The Shrewd Elephant Shrew

​In a hole in the ground there lives a creature,
And its nose is its most fantastic feature.
 
Before you see its eyes or ears,
The tip of this feature first appears.

Before its whiskers before its toes,
Out of the hole pokes its nose.
 
This little thing is an Elephant Shrew,
But is smaller than an elephant’s shoe.

The Elephant Shrew loves to run,
It has to run to get things done.

From out of his hole he starts to dash,
And straight away he has a crash.
 
A very big stone was in his way,
What a way to start the day.
 
From the stone he starts to jog,
And straight away he hits a log.

The log is too big to go around,
Instead he’ll have to go to ground.
 
From the log he starts to skip,
And straight away he has a trip.
 
Across his path he didn’t see,
A vine hanging from a tree.
 
From the vine he starts to bound,
And straight away he’s almost drowned.

The rain last night has formed a pool,
This little shrew is losing his cool.

From the pool he starts to race.
And straight away there’s dust in his face.

The sandy ground on this trail, 
Has slowed him down to the speed of a snail.

From the sand he starts to amble,
He’s lost the heart to run and scramble.
 
But the day’s not over for this creature,
For on its face is a twinkling feature.
 
Before it hears with its ears,
The tip of nose knows what appears.

Sending a signal to its toes,
"Start to run!" says its nose.
 
“I sense Hunters of this little shrew,
All bigger than an elephant’s shoe.”

The Elephant Shrew has to run,
Or it’s life is over and done.
 
Through the sandy trail he flies,
But it’s the snake who gets it in their eyes.

Over the pool he remembers to leap,
In goes the lizard and luckily it's deep.
 
He dodges the vine hanging from on high,
While it plucks the hawk right out the sky.

Under the log he manages to dart,
Unfortunately the cat isn't as smart.

Around the stone he goes at a sprint,
While the last predator hits the flint.

After escaping all his foes,
He enters his hole following his nose.

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