Bunnie Bear: From under the ocean, over the clouds, and around the world…

Armstrong the Chickenhawk: Here comes the wild side of wild life.

Bunnie: The Animal Show!

Armstrong: And now, let’s have a wild welcome for your furry friends-

Bunnie: Stinky and Jake!

Stinky and Jake: Now it’s The Animal Show!

Jake: Hello, all you animals out there!

Stinky: I’m Stinky.

Jake: And I’m Jake. And today, we are going to meet the seahorse and the platypus.

Stinky: How are those two animals similar?

Jake: Well, seahorses are fish that get pregnant, while platypuses are mammals that lay eggs.

Stinky: An egg-laying mammal and a fish that gets pregnant? That’s absurd!

Jake: And the male seahorses get pregnant.

Stinky: If that’s the case, I’m gonna be the first skunk to lay an egg.

Jake: But Stinky, skunks don’t lay eggs!

Armstrong: And now it’s time for…

Bunnie: That’s amazing! Today, we look at a relative of the seahorse, the leafy sea dragon!

To hide itself from predators, the leafy sea dragon hides itself among the kelp.

Armstrong: What’s kelp?

Bunnie: It’s a type of seaweed. And what’s more, the sea dragon changes the color of its skin!

Armstrong: Now, that’s something that will make you say…

Stinky and Jake: That’s amazing!

Jake: Stinky, where did you get that egg?

Stinky: I found it. I may not be the first skunk to lay an egg, but I will be the first to hatch one!

Jake: Oh, brother. Anyway, here is our first guest, from the tropical oceans of the world.

Stinky: World.

Jake: Please welcome Martin the Seahorse!

(Bunnie carries over Martin in a small tank)

Martin: Hi, everyone.

Jake: It’s not often we have a fish on our show.

Stinky: Tell me, Martin: How can a boy seahorse get pregnant if only girls can be mommies?

Martin: We’ve been asked that a lot, Stinky. First, the female seahorse lays eggs in my pouch.

Stinky: You have a pouch? Like a kangaroo?

Martin: Exactly! And after four to five weeks, the dads give birth to about a few dozen baby seahorses.

Jake: Wow, that’s a lot.

Martin: Some of us gave birth to as many as a thousand babies!

Stinky: Oh boy. You say that you’re a fish, but you look like a lizard. How do you swim?

Martin: Well, we’re poor swimmers. So poor, in fact, that when seahorses face strong currents, we have no choice but to wrap our tails around seaweed!

Jake: It must be hard being a seahorse.

Martin: It is, but do you know what I’d like one of these days? A nice tank in an aquarium in France.

Stinky: But don’t you have a family of your own?

Martin: I actually do! Can Bunnie bring me back to the ocean?

Jake: Sure. While we wait for Bunnie, here is…

Stinky and Jake: Baby talk!

Baby platypus: Mommy, are you sure that it’s safe to go out?

Mommy platypus: Of course it is, junior. Just watch out for crocodiles, kingfishers, and toads.

Baby platypus: Help! I can’t swim! Oh wait. Yes, I can. I have webbed feet like ducks.

Uh, I’m all wet. Maybe those birds can help me.

Do either of you know a way onto dry land?

Bird 1: Just cross the river and head to the woods.

Bird 2: Watch out for Tasmanian devils!

Bird 1: But this is Australia, not Tasmania.

Bird 2: Oh. You could call me a bird brain, then.

(cut back to Stinky and Jake with Tizzy)

Tizzy the Bee: Hi, everyone! Time for a quiz! (cuts to the screen below)

Which of these animals lays eggs? The chameleon, the snake, the echidna, or the coelacanth? Give it a think. Back in a buzz!

(Tizzy flies back to Stinky and Jake, who are having a hard time finding the answer)

Jake: I think all of them lay eggs. What do you think, Stinky?

Stinky: I can’t concentrate right now, Jake. I need to warm my egg.

Tizzy: Maybe you should hear the question again. (flies back to the previous screen) Which of these animals lays eggs? The answer is the echidna!

Even though they have beaks, echidnas are actually mammals. These animals are related to the platypus, and their eggs take about 10 months to hatch.

Even though they may not look like it, chameleons, some snakes, and certain fish actually get pregnant like mammals. Jackson’s chameleons are pregnant for six months, around the same time as a sloth. Bee-lieve it, because it’s true!

To be continued in Part 2...

The Animal Show- Cockroach and Squid Part 2

Jake: And now, let’s see what’s in the kitchen with…. (grabs a piece of paper) Gordon Coonsy.

(cuts to the kitchen, where Gordon Coonsy has a garbage can next to the counter)

Gordon: Hello, everyone! Today, I will teach you how to cook garbage. First, you take a can full of garbage and dump it on the counter! (dumps garbage on the counter) Then, you pick which ones you like the best. Make sure to not pick any metal, since metal DOES NOT go in the microwave! Let’s see, I’ll take banana peels, rotten seafood, a peanut butter candy bar, and a dead pet lizard. Now, you take the desired garbage pieces, put it on the frying pan, and cook it at 350 degrees. (grabs the frying pan and cooks the garbage) Now, we wait ten minutes for the garbage to cook, and you’ll be eating garbage in no time!

(cuts back to Stinky and Jake)

Jake: And now, from the bottom of the ocean…

Stinky: Ocean.

Jake: Please welcome Sally the Squid!

(fanfair plays, but no one appears)

Stinky: Where’s Sally?

Sally: I’m in the back in this tank! (Stinky and Jake walk over to see Sally)

Jake: So you must be the squid who’s supposed to be on our show.

Sally: Yes, I am.

Stinky: Are all squids as big as you?

Sally: Not necessarily. Some are as small as a pencil, such as this Caribbean reef squid.

Jake: Weren’t there stories about giant squids sinking ships?

Sally: Of course not! That’s a story made by humans. They’re afraid of a lot of things they don’t understand. However, we may attack humans by wrapping our tentacles around them. We also squirt ink when threatened.

Jake: That’s something octopi do!

Sally: We squids are, in fact, related to octopuses! We belong to a group of mollusks called cephalopods.

Stinky: How come I never see you at aquariums?

Sally: Well, some of us squid, like me, are just too big to fit in a tank. Also, some of us get captured by humans to make us into sushi.

Stinky: Don’t say that word! Cubs, calves, chicks, and tadpoles are watching.

Sally: Sorry. Anyway, can I sing a song for you guys?

Jake: Sure. And now, here’s Sally singing ‘One Big Ocean'.

Sally: I think it's terrific

To know the Atlantic and Pacific

The names of the Indian and the Arctic

And the Southern too!

But I'm here to say I see them another way!

I just see one big ocean!

It's all connected

One big ocean, it needs to be respected

And I want to tell you we got to protect it

Our one big ocean!

Gotta do our best with this world we are sharing

And it's good to know that so many are caring

Because what they're doing up there

Matters right here in our one big ocean!

It's all connected

One big ocean, it needs to be respected

And I want to tell you we got to protect it

Keep it growing and giving

Colorful and living, our one big ocean!

Bunnie: And now it’s time for the Animal Awards! Today, the award for the Biggest Invertebrate! Could it be… The spider crab?

Armstrong: The giant squid…

Bunnie: The Lion’s Mane jellyfish…

Armstrong: Or the Atlas beetle?

Bunnie: And the winner is.. The giant squid! With a staggering size of up to 40 feet long, these squids are big enough to strangle a whale!

Armstrong: Congratulations, Sally.

Bunnie: Back to you, Stinky and Jake!

Jake: And now, it’s time for a story. “Once upon a time, there were four different beetles: A rhinoceros beetle, a jewel beetle, a lily beetle, and a violin beetle. ‘Let’s have a race.’ Declared the lily beetle. ‘Whoever races around the tree the quickest within two minutes will be rewarded with a flat brown rock with a human head on it.’ So, the beetles flew around the tree, and it seems that the lily beetle was gonna win. ‘I’m gonna win, I’m gonna win!’ Bragged the lily beetle, only for him to fly into a leaf. It was now the rhino beetle who was in the lead, and little did he know that he’d end up winning the race. ‘I can’t believe I won!’ He said. And so, Raymond, the rhino beetle in question, was given the flat brown rock, and he lived happily ever after. The End.”

Stinky: That was a good story, Jake. Do you think we could hold a beetle race on our show some time?

Jake: Stinky!

(cut to Armstrong and Bunnie in front of the habitat door)

Bunnie: Okay, Armstrong. It’s Habitat Time! Today, we’re going to the bottom of the ocean!

Armstrong: The ocean?! But there’s no air down there! And I don’t know how to swim!

Bunnie: Don’t worry, Armstrong! (pulls out two helmets) I got helmets that will help us travel underwater. (plops a helmet on Armstrong)

Armstrong: One small step for birds, one giant swoop for bird-kind.

Bunnie (putting on her own helmet): Let’s go on a trip under the sea! (opens the door, and they end up in the Ocean Depths)

More humans have covered the surface of Mars than they have with the ocean depths!

Armstrong: Talk about that.

That looks like Larry from the Fish episode.

Bunnie: You’re right, Armstrong! Larry is an anglerfish, and these fish use the lures on their heads to attract fish with its bright light, and then it eats them!

Armstrong: Help! We’re being invaded by aliens!

Bunnie: That’s not an alien, Armstrong. That’s a swimming sea cucumber. Normally, sea cucumbers live on ocean floors, but these guys prefer to swim.

Armstrong: What is that, a snake?

Bunnie: No, you silly! That’s a moray eel. While other fish have pectoral fins, these guys have none.

Armstrong: That looks like Sally.

Bunnie: Good observation, Armstrong. That’s a black-eyed squid, and it’s eating an owlfish.

Armstrong: Are there such things as hawkfish?

Bunnie: There are, in fact, such things as hawkfish, though they live in higher ocean depths.

Armstrong: Hey, someone’s been dumping trash in the ocean!

Bunnie: That’s not trash, Armstrong. That’s a balloon jellyfish, but you’re right. Humans need to be careful of what they dump in the ocean. Sea turtles love to eat jellyfish, but if they’re not careful, they’ll choke on a plastic bag and die!

Armstrong: With all this talk of water and trash, I really wish we were back home.

(Bunnie and Armstrong leave the Ocean Depths, head back to the Animal Show studio, and take off their helmets)

Bunnie: For Habitat Time, it’s Bunnie Bear-

Armstrong: And Armstrong the chickenhawk.

Bunnie: Just back from the Ocean Depths.

(Tizzy flies around Stinky and Jake again)

Tizzy: Quiz time!

Jake: And what’s the quiz this time?

Tizzy: Well, here it is! (cuts to the screen below)

Is this an octopus or a squid? Give it a think. Back in a buzz!

(Cuts to Stinky and Jake trying to answer the question)

Stinky: It’s gotta be a squid, Jake. Just look at the shape of its head!

Jake: I don’t think so, Stinky. Squids have ten tentacles, octopuses have eight.

Tizzy: Well, here’s the answer. Is this an octopus or a squid? The answer is neither: This is a cuttlefish, which is a relative of both cephalopods. Bee-lieve it, because it’s true!

Jake: Thanks for the quiz, Tizzy! That's all the time we have for today, and until next time, keep seeing… (Gordon Coonsy arrives with his cooked garbage)

Gordon: It’s ready! Who wants cooked garbage?

Jake: No thank you. I eat fish.

Stinky: I’ll try it. (takes a bite out of an egg) It smells horrible, but tastes delicious!

Jake: Anyway, until next time, keep seeing the world through the eyes of animals. Bye!

Author's Notes: Gordon Coonsy is named after famous chef Gordon Ramsey.

Larry the Anglerfish appeared in a Season 3 episode 'Fish', in which he taught Stinky and Jake everything he knows about fish.

Even though you won't find a balloon jellyfish on Google, it does have a scientific Latin name: Deepstaria reticulum.

Yves' French translates to 'polar bear friend'.

The puppet used for Sally was previously used on various Muppet projects, such as the Dennis Quaid episode of Muppets Tonight.

The song Sally sings was actually previously used on another Henson project, Splash and Bubbles, which is best described as what would happen if SpongeBob was aimed at the preschool demographic. Here's a link to the song, One Big Ocean, below.

Splash and Bubbles | One Big Ocean Sing Along - YouTube

The caterpillar footage is courtesy of PBS.

Bunnie is right: There is, in fact, such thing as a hawkfish. These guys live in the Western Pacific Ocean, and can sometimes be found in aquariums.

Next week, you'll learn about how some animals have weird ways of reproducing when the guests are a seahorse and a platypus!