Centipede Minibeast Adventure with Jess

Hello, adventurers! I'm Jess. It's time for a minibeast adventure!

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Creeping, sleeping

# Under stones, here and there

# Nesting, resting

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# Look and listen, stop and stare

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# A minibeast adventure

# Feelers out, what's about?

# Minibeasts are everywhere

# Look and listen, stop and stare

# Mini worlds for us to share

# A minibeast adventure... #

With Jess!

Welcome to my treehouse! These minibeasts are brilliant hunters.

They've been around for millions and millions of years.

Since before the dinosaurs. Have a look.

These are centipedes. There's one!

It's got lots and lots of legs so it can run really fast.

Let's have a closer look.

Lots of people think centipedes have 100 legs,

but centipedes in this country usually have about 30.

With all those legs, you'd think they might trip up.

But cleverly, each pair of legs

is a little bit longer than the ones before.

Can you see?

Probably because they spend so much time in the dark,

centipedes don't have very good eyesight.

So they feel their way around using these antennae

at the front of their bodies.

They also have two extra-long legs at the back

that they use for feeling behind.

And these legs can also help them run backwards.

When a centipede goes hunting,

it catches smaller creatures with its two sharp claws at the front.

I think it's time we went on a hunt for these hunters.

I'm sure there's one living really near you,

although you might not have seen it because they sleep in the daytime.

Shall we go and look for a centipede?

Come on!

Whatever the weather, we're off together on a minibeast adventure!

-Hi, Keira. Hi, Evalina.

-BOTH: Hi, Jess!

Thank you for letting me come to your house.

-Today, we're having a centipede adventure!

-Whee!

-Yes!

-Have you ever seen a centipede?

-BOTH: Yes.

-What are they like?

They're very tickly when they walk all up your neck and your hand.

-Hopefully we'll do some of that today.

-And he makes me laugh.

-They make me laugh, too.

-And me because they tickle me.

They normally come out at night-time,

so we're going to have to find them where they're hiding.

That's likely to be somewhere damp and dark.

-Is there anywhere like that around here?

-A bush and mud!

-Brilliant!

Well, let's go and have a look, then. Get your feelers ready.

Feelers out, what's about?

We're off on a minibeast adventure!

Minibeasts love to hide, so I'm going to lift them up

and I want you to look under and tell me what you can see.

-OK? Ready?

-Yeah.

Action, now!

-Oh! What's that?

-That's a woodlouse!

That is a woodlouse.

-It's going to be tickly!

-Whee!

Can I hold it?

-There we go.

-Oh! It's tickly! Ah! Can I have it off now, please?

-Yeah. Do you want to hold this one?

-Yes.

-Now, you need to keep your hands very still.

-I held it.

-It's so tickly.

-It's so tickly! There you go.

I was so happy, wasn't I?

Ha-ha-ha! It's moving funny!

It's going around in circles.

That's what I meant.

They can curl up in balls and they've got curly lines on them.

Yes. They have got lines on their backs, haven't they?

Are you going to put it back?

-That's great. It's back with its friends now.

-That's a woodlouse.

I've seen something under here.

Come on, then, let's lift the next one up.

-Let's go around there.

-Look what I've found!

-What?

This. Look, that looked like a woodlouse or a centipede!

-Did it? Where?

-Look!

-Oh, that is a centipede!

-Wow!

Oh, my goodness! Right on top of the rock.

Oh, I've got a pot in my pocket. Be very careful, Keira.

You've got it! Put it in this pot.

-Wow! Well done!

-Put the lid on, put the lid on!

-Centipede!

-Would you like to hold it?

-Yes!

-I don't want it.

-No, just in the pot, like this.

-Oh, yeah.

It's very tickly when you hold it on your hand.

Yeah, they are tickly, aren't they?

It's silly. It's moving, like, really slow and it's silly. Look.

Can you see? It's moving silly.

LAUGHTER

-How many legs do you think it's got?

-100!

Ah, lots of people do think centipedes have 100 legs,

but actually, they have much less than that.

-What's that big long thing?

-Which long thing?

-That thing.

-These things that look like this?

-They're antennae.

Yes, they are, they're antennae!

BOTH: 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17.

17 on that side

and 17 on the other side,

so that makes 34 legs!

As you get older, your legs get longer.

But as a centipede gets older, it simply grows more legs.

Imagine if that happened to you.

LAUGHTER

We know centipedes come out at night,

so we thought we'd make them a cosy centipede corner

to hide in during the day.

Which of these things do you think they'd like in their cosy corner?

-Er...this!

-Yeah, OK.

So, shall we make it here, under this tree?

I think that would be a nice place for them to hide.

You're going to put moss in? That looks great.

I think they'd love to hide under that.

-Um...he can go under this stone.

-Yeah.

When they come.

-Ooo!

-This!

-Yeah, you can put that in.

They come here. This can be, er...

-The step?

-Step.

-And the bridge.

Yeah, the bridge.

-OK.

-What about the grass?

-Grass.

-Yeah, you can put some of that on.

-A pillow!

Oh, that can be a pillow. Excellent! Where do we want to put this?

That's going to go there.

-That can be the pillow, actually.

-OK.

-Put those here.

-Yeah, that's nice!

And this is going to be the thing that they get up on.

-This can be their door, like that.

-OK.

-Yeah.

When they go inside, they can go, doo-doo-doo, doo-doo.

LAUGHTER

-What about this?

-That can be their radio.

Yeah, the radio!

Listen to jumpy music.

What do centipedes listen to? What sort of music?

-Um...rap music.

-Rap music?

OK, that can be the radio for the centipedes' rap music.

That looks great!

I think they're going to love their cosy centipede corner!

-Shall we put a centipede in now?

-Yes.

-Now.

-Put him in there! Put him in there because that's really soft.

-OK.

-Come on.

-Bye-bye. Bye, centipede.

So let's leave that alone now and see how many centipedes

and other minibeasts come and move in.

I loved that minibeast adventure.

And that amazing palace Evalina and Keira made for their centipedes.

Maybe you could have a centipede adventure, too.

There's a very good chance there's a centipede living right near you.

Maybe you could make a cosy centipede home for it to move into.

Feelers out, what's about?

Happy hunting, adventurers!